The document, which has been released by Microsoft on March 11, 2010, is a “Microsoft Office Excel-based spreadsheet listing software applications and respective Windows 7 compatibility information”. These compatibility information have either been verified by the Windows 7 Logo Program testing requirements or by the software publisher.

All programs in the Windows 7 Application Compatibility List are identified with the Compatible Windows 7 Logo status which indicates that this is not a complete list of all applications that are compatible with Windows 7.

The list contains additional status information about applications that have not met the requirements for the Windows 7 Logo Program.

• Compatible
• Free Update Required
• Paid Update Required
• Future Compatibility
• Not Compatible

The application compatibility list can be helpful in determining if specific programs will run under Windows 7. Companies will most likely still test the programs on a test system before they migrate their inventory to Windows 7.

The Windows 7 Application Compatibility List can be downloaded directly from the Microsoft website.

Another option is Microsoft’s Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor which can evaluate hardware and software on computer systems running either XP or Vista. That on the other hand does not help users who plan to buy or build a computer system.

That’s where the Windows 7 Compatibility Center comes to the rescue. The online service can check hardware and software for compatibility with Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system. This can be checked using a simple web form on the main Windows 7 Compatibility Center website.

The user needs to select hardware or software from the pulldown menu and enter the name of the device or software in the form. The online service will display information about the compatibility of the hardware or software on the next page if the item is listed in the database.

A set of filters is available in the sidebar. Here it is for example possible to check 32-bit or 64-bit compatibility or select a specific compatibility level like items that are compatible and have the Windows 7 logo or only items that are not compatible. A quick series of tests revealed that not all software programs are available in the database. Popular third party software like Firefox, Opera or Putty are either listed as “information coming soon” or not at all.

Users can also browse the Windows 7 Compatibility Center by software or hardware category. Microsoft should consider adding popular software programs faster to the compatibility database for better evaluation.