Windows 7 Application Compatibility List
IT professionals, system administrators and end users have several options to find out if a software program is compatible with Microsoft's latest operating system Windows 7.
They can install the operating system on a single computer or a virtual environment to perform individual compatibility tests. Other options include taking a look at Microsoft's Windows 7 Compatibility Center website, or downloading the Windows 7 Application Compatibility List which is provided by Microsoft as an Excel document.
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.
Update: Microsoft removed the download from its servers. It is unfortunately no longer available.
Windows 7 Application Compatibility List
All programs included 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.
What this means is that you won't find all available programs there, but only applications that companies have submitted to Microsoft. In fact, while you will find many popular programs listed on the list, the majority of compatible programs won't be on it because of that.
The list contains additional status information about applications that have not met the requirements for the Windows 7 Logo Program.
The Windows 7 Application Compatibility List displays a variety of information that are useful in determining whether a program is compatible with the Windows operating system.
The spreadsheet lists the following information:
- Application name
- Major version
- Minor version
- Company name
- Company home page
- 32-bit Windows 7 compatibility status
- 64-bit Windows 7 compatibility status
- 32-bit Windows 8 compatibility status
- 64-bit Windows 8 compatibility status
- 32-bit Windows 8.1 compatibility status
- 64-bit Windows 8.1 compatibility status
The compatibility status can have three different values: compatible, not compatible or unknown.
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.
Update: Please note that the list has been expanded by Microsoft to include information about Windows 8 and Windows 8.1.
