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General Information
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July 16, 2010
• Vol.32 Issue 15
Page(s) 28 in print issue
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Resolve Windows 7 Compatibility Concerns
Get Microsoft’s Newest OS To Play Nice With Your Existing Applications & Systems
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| Key Points
• Although Windows 7 is a very reliable OS, enterprises may still face considerable application compatibility issues.
• Without planning or testing, a Win7 migration will quickly run aground. Planning is essential to success.
• Win7 may require significant upgrades to system hardware such as RAM. | | After the poor reception Windows Vista received, Microsoft badly needed a hit to get back in the game. Fortunately for Microsoft, Windows 7 has turned out to be a reliable OS that is garnering minimal bad press and much praise.
Although home users are adopting Win7, enterprises are moving a bit slower. And that should come as no surprise: It is a long process to prepare any enterprise for an OS migration because numerous issues must be resolved prior to rolling out the new install. One of the critical issues for administrators is making sure that Win7 is compatible with existing enterprise systems. Enterprises looking for a successful upgrade must carefully consider all compatibility aspects between Win7 and existing systems to ensure a trouble-free migration.
 Ferret Out Compatibility Issues
 The greatest fear for administrators looking to upgrade to Win7 is the potential lack of compatibility with existing applications. If Win7 is rolled out without regard to application compatibility, administrators will quickly encounter unhappy users who will pepper the help desk and support staff with phone calls.
Enterprises should not underestimate the application compatibility challenge, says Benjamin Gray, senior analyst at Forrester Research. According to Gray, firms on Windows XP or earlier versions should anticipate that about two-thirds of their applications will not be natively supported on Win7. But, he adds, firms that deployed Vista or performed application compatibility testing against it should only have 3 to 5% of applications that are not natively supported by Win7.
An important issue is the fact that Win7 uses a structurally different user profile than WinXP, so administrators need to fully understand this difference before stepping into the migration, says Simon Rust, vice president of technology at AppSense (www.appsense.com).
Chuck Nailen, technical trainer at Binary Research International, says that in order to prepare for a Win7 migration, administrators should ensure that their organizations go through complete testing of all software and hardware to verify Win7 compatibility. Also, adds Nailen, each company’s compatibility problems are going to be unique, especially for custom-built in-house software that has been around for many years.
One of the key ingredients to a successful Win7 deployment is familiarity with the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit, says Dan Griffin, founder and managing partner at JW Secure (www.jwsecure.com). This toolkit allows administrators to test existing software portfolios against the new OS; any issues discovered are diagnosed using the toolkit, which can optionally assist in the creation of a shim. Also, he adds, Win7 supports an XP Mode that is essentially a virtualized instance of WinXP running on top of Win7, which can bridge compatibility gaps and help admins transition slowly into Win7.
Software Upgrades Required?
In order to successfully navigate a migration to Win7, administrators may need to use the XP Mode to run applications that won’t run on Win7, says Rust. However, if admins are looking to migrate to cheaper, underpowered computers—such as netbooks—they should heed the fact that netbook hardware will most likely not be able to power both Win7 and the virtual WinXP machine, he adds.
Nailen recommends that enterprises upgrade all machines—especially those that will run the 64-bit version of Win7—to at least 2GB of memory. Even those enterprises that choose just to run the 32-bit version should consider upgrading to at least 2GB, if not 4GB, of memory.
Gray recommends that administrators tie the OS upgrade to hardware upgrade purchases. This means treating OS and PC upgrades as one, which can be as easy as purchasing or leasing new desktops, laptops, and netbooks that come preloaded with Win7. Gray says this is the optimal approach for firms that have the resources and want to avoid the complexity behind hardware compatibility testing and manual upgrades.
Gray adds that administrators should invest in client management tools that automate hardware and OS upgrades. However, he says, environments are becoming increasingly heterogeneous as Macs, netbooks, and virtual clients spread into the enterprise. This means that the right management tools are those that can handle these heterogeneous environments.
An alternative for enterprises considering a migration to Win7 is the use of application and desktop virtualization, says Forrester’s Gray. Application virtualization builds efficiencies into IT processes by encapsulating applications into simplified images that significantly speed application deployment, improve remote access, remediate conflicts, and reduce service desk support calls.
Avoid The Landmines
So what are potential trouble spots, and how can administrators avoid them? Nailen says enterprises that don’t do enough up-front planning or testing and expect an upgrade project to be completed quickly are likely to run into trouble. Many conversion projects, he adds, can take six to 12 months at a minimum to complete.
Another pitfall is expecting networking and installation personnel to master the free Microsoft Deployment Tools in a short time, Nailen says, adding that there is a steep learning curve to the ins and outs of these products. There are other migration tools that are easier to use and learn, he says.
User acceptance is critical to any proposed upgrade or migration in the IT world, and Win7 is no different, says Rust. Therefore, the user experience is critical to the migration to the new OS, so IT must fully consider the implications of user profiles as part of the user experience and ensure that the migration appears seamless to users.
According to Nailen, another key element is keeping users and management in the loop. Management is needed for project support, while users won’t be happy if an upgrade is shoved at them without any input into the process. In other words, buy-in from stakeholders is required for success.  by Sixto Ortiz Jr.
What About Training?
A point administrators may want to consider is the need for user training. As with any kind of IT upgrade, there will be a learning curve with Windows 7, especially for those users who are resistant to change.
However, according to Benjamin Gray, senior analyst at Forrester Research, the Win7 user experience is not significantly different from Windows XP or Vista and thus shouldn’t require a large training effort. After all, says Gray, even though elements of Win7—such as the re-vamped Start menu, folder management, and search tools—are new, many users have already been exposed to Vista or Win7 at home, greatly reducing the learning curve.
But, he adds, IT must deliver some amount of training to strengthen understanding of what has and hasn’t changed, particularly for users resistant to change. |
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