Windows Vista Upgrade Tools

Microsoft has supplied several tools to help administrators determine and reduce the effort required to upgrade from legacy versions of Windows to Windows Vista, including the following:

Windows Vista Upgrade Advisor is a small program that can scan a computer and create an easy-to-understand report of known hardware, device, and software compatibility issues, and recommend ways to resolve them.

Microsoft Standard User Analyzer is an application-compatibility tool that helps developers and IT professionals diagnose issues that would prevent a program from running properly without administrator privileges. Using the Standard User Analyzer to test an application can identify a number of problems, including file and Registry access.

Microsoft Application Verifier version 3.2 is a run-time verification tool for unmanaged code that helps find subtle programming errors that can be difficult to identify with normal application testing, such as problems with heaps, handles, and locks.

Windows Application Compatibility Toolkit (ACT) version 4.1 helps administrators collect an inventory of existing applications for their organization and determine how many applications may require special attention before Vista is deployed. ACT was designed to identify applications that require further testing, to identify outdated ones, and to determine which applications are already compatible with Vista, enabling organizations to prioritize upgrade efforts.