WinXP User Moving to Win8 - Old Program Compatibility Question

I've been using WinXP up until now, but I'm about to build a new system
and I want to put Windows 8 on it... you know, just jump into the deep end
without my floaties. But having been a WinXP user for so long, there are
many applications that I just love using and I want to keep using them in
Windows 8. For example, I want to continue using my current newsreader
(Forte Agent 6.0), and UltraEdit, mIRC, Paint Shop Pro 8. Plus I have the
Dreamweaver MX studio. I use VirtualDub for editing videos. And I like
to play Final Fantasy XI Online. I've seen some people have had problems
with that game, so I'm expecting that.

Anyway, I just basically want to know if Windows 8 will generally run all
or most of the old programs.

If the Start Menu and classic desktop are gone forever, I might as well
skip Windows 7 and go right on to 8. And actually, I'm kind of tired of
the classic desktop, really. I'm not going to be using a touchscreen, but
just a mouse and keyboard. My monitor is too far away and in my normal
computing arrangement, I'd end up doing a lot of sit-ups if I use a
touch-screen...not that I couldn't use a few sit-ups. Heh.

Thanks,
Damaeus

I also forgot to ask one other thing. I'd hate to abandon WinXP and get
into Windows 8 and suddenly find that I can't do something with Windows 8
that I could easily do in WinXP. I don't know what they would want to
remove, but I know there are certain programs I've used that have removed
features that I found handy in older versions. I'd hate to come across
that in Windows 8.

Has something useful been removed from Windows 8 that people are missing
and wish they had back?

Thanks again,
Damaeus

On Tue, 25 Dec 2012 00:10:31 -0600, Damaeus
wrote:

I've been using WinXP up until now, but I'm about to build a new system
and I want to put Windows 8 on it... you know, just jump into the deep end
without my floaties. But having been a WinXP user for so long, there are
many applications that I just love using and I want to keep using them in
Windows 8. For example, I want to continue using my current newsreader
(Forte Agent 6.0), and UltraEdit, mIRC, Paint Shop Pro 8. Plus I have the
Dreamweaver MX studio. I use VirtualDub for editing videos. And I like
to play Final Fantasy XI Online. I've seen some people have had problems
with that game, so I'm expecting that.

Anyway, I just basically want to know if Windows 8 will generally run all
or most of the old programs.

I jumped from 32-bit XP to 64-bit Win8. Many old progs just installed and ran -
Irfanview, speedfan, wnbrowse.
I'm using Agent 1.92 in Win8 right now.
My ancient copy of Eudora couldn't be coaxed to run, however - I had to copy its
data files to Thunderbird, which is happy to run.
Several other minor progs, I simply DL'd the latest versions with no problems.

Perhaps I should explain that once I find that a program has reached maturity
and does everything that I want the way I want, I stick with it - I don't chase
every latest update for more bells and whistles.

One thing I really do miss is Solitaire - I get bored during some downloads.
The Win8 card app just isn't the same, somehow.

If the Start Menu and classic desktop are gone forever, I might as well
skip Windows 7 and go right on to 8. And actually, I'm kind of tired of
the classic desktop, really. I'm not going to be using a touchscreen, but
just a mouse and keyboard.

The 'Metro' I/F only makes sense if you have a touchscreen - I noticed a small
Win8 Asus laptop this morning in Starbucks, and the pretty YL using it seemed
very at ease with its touchscreen and icons.

However, I have no touchscreen on my PC, so I've installed Classic Shell
so that I can spend most of my time on the desktop, just like in XP. The
app icons are still there if I ever need them, they just stay out of my way
until they're needed.

BTW, Logitech now offer a reasonably sized (wireless) touch pad for about $80.
The ability to use multi-finger gestures (zoom, etc) is a step forward - but, as
I've said, that interface loses a lot of its ergonomic appeal if you have to
move a pointer to the icon instead of touching the icon directly.

That said, the Win8 file management tools seem better - and its ability to burn
an .ISO direct to disk is very welcome.

My monitor is too far away and in my normal
computing arrangement, I'd end up doing a lot of sit-ups if I use a
touch-screen...not that I couldn't use a few sit-ups. Heh.

Ditto - I'm looking far too much like the Jolly Old Elf myself these days.
Can't complain too loudly, though - the pills that limit my exercise by
causing muscle pain have the side effect of keeping me alive.


--

Terry V.

On 12/25/2012 2:23 AM, Strobe wrote:
The 'Metro' I/F only makes sense if you have a touchscreen - I noticed a small
Win8 Asus laptop this morning in Starbucks, and the pretty YL using it seemed
very at ease with its touchscreen and icons.

However, I have no touchscreen on my PC, so I've installed Classic Shell
so that I can spend most of my time on the desktop, just like in XP. The
app icons are still there if I ever need them, they just stay out of my way
until they're needed.

I run Windows 8 on both touchscreens and non. And I find the Metro side
to be fine with just the keyboard and mouse if you want to use it that
way. I usually do use the keyboard and mouse on the Metro side when I am
docked with my two tablets.

And I also don't mind of the Start Menu is there or not (one machine I
have Aston Shell that includes a Start Menu and one that doesn't). And
it isn't a real big deal to me. The Start Screen works good and you can
see all of the programs by hitting Win+Q which throws up the search. But
it also kicks up all programs like the Start Menu does. On a touch
screen you have to swipe and touch to do the very same thing. No big deal.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v12
Centrino Core2 Duo T7400 2.16 GHz - 4GB - Windows 7 SP1

Strobe wrote:


One thing I really do miss is Solitaire - I get bored during some downloads.
The Win8 card app just isn't the same, somehow.


Solitaire is at the App Store. As well, there's a recipe for importing
the version from Windows 7.

http://www.howtogeek.com/122145/what...-in-windows-8/

Paul

Damaeus wrote:
I've been using WinXP up until now, but I'm about to build a new system
and I want to put Windows 8 on it... you know, just jump into the deep end
without my floaties. But having been a WinXP user for so long, there are
many applications that I just love using and I want to keep using them in
Windows 8. For example, I want to continue using my current newsreader
(Forte Agent 6.0), and UltraEdit, mIRC, Paint Shop Pro 8. Plus I have the
Dreamweaver MX studio. I use VirtualDub for editing videos. And I like
to play Final Fantasy XI Online. I've seen some people have had problems
with that game, so I'm expecting that.

Anyway, I just basically want to know if Windows 8 will generally run all
or most of the old programs.

If the Start Menu and classic desktop are gone forever, I might as well
skip Windows 7 and go right on to 8. And actually, I'm kind of tired of
the classic desktop, really. I'm not going to be using a touchscreen, but
just a mouse and keyboard. My monitor is too far away and in my normal
computing arrangement, I'd end up doing a lot of sit-ups if I use a
touch-screen...not that I couldn't use a few sit-ups. Heh.

Thanks,
Damaeus

Run the first step of this, and it'll analyze your computer.
Windows8-UpgradeAssistant.exe checks your old apps against a list.

http://web.esd.microsoft.com/W8DL/WS...eAssistant.exe

The output looks like this.

http://img339.imageshack.us/img339/6143/assistant.gif

Now, if I take an example from my list.

"WinPcap 4.1.2
CACE Technologies
Not compatible"

That one was easy to fix. The installer is the thing that needs to be
fixed. I simply right-click on it, and use the Properties. And
set it to Compatibility mode and select a previous OS like WinXP,
and then it installed and ran fine. Any further trouble, a
Run As Administrator squares it away. So rather than "Not compatible",
I'd rate it "Just a Nuisance".

The only value of that list, is for applications that have no flags
against them. If an application is flagged, you don't really know
"how broken" it is. It could be extremely broken, or, a trivial fix
could be enough to get it running again.

Windows 8 has the ability to flat out deny program execution. I
don't know if this is done via an OS version check, or some other
means is being used. If you want to test this for me, you
can try installing Windows Virtual PC (the one that ran in
Windows 7). I think the installer runs OK, but then the OS
flat out refuses to allow the executable to run after
it's installed. So no "WinXP Mode" under Windows 8.
Hyper-V is likely the only Microsoft VM platform that runs.

Paul

"Damaeus" wrote in message
...
I also forgot to ask one other thing. I'd hate to abandon WinXP and get
into Windows 8 and suddenly find that I can't do something with Windows 8
that I could easily do in WinXP. I don't know what they would want to
remove, but I know there are certain programs I've used that have removed
features that I found handy in older versions. I'd hate to come across
that in Windows 8.

Has something useful been removed from Windows 8 that people are missing
and wish they had back?

Yes, Windows 7 :-)

If you decide to keep Win8 and start to miss the old Start menu and the
familiarity of the WinXP/Win7 look and feel, thee are a number of programs
that will allow you to skip over the Modern UI, and go straight to the
desktop with Start menu:

http://social.Technet.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/w8itprogeneral/thread/b5f19449-f992-466b-b549-ce1452fd5a39#b5f19449-f992-466b-b549-ce1452fd5a39

I went from Win7 to Win8, and really didn't find too much that didn't work.
Mostly it was some REALLY old XP and and Win9x utilities and games that also
didn't work in Win7, or were unstable enough to start looking for
replacements.
I didn't like the Modern UI at all, and really didn't feel like getting used
to it (YMMV), so I went with the "Tihiy's Windows 7 Explorer for Windows 8"
method since I already had all the necessary files on hand. Plus, it's not a
permanent solution; all I have to do is run a program, logout/login, and I'm
back to the original Win8.
--
SC Tom

On Tue, 25 Dec 2012 00:10:31 -0600, Damaeus wrote:

I've been using WinXP up until now, but I'm about to build a new system
and I want to put Windows 8 on it... you know, just jump into the deep
end without my floaties. But having been a WinXP user for so long,
there are many applications that I just love using and I want to keep
using them in Windows 8. For example, I want to continue using my
current newsreader (Forte Agent 6.0), and UltraEdit, mIRC, Paint Shop
Pro 8. Plus I have the Dreamweaver MX studio. I use VirtualDub for
editing videos. And I like to play Final Fantasy XI Online. I've seen
some people have had problems with that game, so I'm expecting that.

Anyway, I just basically want to know if Windows 8 will generally run
all or most of the old programs.

I can confirm that Windows 8 Pro will run an ancient copy of Paint Shop
Pro (version 7 from 2001). Win 8 claimed to have made some compatibility
adjustments.

I no longer use Forte Agent but yesterday I received an email from
forteinc.com inviting me to upgrade to version 7 (compatible with Win 8)
for 19 USD.

--
John

On Tue, 25 Dec 2012 00:16:08 -0600, Damaeus
wrote:

I also forgot to ask one other thing. I'd hate to abandon WinXP and get
into Windows 8 and suddenly find that I can't do something with Windows 8
that I could easily do in WinXP. I don't know what they would want to
remove, but I know there are certain programs I've used that have removed
features that I found handy in older versions. I'd hate to come across
that in Windows 8.

Has something useful been removed from Windows 8 that people are missing
and wish they had back?

Not from 8 but earlier. XP would run 16-bit programs natively. I
have some 16-bit utilities. These will not run natively in 7.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

Gene Wirchenko wrote:

On Tue, 25 Dec 2012 00:16:08 -0600, Damaeus
wrote:

I also forgot to ask one other thing. I'd hate to abandon WinXP and get
into Windows 8 and suddenly find that I can't do something with Windows 8
that I could easily do in WinXP. I don't know what they would want to
remove, but I know there are certain programs I've used that have removed
features that I found handy in older versions. I'd hate to come across
that in Windows 8.

Has something useful been removed from Windows 8 that people are missing
and wish they had back?

Not from 8 but earlier. XP would run 16-bit programs natively. I
have some 16-bit utilities. These will not run natively in 7.

You are mistaken, sir. My install of Win7 runs Win16 apps just fine. Perhaps
you typo'd and meant Win8 will not run them? (I phrase that as a question
because I have as yet not tried 8 myself.)

--
Then, after a second or so, nothing continued to happen.

Damaeus wrote in
:

I've been using WinXP up until now, but I'm about to build a new
system and I want to put Windows 8 on it... you know, just jump into
the deep end without my floaties. But having been a WinXP user for so
long, there are many applications that I just love using and I want to
keep using them in Windows 8. For example, I want to continue using
my current newsreader (Forte Agent 6.0), and UltraEdit, mIRC, Paint
Shop Pro 8. Plus I have the Dreamweaver MX studio. I use VirtualDub
for editing videos. And I like to play Final Fantasy XI Online. I've
seen some people have had problems with that game, so I'm expecting
that.

Anyway, I just basically want to know if Windows 8 will generally run
all or most of the old programs.

If the Start Menu and classic desktop are gone forever, I might as
well skip Windows 7 and go right on to 8. And actually, I'm kind of
tired of the classic desktop, really. I'm not going to be using a
touchscreen, but just a mouse and keyboard. My monitor is too far
away and in my normal computing arrangement, I'd end up doing a lot of
sit-ups if I use a touch-screen...not that I couldn't use a few
sit-ups. Heh.

Thanks,
Damaeus

Of the applications you mention, Paint Shop Pro 7 (even older than yours)
is working fine for me on Win8. So far I haven't had troubles with any
programs.

I do miss the simple card games and mahjong and such from earlier windows
versions. Which brings up one program that gave me momentary troubles.
I bought a $5 dual disc Hoyle game set (Mahjong/Board Games) and on
initial installation it would load and put a game up but then there was
no response when trying to play and it would freeze. Uninstalled and
coincidentally there happened to be new NVidia drivers and a Java update
available. After updating those I reinstalled the games and they now
work fine.

As for the new start menu - it takes some getting used to but I'm liking
it now that I've got it tamed. When Win8 is first installed there's a
bunch of useless crap tiles on the Metro start screen. With right
clicking you can easily get rid of all of them. Then right clicking on
the background and selecting "All apps" you can pick what you want and
easily pin them to the start page. It's then a simple matter to toggle
between the old style desktop and the Metro start page by using the
Windows logo key. If you can't help but roll down to the lower left
corner for the old Start button you even get a tile that appears and
takes you to the start page. So, in a sense, it's right where it used to
be. And I find looking at a full screen page of all my applications is
easier than scrolling around the traditional size, collapsed Start menu.

Win 8, while having the older, more traditional mode to work in, is
really the beginning of turning more towards "the cloud" and "free apps"
that are geared toward pushing advertising at you all the time and
tracking your every move. Except for having a weather tile on my start
page I avoid all that stuff like the plague. I had installed the MS
Mahjong app and initially didn't like that it logs on as some sort of
made up, anonymous username so that it can compare and store scores on
the cloud. After a few days of playing the basic layouts I tried the
"daily challenges" that it offered and right off I'm looking at some big
video game commercial. I alt-F4'd out of that and uninstalled. No more
"free apps" for me.

I'm liking my Win8 Pro with the free (at this time) MCE pack. Once you
figure out how to log out (now "Sign Out") and find where the heck the
button is to power down the computer it's all gravy.

--

Pat

email: valid would be net

On Tue, 25 Dec 2012 18:14:56 +0000 (UTC), "Auric__"
wrote:

Gene Wirchenko wrote:

On Tue, 25 Dec 2012 00:16:08 -0600, Damaeus
wrote:

I also forgot to ask one other thing. I'd hate to abandon WinXP and get
into Windows 8 and suddenly find that I can't do something with Windows 8
that I could easily do in WinXP. I don't know what they would want to
remove, but I know there are certain programs I've used that have removed
features that I found handy in older versions. I'd hate to come across
that in Windows 8.

Has something useful been removed from Windows 8 that people are missing
and wish they had back?

Not from 8 but earlier. XP would run 16-bit programs natively. I
have some 16-bit utilities. These will not run natively in 7.

You are mistaken, sir. My install of Win7 runs Win16 apps just fine. Perhaps
you typo'd and meant Win8 will not run them? (I phrase that as a question
because I have as yet not tried 8 myself.)

I was not aware that there was a distinction in 16-bit apps
between Windows and non-Windows. I get an error message when I try to
run one of my 16-bit utilities (which are not Windows programs). I
can install XP Mode on my Windows 7 desktop which works but is
awkward. I can not use it on my Windows 7 laptop. The laptop came
with Windows 7 Home Premium, and Microsoft does not let XP Mode run on
that edition.

I think that limitation was a stupid thing for Microsoft to do. I
would be using the laptop a lot more if it would run my utilities
natively.

I have heard too much about awkwardnesses of Windows 8 and have
concluded it would not be a good fit for me. Given the arbitrary
limitation with XP Mode, I feel this even more strongly. The next
time that I am considering an operating system, I will seriously
consider going non-Microsoft.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

On 12/25/2012 12:14 PM, Auric__ wrote:
Gene Wirchenko wrote:

On Tue, 25 Dec 2012 00:16:08 -0600, Damaeus
wrote:

I also forgot to ask one other thing. I'd hate to abandon WinXP and get
into Windows 8 and suddenly find that I can't do something with Windows 8
that I could easily do in WinXP. I don't know what they would want to
remove, but I know there are certain programs I've used that have removed
features that I found handy in older versions. I'd hate to come across
that in Windows 8.

Has something useful been removed from Windows 8 that people are missing
and wish they had back?

Not from 8 but earlier. XP would run 16-bit programs natively. I
have some 16-bit utilities. These will not run natively in 7.

You are mistaken, sir. My install of Win7 runs Win16 apps just fine. Perhaps
you typo'd and meant Win8 will not run them? (I phrase that as a question
because I have as yet not tried 8 myself.)

Both Windows 7 and Windows 8 32 bit versions run 16 bit applications
just fine. It is just the 64 bit versions of Windows that won't run 16
bit software.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v12
Centrino Core2 Duo T7400 2.16 GHz - 4GB - Windows 7 SP1

On 12/25/2012 1:15 PM, Gene Wirchenko wrote:
On Tue, 25 Dec 2012 18:14:56 +0000 (UTC), "Auric__"
wrote:

Gene Wirchenko wrote:

On Tue, 25 Dec 2012 00:16:08 -0600, Damaeus
wrote:

I also forgot to ask one other thing. I'd hate to abandon WinXP and get
into Windows 8 and suddenly find that I can't do something with Windows 8
that I could easily do in WinXP. I don't know what they would want to
remove, but I know there are certain programs I've used that have removed
features that I found handy in older versions. I'd hate to come across
that in Windows 8.

Has something useful been removed from Windows 8 that people are missing
and wish they had back?

Not from 8 but earlier. XP would run 16-bit programs natively. I
have some 16-bit utilities. These will not run natively in 7.

You are mistaken, sir. My install of Win7 runs Win16 apps just fine. Perhaps
you typo'd and meant Win8 will not run them? (I phrase that as a question
because I have as yet not tried 8 myself.)

I was not aware that there was a distinction in 16-bit apps
between Windows and non-Windows. I get an error message when I try to
run one of my 16-bit utilities (which are not Windows programs). I
can install XP Mode on my Windows 7 desktop which works but is
awkward. I can not use it on my Windows 7 laptop. The laptop came
with Windows 7 Home Premium, and Microsoft does not let XP Mode run on
that edition.

I think that limitation was a stupid thing for Microsoft to do. I
would be using the laptop a lot more if it would run my utilities
natively.

I have heard too much about awkwardnesses of Windows 8 and have
concluded it would not be a good fit for me. Given the arbitrary
limitation with XP Mode, I feel this even more strongly. The next
time that I am considering an operating system, I will seriously
consider going non-Microsoft.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko

I occasionally run WordStar for DOS under both Windows 7 and Windows 8
32 bit versions. And it runs fine. And it is a 16 bit program.

--
Bill
Gateway M465e ('06 era) - Thunderbird v12
Centrino Core2 Duo T7400 2.16 GHz - 4GB - Windows 7 SP1

On Tue, 25 Dec 2012 13:19:42 -0600, BillW50 wrote:

[snip]

I occasionally run WordStar for DOS under both Windows 7 and Windows 8
32 bit versions. And it runs fine. And it is a 16 bit program.

I use WordStar 2000 as my programming editor. Under Windows XP,
it rarely opens files so I use it under DOSBox.

Sincerely,

Gene Wirchenko