One of the biggest strengths of Windows throughout the years—something that has enabled it to maintain market dominance over other desktop operating systems—has also been one of its biggest failings: compatibility with older programs. Windows 8 is capable of running programs designed for every version of Windows and even some programs designed for DOS, too. That doesn’t mean that everything will install and work correctly, or at all. There are several ways to get around problems caused by incompatible software.

Windows 8 maintains the same software and hardware compatibility of Windows 7. Everything that runs on Windows 7 will run on Windows 8. Windows 8 is not more compatible, however, with legacy software and hardware, and if you needed a virtual machine such as XP Mode to run some older software, you will still need a virtual machine such as the built-in Microsoft Hyper-V in the Business and Ultimate editions of Windows 8 to use this software without problems arising.

The Program Compatibility Assistant

Windows 8 is extremely good at detecting software that won’t install or run properly via a new feature called the Program Compatibility Assistant. If there is a compatibility problem with software that you’re trying to install, Windows 8 displays the Program Compatibility Assistant, which will offer some safe settings with which to attempt installing the program correctly.

INSIDE OUT: Setting compatibility manually

Because software is run from the new Start screen or the desktop Taskbar, it is now more difficult to access the compatibility settings for an individual program. To access this, open the Start screen, right-click the program, and then from the App bar, select Open File Location.

Once you’re in the file location for the program, right click its icon and select Properties. In the settings panel that appears, click the Compatibility tab. Figure 13 shows the various settings that can be configured on this tab.

Figure 13. Manually setting a program’s compatibility

Caution

Although compatibility settings include versions of Windows that go back to Windows 95, if a feature has been withdrawn, replaced, or significantly changed in Windows, such as Direct 3D used by Microsoft Photodraw V2 (see Figure 13), the software will still not run without reporting problems and errors.

INSIDE OUT: Administrator mode

The default user account in every version of Windows release before Windows Vista is “Administrator.” In this mode, absolutely everything in Windows can be changed, moved, or deleted with impunity. Hackers are well aware of this and write viruses to take advantage of it. User Account Control (UAC), which was introduced with Windows Vista, adds a layer of security to prevent these changes from being made automatically, but it can stop some programs from running correctly.

Some programs require access to root Windows files and areas that UAC protects. If a program can’t write files to these parts of Windows, the software can become unresponsive. You should be careful giving administrator rights to any program, especially one you do not know well, because bypassing the essential UAC security feature can potentially cause damage. Some older programs, however, must have administrator permissions to operate properly.

One of the problems facing users who want to use older software and hardware is that the very useful—and free—XP Mode that ran in Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate isn’t supported and won’t install in Windows 8.

For the basic features, Windows 8 might be seen to offer a mixed bag. Casual users might even find it to be too basic, with features such as Windows Defender being hidden away, and with not enough control being available in the PC Settings window. Also, the rebadging of Microsoft Security Essentials to Windows Defender, when Windows Defender already exists as a spyware and light-malware–only detection package in other versions of Windows, will confuse even more people.

This aside, if you are familiar with the basic options in Windows 7, very little has changed. Everything is pretty much where you expect to find it, and it all works in exactly the same manner as previously.