Microsoft is making available beta versions of new tools aimed at hardware makers and software developers who want to develop Windows-7-compatible products while maintaining Vista compatibility.
On September 10, Microsoft opened up the public beta of the Platform Update for Windows Vista. The final version is due in the fourth quarter of this year, according to the Softies.
Weren’t almost all Vista apps supposed to work automatically on Windows 7? If so, why do developers need yet another porting tool? A Microsoft spokesperson sent me the following response:
“The majority of Windows Vista applications test to work well on Windows 7 as we planned by maintaining security, driver and run-time models. The goal of the Platform Update is to help developers and IHVs to write applications or develop hardware that take advantage of Windows7 features (such as Ribbon and DirectX 11) while still being able to target a customer base that includes Windows Vista. Existing Windows features can be expressed by using APIs (application programming interfaces) that are consistent with Windows 7."
Further Reading -
Microsoft releases beta of new Windows compatibility tool | All about Microsoft | ZDNet.com