David Richards
Big problems are starting to emerge following the recent launch of Vista as several vendors admit that they are yet to upgrade application software to run on the new Microsoft OS.
Several SMB businesses are reporting potential upgrade problems with the likes of the Contact Tracker CRM software yet to be upgraded. Also causing problems is the lack of network card drivers. In a dire warning Apple has also told iTunes users to "wait" before upgrading their computers to Microsoft Windows Vista, saying its music software may not work properly.
As one CE retail store said "We run two lots of software across both accounting and CRM and neither have been upgraded to run under Vista. When we tried to load them to a Vista machine they failed to load properly".
Apple recently said that it was also aware of several issues including problems playing purchased files and synchronising data. Apple's support website said a new version of iTunes for Vista should be ready "in the next few weeks". iTunes allows computers to synch data with iPods. Vista, the newest version of Windows was launched 30 January.
One brand new desktop machine that had been upgraded to Vista the Explorer browser and the control manager started to scroll even when a mouse was not attached..
Compatibility issues
Apple outlined the compatibility issues and suggested workarounds for those already using Vista in a support document on its website.
Some problems listed were: failure to play music and video purchased from the iTunes store; poor animation performance; and a failure to automatically synchronize media, contacts and calendars.
Apple has also offered Vista users a downloadable tool that will "repair permissions for important files," but does not specify the precise nature of the incompatibility.
According to Associated Press newswires, the company has sold more than 90 million iPods since October 2001.
Microsoft response
Microsoft has a team working with Apple to make iTunes fully functional on Windows Vista, Adam Anderson, a Microsoft Windows spokesman told AP.
He added that the company did not believe these issues were a reason stop using Vista.
When Vista launched, Microsoft said more than 5,000 hardware and software products were already compatible with the operating system.
Both Apple and Microsoft declined to comment on the issue further.
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