It depends what programs you are talking about. All the major Microsoft Office releases up to 2003 (can't speak for 2007) will run fine in Windows XP.
Roxio Easy CD Creator I DO know to be a problem. Version 5 and 6 run fine in Win2000, and although both are supposed to run in XP, neither do. They install OK, but then crash the system and cause numerous problems. Version 5 was caught at the stage where it was Win98/2000 compatible, but they never got it running stable in XP. Despite claiming that a "fix" addressed this, they brought out version 6 and that was riddled with problems when run in XP.
The Windows P CD has a function that tests the PC's readiness for Windows XP:
http://support.microsoft.c
http://support.microsoft.c
http://www.winsupersite.co
but all the links to Windows XP-related downloads are rapidly being changed to Windows Vista ones, so we have to hunt for links.
Personally I would borrow someone's Windows XP Setup CD and allow it to autorun. When the "Welcome to Microsoft Windows XP" page shows, click "Check System Compatibility". That opens a new page where you click "Test my system automatically". It will give you a report once done. Avoid the options that would install Windows XP on your system as an upgrade.
Another option for larger applications like Adobe Acrobat Writer is to consult the "Readme" files in the packages. Chances are that you have older versions released before XP was released though, in which case the Readme may not make mention of XP. This is the reason that many people use a test computer running the new operating system and install their applications to test compatibility before migrating. Perhaps you know somebody with a PC running XP who would be prepared to allow you to use it as a test machine and later wipe and reinstall it after you finished testing.
I'm NOT in the habit of suggesting illegal workarounds, BUT if you don't have such a test PC but have a spare PC capable of running XP and know someone with a full Windows XP Setup CD, then you could install it on your spare PC for a limited time and ONLY for the purposes of testing it.
You would be prompted to Activate it, but you SHOULD NOT do this or it would fail and may end up blocking that genuine CD Key from future activations. The idea here is to run the system illegally for a few days, during which you install and test the various programs on it, then you format the hard drive.
In general, programs and applications that run in Windows 2000 will run OK in Windows XP, because the operating systems are similar. Windows NT is very old now, and programs that were released back then may not run or even install in XP. Windows XP allows you to run programs in "Compatibility Mode", and this is sometimes successful but you don't know until you try it.
One other issue you must be aware of is whether your HARDWARE has drivers available for Windows XP. Many of the drivers released for Windows 2000 work with XP, but not all.
I suggest running the Windows XP Compatibility test from someone's XP CD as a first step.
Main Topics
Browse All Topics
by: DMTechGrooupPosted on 2008-09-14 at 09:28:29ID: 22473263
Chances are they will work but there is no guarantee. If the system runs fine now as W2K then why upgrade? Plus if you have already upgraded from Workstation to W2K then yet another upgrade is probably not wise. Do you have the disk to reinstall? If so try them on another XP machine first.