Microsoft has entered into an alliance with UK-based ChangeBASE, a provider of application compatibility testing and remediation offerings, to offer a new online tool AOK for Small and Midsize Businesses (AOK4SMB), which allows industry partners to test the compatibility status of applications and automatically remediate incompatibilities when upgrading to Windows 7 Professional.
Colin Gray, global sales director at ChangeBASE, said: “AOK4SMB enables SMB partners and IT pros to embrace the benefits of Windows 7 Professional by quickly assessing and reporting application compatibility issues and uniquely automatically fixing the majority of issues found. The fact that this tool is online and free makes the process easy.”
According to Microsoft, SMB customers can go to the Windows 7 Compatibility Centre for a view of the compatibility status of their hardware and software before they upgrade to Windows 7. They also can use Windows XP Mode, a feature of Windows 7 Professional to run older productivity applications.
In addition, IT professionals and industry partners servicing small and midsize businesses can take advantage of AOK4SMB to remediate applications so that they can run on Windows 7. AOK4SMB creates a report outlining the application compatibility status and resolves any issues automatically.
Sandrine Skinner, director of SMB product management for the Windows and Windows Live Division at Microsoft, said: “Customers tell us they need an easy way to make sure their applications will work with Windows 7 Professional.
We continue to act on this feedback, and we’re excited to be working with ChangeBASE to make it even easier for customers to run their applications, so they can focus on what matters most – their business. This is one more resource available so they can easily migrate to Windows 7 Professional with no disruption to their business.”
