Vista Is Still Plagued by Incompatibilities

Industry Overload

The dirty secret in the computer industry is that it has become nearly impossible for companies to patch each of their products for Vista, says In-Stat's McGregor. The amount of time a product is out on the market before it's replaced by a newer model is shrinking. That means companies have many more models for which they need to write Vista drivers or patches. Add to that equation companies' desire to avoid supporting a product for a nanosecond longer than they absolutely have to, McGregor says, and you see why so many products don't work with Vista.

Intuit, for instance, certifies only QuickBooks Premier 2007 and 2008 for Vista, as the company says that it has detected some issues when running the 2004 to 2006 versions of QuickBooks under the OS. As a result, businesses that bought QuickBooks last year for around $400 are forced to pay another $375 to keep their books under Vista. Intuit does not supply a compatibility patch or upgrade for QuickBooks Premier--though for a limited time, when the OS first launched, the company offered special discounts for Vista-compatible versions of its software.

When 'Certified' Isn't

And sometimes, as with Brother's multifunction printer, even products that are advertised as compatible with Vista just aren't. Microsoft includes Corel's video editing software Ulead VideoStudio 10 on its list of products that are "Certified for Windows Vista." The "Certified for Vista" designation is supposed to mean that the software or hardware has been tested and is 100 percent compatible with the OS. 

However, Corel's support page for Ulead VideoStudio 10 outlines some advanced features that work only with XP. The company states on its site, though, that VideoStudio does qualify for the "Works with Windows Vista" designation. In marketing doublespeak, "Works with Windows Vista" means that a product isn't 100 percent compatible but may work well enough to meet your needs.