At the moment I have XP Pro on my PC. I tried Vista and ran into all kinds of difficulties with some of the programs I currently use. I spent a small fortune on Adobe CS3 Adobe Audition, Quark 7 etc etc when I was working but sadly I had a bad stroke some months back & am now unable to walk & use my left arm/hand and leg, so money isn't as plentiful as it once was, as I can no longer follow my profession. Some of the programs I have mentioned - notably Quark 7 - put up a pop-up when I tried to use it on Vista saying that it would only run on XP. If I put the new Windoes 7 on, how can I be sure that all the programs on my PC will run - or can I be sure? I could not afford to purchase these programs (or their upgrades) again and I still get a lot of fun out of them just using them for leisure - especially the sound programs (Adobe Audition 3 Nero 8 etc) Sincere thanks for reading this. Peter

Most programmes will run in "Compatibility" mode. I have two W98 programmes installed and running in XP SP2 mode and they work perfectly. If you are able to get a cop of Windows 7 RC you'll be able to experiment. I believe it is no longer available from Microsoft but some computer magazines are featuring it on the cover disk. http://ewen.uuuq.com/

If there's a compatibility issue with any app, try the app in compatibility mode. Windows 7 News!

Thanks a lot, Friends. I'll have a go with the 'compatibility' mode as you suggest. My son is getting the Windows 7 for me, so it'll be something else to play with! Warmest regards. Peter

Good for you! Even better if your son is getting you a copy of Win7 Pro or above. If that's the case, your legacy apps issue shouldn't be a dilemma due to the built-in (WinXP) virtualization mode featured in those SKUs ... provided your machine is equipped with a *qualifying* CPU & adequate system (RAM) memory. *Windows XP Mode requires a processor supporting hardware virtualization technology. For AMD based systems, this include: the A64, A64 X2 (F/G on socket AM2), Turion 64 X2, Opteron 2nd & 3rd gen, Phenom & newer CPUs. Intel based PC owners can use this to see if they have an IVT compatible CPU in their system. M$ also suggests having at least 2GB RAM on the machine. Good luck! Windows 7 News!

I might suggest that you get a lower level of windows 7. If you have a modern processor and enough ram you could use your old xp install as a virtual machine under windows 7. In all cases I'd start with native install of the application UNLESS there is some specific reason stated by the app's creator before I tried compatibility mode. Could always come back here as we might guess up an answer. For $180 I updated an old AMD like yours to run W7. An Athlon 250 with 4G isn't great but would run Adobe products well enough. Playing to the angels Les Paul (1915-2009)