Windows Vista

[najlaa]

Is PowerChurch compatible with Microsoft Vista? Is so, what version is compatible v9 or v10? If not, when will PC become compatible with Vista. I know Vista was just released, but we are looking to purchase new pcs and everything is coming with Vista pre-installed. If I could avoid going backwards to Win XP that would be great. Otherwise, we will have to install Win XP.

[NeilZ]

Is PowerChurch compatible with Microsoft Vista? Is so, what version is compatible v9 or v10? If not, when will PC become compatible with Vista. I know Vista was just released, but we are looking to purchase new pcs and everything is coming with Vista pre-installed. If I could avoid going backwards to Win XP that would be great. Otherwise, we will have to install Win XP.

FWIW .... Vista has alot of 'nice' things, but its not a 'step backwards' to use Win XP. Vista may actually cause the way you currently do things to get much harder to do.

However, that said, Vista "should not' have broken programs you currently own, that would be like Microsoft slitting its own throat, as it would have affected users of Office 2003, which would definitely cause many businesses not to upgrade.

Since V9 and V10 are, I believe, based on the latest version of MS Foxpro, I do not believe you'll have a problem with either of them. However, I'd move to version 10 to get the latest upgrade with all the new capabilities.

[najlaa]

Thanks for the feedback, but let me clarify my point. Unlike many other businesses moving to Vista, they may be upgrading to Vista with pcs in which 32-bit software is already installed. I have a 64-bit Vista version (with 64-bit processor) on pcs with no other software installed. Therefore, I will be installing PowerChurch on top of Vista not upgrading to Vista, there is a big difference.

If I am not mistaken, PowerChurch is a 32-bit application and Windows recommends that 32 bit applications run on 32-bit hardware for optimal performance.

I was hoping to hear of someone who actually had performed a similar upgrade to Vista and installed PowerChurch on a clean Vista Operating system or PowerChurch's recommendations on installing PC v9 on top of 64-bit Vista.

But, thanks anyway.

[NeilZ]

Thanks for the feedback, but let me clarify my point. Unlike many other businesses moving to Vista, they may be upgrading to Vista with pcs in which 32-bit software is already installed. I have a 64-bit Vista version (with 64-bit processor) on pcs with no other software installed. Therefore, I will be installing PowerChurch on top of Vista not upgrading to Vista, there is a big difference.

If I am not mistaken, PowerChurch is a 32-bit application and Windows recommends that 32 bit applications run on 32-bit hardware for optimal performance.

I was hoping to hear of someone who actually had performed a similar upgrade to Vista and installed PowerChurch on a clean Vista Operating system or PowerChurch's recommendations on installing PC v9 on top of 64-bit Vista.

But, thanks anyway.

FWIW ... you're not going to find many applications actually compiled for 64 bit processors, and I seriously doubt that Powerchurch will be so compiled at any time in the future.

And although you may not be upgrading to Vista, my notes on this still apply, as I've been betatesting Vista at home for the last year, and have not seen any issues with current Windows applications.

I've not installed Powerchurch on my test machine, but based on my other tests, it should work without an issue.

[Jeff]

We tested version 9 and version 10 on Vista while it was still in beta. We have the full release now but have not installed it yet. PowerChurch can work fine in Vista. There are a couple of issues with the new security levels forcing you to possibly change some permissions depending on where you want to install PowerChurch. Version 10 automatically changes these permissions when you install it. With version 9 you will have to manually make these changes. The issues are NTFS realated and similar to this article on our website: http://www.powerchurch.com/support/answ ... icle_id=41 we will be trying to post some more information soon. The CACLS utility mentioned in the article is replaced by ICACLS in Vista and has new command line options.

We write PowerChurch in a language from Microsoft called Visual FoxPro, Microsoft has been very clear that it will not be upgraded to a 64-bit version. http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vfoxpro/bb190293.aspx Everything we have read from multiple sources has said there is not a problem using Visual FoxPro in 32-bit compatibility mode. See: http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/vfoxpro/bb264582.aspx Some sources say it runs faster, but that could be the availability of additional memory.

[najlaa]

Thank you Jeff for the feedback. You provided exactly what I was looking for. I was concerned about the new security issues with Vista, but you have addressed them. I will follow up with with the MS Knowledge Base articles on visual foxpro compatibility with Vista.

[Zorak]

Here is our official Windows Vista tech article.

http://powerchurch.com/support/answers/ ... icle_id=66