A couple of weeks short of Windows Vista's six months of general availability, Microsoft is applauding the operating system as an apex of compatibility. According to the Redmond company, no other Microsoft product manages to deliver the same level of compatibility with third party software, hardware and devices as Vista does. The claim was made by Kevin Turner, Microsoft Chief Operating Officer at Worldwide Partner Conference 2007 on July 10. Microsoft's perspective over Vista compatibility is in direct correlation with assuring its partners of the commitment to support increasing adoption of the operating system.

Turner however, pointed out that Vista compatibility, is not only a work in progress, but a status quo valid concomitantly with the delivery of the operating system. "And as you look at the applications, you know what, on the application compatibility front, we had the best application compatibility when we launched it that we had had with a product," Turner stated, but revealed that feedback did not always agree with Microsoft's vision of Vista. "What our partners and our customers told us was that it needed to be better," Turner added.

Customer and partner input managed to drive the work poured into making Vista integrate seamlessly with the vast majority of software and hardware products. "And we rallied the team, and we've worked very hard, and I'm proud to be able to tell you today that we have over 10,000 devices now logoed as Vista Ready and Vista Capable. And we're working very hard, we have over 1,900 applications converted, and the team is energized on that," Turner said.

Vista is of course continually maturing when it comes to compatibility. Mike Sievert, Corporate Vice President, Windows Product Marketing delivered his own view on the issue, and said that Vista compatibility is in full throttle with 100% support in Microsoft's grasp. And as the company is getting ready to release the first service pack for the operating system, yet another aspect that was influencing adoption is dealt with. "So we've made a big turnaround on the application compatibility story, and we're just getting started. And it's going to continue to get better and better," Turner concluded.