14 DAY TRIAL // Customers looking to tailor an application to Microsoft’s latest iteration of the Windows client now have a new tool at their disposal. In collaboration with Microsoft, ChangeBASE has introduced AOK4SMB, a Cloud-based offering designed to perform application-compatibility testing and remediation for apps that need to be adapted to Windows 7 Professional. AOK for Small and Midsize Businesses (AOK4SMB) is available for free until the end of July 2010. SMB customers, developers and IT professionals can upload their app into AOK4SMB, and have the tool assess Windows 7 Professional compatibility but also automatically remediate problems, free of charge.
“The ability to ensure application compatibility when migrating to a new operating system is crucial for any organization,” Colin Gray, global sales director, ChangeBASE, noted. In fact, one of the largest impediments associated with businesses embracing a new OS is related to incompatibility worries. Microsoft offers a range of resources capable of allowing customers to evaluate potential compatibility problems, but the twist added by AOK4SMB is that the automatic remediation of issues is also performed.
“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,” Gray added.
AOK4SMB is, in this regard, focused on allowing customers to optimize their applications, so that they can run natively on Windows 7. At the same time, Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate come with Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC. When the two virtualization features are used in concert, they provide a virtualized copy of Windows XP SP3 designed to allow business users to continue running legacy applications.
“We recognize small- and midsize-business customers have a unique and diverse set of needs and they don’t have time to think about technology for technology’s sake. Customers tell us they need an easy way to make sure their applications will work with Windows 7 Professional,” Sandrine Skinner, director of SMB product management for the Windows and Windows Live Division at Microsoft, explained. “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.”