14 DAY TRIAL // Customers looking to buy new hardware or software products, as well as new computers, should look for the Windows 7 logo ahead of anything else, is the advice that Microsoft gives shoppers. Mark Relph - senior director - Windows Ecosystem Team, notes that especially holiday shoppers should be on the lookout for “Compatible with Windows 7” logoed products, as the logo is designed to be a guarantee of product quality, as well as of interoperability and support when it comes to Microsoft’s latest iteration of the Windows client.
“The challenge with shopping this year is there are simply so many fantastic products to choose from. So here is my advice - looking for products that have earned the “Compatible with Windows 7 logo” is the best way to know the product will work as expected and give you a great experience. These products have passed Microsoft designed tests for compatibility and reliability with Windows 7 including testing for common issues to minimize the number of crashes, hangs and reboots,” Relph explained.
Those of you not familiar with the “Compatible with Windows 7” logo, should know that it is the continuation of past logo programs that Microsoft introduced for older versions of the Windows operating system. Companies that want to have their products logoed for Windows 7 need to have Microsoft test their offerings and certify that what their offer does indeed play nice with Windows Vista’s successor. One month after the general availability of Windows 7, there is a consistent number of products already certified as compatible with the operating system.
“Over 9,000 products have earned the logo so there is a logo’d product in every applicable category: anti-virus, printers, games, networking gear, cameras, digital picture frames, graphics cards, portable media players, productivity suites, monitors and displays, system utilities, and webcams,” Relph added. “With the growing number of Windows 7 PCs running 64 bit, you can also be confident that any product displaying the “Compatible with Windows 7” logo also works on all versions of Windows 7, including 64 bit.”