Windows 7

I have done some extremely cursory testing with a Windows 7 beta. The situation seems very similar to what we are seeing with Windows Vista - information on what we found there is in the ETC Vista Compatibility Quickguide.

Doubtless we'll be doing more testing as 7 becomes more mainstream, and we'll keep you all posted on results. I would say that the current software will likely all be updated to work on 7, but the situation with legacy software will be similar to Vista.

-Tom

I'm running Windows 7 RTM at home and the Eos/Ion/Element OLE seems to function just fine.  I didn't have to do any tweaking or anything, just install.

I was just on site yesterday doing some service for an existing two year old install.  They had CEM+ code 2.1-ish...in their racks.  I was able (after installing the UA string emulator into IE8) to browse into the racks and pull off the config without any issues. 

In a couple weeks, I'll be attempting to use TeraTerm with a USB --> Serial cable to configure a switch.  I'll also be editing a Paradigm config for this same job.  I'll post back if I encounter any W7 weirdness...

-Abby

Another update re Windows 7...

I just turned on a system a couple days ago...working full in a Windows 7 environment (without reverting to Virtual XP).  I used the following programs, all successfully...

1) LD and CD 1.1.2

2) DimStat 3.3

3) GCE 1.2*

4) Sensor+ Connect via Internet Explorer 8 with the UA String patch to emulate IE6

5) Tera Term 4.64 with Radio Shack's Gigaware USB to Serial adapter

* When I first tried to install GCE on my machine a week or so ago, I had some issues and it failed to install repeatedly.  My User profile and My Documents folder paths are configured with my Server Path (even though I have the ability to use them offline / roaming), instead of just my local C:\.  I've had this issue with a couple other software installs, too. (They all seem to result in MS error 1606, if you care...) My work-solution was to just wait until I was in the office and connected to the server to install.  This happened to me the other day when I was nowhere near my server to plug in and solve the issue, so I installed that particular piece of software in Virtual XP and it worked for me until I could install it on the Windows 7 side.

Hope this helps someone...

-Abby

Just out of curiosity, what make/model of machine did you get, and with what processor installed?

I'm in the midst of acquiring my next laptop, and for the moment have requested it ship with a Win7 pro license and an XP Pro downgrade, but I may end up bumping right back up to Win7 if your experiences keep panning out.

Thanks.

My laptop is an HP Pavilion dv7 3065dx. Overall, I am extremely happy with it.  Takes about half the time that my old machine did to boot up, which is nice.  I will get more used to it as I go, but I'm finding lots of instances where I have to grant permission on a case by case basis for updates, downloads, etc...which I'm not used to...but part of that may be my unfamiliarity with Windows 7 and as I learn more about it, I may end up changing enough of those default settings to avoid more of those instances. 

It REALLY doesn't like me having the firewall turned off, when I need to do so, but it operates fine (just an annoying warning message or two).

Came with Windows 7 Home Premium but upgraded to Windows 7 Pro for the Virtual XP features.  As Derek said several posts ago, not all Windows 7 machines are built alike...there are only certain chipsets that allow for Virtual XP. 

My particular machine's specifics are as follows:

2.4GHz AMD Turion II Ultra Dual-Core Mobile M600

RAM- 4GB (I'll eventually upgrade this to 6, I think)

64 bit OS

One thing it DOESN'T have, is Bluetooth, and I'm pretty bummed about it, but I was in a frantic rush to replace my old machine, and was very limited with the Virtual XP / Processor options.  It only has 3 native USB ports (my old machine had 4) so I'm finding that slightly challenging (one port for wireless mouse, one port for my bluetooth dongle- if I leave it plugged in, leaves only one port for thumbdrive or other random gadgets).

Good luck with your new machine...

-Abby

So, maybe a real long shot...I don't know,

But is there a chance that Windows 7 will allow access to old fashion serial ports...such as old style Unison serial ports? 

Just a thought...

USB to Serial dongle FTW.

Seriously though, I always keep a USB to serial adapter around for legacy equipment.

As I mentioned in a previous post here at ETC we are looking at Windows 7 carefully, and are in the beginning stages of testing all our legacy software with it.

Once testing is complete we will be giving you a full picture of what we find, including workarounds and so forth. However, here is what we have discovered so far.

Avoid Win 7 64 bit if you need to work with legacy systems, especially Unison

Unison Lightmanager is a Windows 16 bit application; support for 16 bit applications is not present in 64 bit versions of Windows. Lightmanager will not run at all. SLTA applications, including EELoad, also do not seem to work.

Most newer software seems to work with 64 bit systems, although there are a few specific things you need to do to get network services working with it.

Be cautious with USB-Serial adapters

It's true that many USB-Serial adapters will work with ETC equipment OK; however we have seen exceptions, especially with EELoadNT and SLTA kits. Since there are so many varieties of these, you mileage may vary - we can't test them all. Main thing is before you are relying on it to go to site and configure a system, make sure you know it will work!

We'll keep you all posted on results of our testing. If there's anything specific you want to know before you buy a new laptop, feel free to give us a call at the usual tech support numbers.

Tom

I believe the Dell Latitude E5500 has a native serial port built in.  I'll let you know once I have it configured if it plays friendly with legacy unison Serial ports.  I am assuming that the old Win98 serial ports still won't work, but I will try the XP version when I get a chance. 

I never had much luck with USB to serial adapters, and I always looked for a built in serial port due to the fact that another manufacturer's software only supported PCMCIA to serial adapters, and not USB versions. 

I'll post any unusual results when I get them.