Which Windows® Edition?

Syscob Export-It and Export-It Plus may be installed on any edition of Windows® from Windows 95 or NT4 through Windows 8 or Server 2012.  That means, in Microsoft terms, it is a “legacy” application (i.e. an application that can run on Windows® editions prior to the latest from Microsoft).  However, Microsoft recommends Windows 7 Professional or Windows 8 Pro editions for business use (see sidebar) and Syscob cannot guarantee operation of its business software under the restrictions Microsoft imposes on editions intended only for “home” use.

Therefore, if a computer on which Syscob Export-It or Export-It Plus is to be installed comes with a “home” edition of Windows 7 or Windows 8 then it is very strongly recommended that its Windows Anytime Upgrade facility be used to upgrade to Windows 7 Professional or the Windows 8 Pro Pack be applied to Windows 8 home edition before Syscob software is installed.

To check the edition of a Windows 7 machine run the System applet in the Control Panel.  The edition will be visible in a window like this:

Use Either a 64-bit or 32-bit Edition

Another complication is “32-bit” versus “64-bit” editions of Windows 7.  In theory a 64-bit system can be faster, for compute intensive tasks like 3D game graphics, if the application is specifically written for a 64-bit environment.  However, such programs are exceedingly rare in business (even Microsoft Office® has issues on a 64-bit system with virtually no performance benefit and the Microsoft Bing® web search engine automatically switches to a 32-bit edition of Internet Explorer because of some 64-bit issues).  As at the start of 2013 most IT organizations will be deploying 32-bit application software, such as Syscob export applications, almost exclusively.  For that reason a 32-bit version of Windows 7 may be the choice of an IT staff.

A 32-bit application can also be installed to run in a 32-bit environment on a 64-bit edition of Windows®—if the rules presented on these pages are followed.  On 64-bit editions of Windows® a 32-bit application uses the “Win32-on-Win64” [WoW64] facilities inherent in 64-bit versions.

Or Install in a “Virtual PC”

Alternately, Microsoft provides an “XP Mode” feature for Windows 7, but it cannot be installed on “Home” editions of Windows 7 (another reason to upgrade such to a Windows 7 Professional installation).  To run in a 32-bit environment under Windows XP SP3 on a 64-bit edition the “XP Mode” feature of Windows 7 can be downloaded and installed.  Although called “XP Mode” by Microsoft this 3-part download consists of a “virtual machine”, a set of update patches for it and a complete copy of Windows XP Professional SP3!  This is the Microsoft “solution” for 32-bit compatibility (believing that IT staff often miss the simpler and more direct solutions of preparing WoW64 or running Windows XP Professional natively on the computer).

Windows 7 “XP Mode” can be downloaded from:
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx

Once “XP Mode” is installed the 32-bit application can be installed on the 32-bit virtual machine which the “XP Mode” feature creates.  Syscob Export-It and Export-It Plus can be installed in an “XP Mode” virtual machine on 64-bit editions of Windows 7 (and are in such use at customer sites), but they can also be installed in the native Windows® 64-bit environment if the rules presented on these pages are followed.  Meaning that the choice between installing 32-bit “legacy” applications natively on a 64-bit system, versus installing them under the “XP Mode” (or other) virtual 32-bit machine, is typically made by the IT support staff based on projected support cost comparisons for the two alternative environments.

Which Windows?

Windows XP remains the most successful, most secure and most widely deployed version of Windows® and will continue to be supported for at least two more years.  Even as at January 2011 there were about three [3] times as many Windows XP systems in use as there are deployed Windows 7 or 8 systems.  But increasingly Microsoft has been coercing manufacturers to only supply Windows 8 or 7 on new machines (even though most pre-installed Windows 7 systems qualify for a free “upgrade” to Windows XP).

Unfortunately, the OEM contracts encouraging pre-installation of Windows 8 result in vendors often “tying” a non-business [“Home”] edition of Windows® to a PC that will be used for business.  This is especially true for notebook, and netbook, computers.

Windows 7 Home Premium is a common pre-install on notebook machines (as is Windows 7 Basic on netbooks), but Home Premium and Basic are both “Home” editions, as is Windows 7 Ultimate, and are not what Microsoft recommends for business use.  Microsoft recommends Windows 7 Professional or Windows 8 Pro for business use because it includes “business network” features that are not included in the “Home” editions (i.e. “If you use your PC for work, you'll want Windows 7 Professional.”).

32-bit versus 64-bit

The selection of “32-bit” versus “64-bit” editions of Windows 7 is a matter of “you pay your money and take your choice”.  For the Syscob Export-It and Export-It Plus applications either can be used.  In practice the decision is likely to be based on an IT-imposed decision or what came pre-installed on a new computer.  For either choice it is still necessary to perform the preparation described on these web pages.