CODEWITHSUNDEEP
visual-studio-2008.net-3.5visual-studio-2005.net-2.0
CODe
CODe

Reputation: 2301

What platforms are my projects compatible with?

I've known for some time that the different visual studio releases provide support for different operating systems. I've made a project in 2008, and need it to be compatible in XP, Vista, and Windows 7. I'm realizing now this may have been a mistake, and I maybe should have developed in 2003 or even 2005.

Question #1: Is there a way to get my project to run in XP and Vista? It runs in Windows 7, but I've tried it in Vista and it crashes before the welcome screen, and since XP is older than Vista, I'm guessing it has similar disastrous effects on XP as well.

Question #2: What is it that causes the differences between the releases, and why does my program only work in Windows 7 (that I know of) at the moment?

Thank you very much, I've tried to do research on the subject, but it's quite scattered out, and I figured quite a few of you have a lot of knowledge regarding my question.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 54

Answers (2)

Paul Sasik
Paul Sasik

Reputation: 81429

A few things to try for #1:

  • If you're on a 64 bit platform, change your build target to x86 - that should run on both architectures
  • You can also specify the .NET framework version - 2.0 is most ubiquitous and therefore most backward compatible. Just know what you're losing some 3.0 and 3.5 goodies
  • Is your project using Windows 7-specific features? If so, then lose them.
  • Any other dependencies on libraries that might not automatically exist on machines you deploy to?

You didn't specify but I'm guessing based on your previous questions that you're using C# and .NET.

For #2: It's probably symptoms of my troubleshooting suggestions for #1. Creating a 64 assembly and trying to run on 32 bit can fail. Running with a newer framework on a machine with an older .NET install might fail...

The strange thing about this is that usually there are very verbose .NET errors for this kind of stuff. Your symptoms actually sound more like c/C++ apps blowing up quietly... odd.

And to answer your title question: VS 2008, since it can target .NET 2.0, should be able to run on WinXP and 2003 Server w/o too much trouble. I think even Windows 2000 with the latest service pack can run .NET 2.0 apps.

Upvotes: 3

EnabrenTane
EnabrenTane

Reputation: 7466

I am guessing you are writing C++

Your project is compatible with Visual Studio 2008. If install VS2008 on your vista test machine and compile it locally it should run there.

My deepest regrets. You are using "Windows Extensions". They are great, until you want to change something.

My best advice would be to do development on XP, since Windows is backwards compatible to 95.

One thing you could try is using the (Warning Level 4) \W4 compiler flag and fix all issues reported. . However, if you are where I think you are, this will be a very long list.

If there is a ANSI compilation flag I suggest it as well, but I don't believe Visual Studios has one (thus your problem)

Upvotes: 0

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