Microsoft Talks Windows 7 Logo Program

Look for this sticker to find out if it's tested for Windows 7.

One of the advantages that PC users always tout over Linux and Mac users is the compatibility of the Windows platform. Most things are designed for PCs, so naturally the PC works with the widest range of software and hardware.

Still, with such a wide range means that there could be many things that might be incompatible or cause conflicts within the system. To mitigate this, Microsoft has created a logo program that identifies a product as "Compatible with Windows 7."

"The Compatible With Windows 7 Logo is designed to help customers make better purchase decisions by identifying products that have passed Microsoft designed tests for compatibility and reliability with Windows 7," said Mark Relph, VP Developer & Platform at Microsoft Canada. "Since we designed Windows 7 to be compatible with the products you use every day, many of these products will just work and thousands of partners are committing to meeting an even higher quality bar."

While a Windows compatibility logo program isn't new, Microsoft said that it added a few new things for the one for Windows 7.

• We focused on robust testing requirements to ensure optimal Windows 7 experience. Products that receive the Logo are checked for common issues to minimize the number of crashes, hangs, and reboots experienced by the user.
• To be granted the Logo, products are tested to work with all versions of Windows 7 including 64-bit. This is an important change since 64 bit systems are becoming more mainstream.
• We changed the testing process, reducing the amount of paperwork required and making it less expensive for our partners to achieve the logo.
• We reached out to partners earlier giving them more time to test their products for use with Windows 7

The new focus on products working with 64-bit Windows 7 is critical, as we're likely to be at a tipping point of where 64-bit systems (which will be common for machines with more than 2GB RAM) will overtake 32-bit.

Microsoft reducing the paperwork, costs and other barriers to attain the logo also means more products will carry the logo. In fact, Microsoft says that over 6000 products that have received the logo.

While a Windows 7 compatibility sticker doesn’t mean much to those of us who are savvy, the mainstream consumer will be able to take a look at the product and know that it should (in theory) work flawlessly with their computer.

How much stock to you put in a Windows compatibility logo?