Most Windows 7 testers would agree that Microsoft has done an outstanding job when it comes to hardware compatibility in their upcoming operating system. More hardware is recognized and made functional by the operating system than ever before. But, there are exceptions to the rule and we have seen reports in our Windows 7 forum that some users had problems getting specific hardware to run under Windows 7.
It is therefor still a good idea to find out if computer hardware is compatible with Windows 7 before upgrading to the operating system or building a computer system around it. It is on the other hand safe to assume that pre-build computer systems that ship with Windows 7 will be able to run it without problems.
End users basically have two options to find out if their hardware is compatible. Three, if you add the “try and see what happens” method. The first option is the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor which can perform a scan of the computer system if another version of Windows is already installed on it. But that does not help users who think about purchasing hardware (e.g. a new printer or network card). It also does not help users who want to build a computer system from scratch or have bought one without operating system.
Enter the Windows 7 Compatibility Center; This online service will be the successor of The Windows Vista Compatibility Center. The former is not online yet (Microsoft will release the center with Windows 7) while the latter is available and can be used by Windows 7 users to see if their hardware is supported. This is possible as all hardware that is running under Windows Vista will also run fine under Windows 7.
A beta page of the Windows 7 Compatibility Center is online at the moment. The beta page does not offer search options yet but refers to the Vista page to do the search until the final product is released. The url of the Vista Compatibility Center will also be the url of the Windows 7 Compatibility Center.
And now its your turn: Have you encountered hardware compatibility problems in Windows 7? If so which and were you able to fix them?
