Technical Info: Windows 8 Program Compatibility Assistant (PCA)
The Program Compatibility Assistant (PCA) is a feature in Windows 8, Windows
7, Windows Server 2008 and Windows Vista which has been designed to detect
compatibility issues in older ("legacy") programs. PCA will play a
significant role in application compatibility in Windows 8.
The service displays a compatibility warning window if compatibility issues
have been detected during installation or program starts. The user usually
does have a choice to continue but programs are sometimes blocked from
running as well. If that happens, users have the option to check online for
possible solutions.
Most Windows 8 users will probably notice the compatibility messages after
installing programs and running portable applications. On the new Windows 8
operating system, the attached PCA dialog may appear at the end of an
installation if the setup.exe is *NOT* Windows 8 aware.
How the program behaves after that depends on the option the user selects.
If they pick "Reinstall using recommended settings" the system will remember
(via registry settings) that they picked that option and will begin to "lie"
about the version of Windows the product is being run under when the product
asks for the OS version in the future. Windows 8 will now report that it is
it is "Windows 7", for example. If they pick "This program installed
correctly" the system will remember they responded to the PCA and not "lie"
about the OS. If they pick "Cancel" nothing about the program is remembered
(and the PCA pop-up will continue to appear each time it is launched).
To avoid installer PCA mitigation under Windows 8, you need a Windows 8
aware installation system.
The good news is that the new SetupBuilder 7.6 already lets you compile
Windows 8 "Developer Preview" aware applications to ensure that software
gets installed and uninstalled properly.
--
Friedrich Linder
www.lindersoft.com
+1.954.252.3910
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