Does everything that works on XP work on Vista or do I need some kind of patch?

Most xp programs will run on vista..some will not.

Its a hit and miss process right now.

You can also change the performance settings on vista to 'adjust for best performance'.

That will turn off the fancy graphics and make it look mostly like winxp. The old winxp theme is still available for those who dont want to have to deal with the new layout.

It is very possible you will need up dates to your XP software to work on vista. It also possible that you'll need to buy an update or find different software. This is one of the problems people complain about with vista. I had a couple programs I was able to find updates for and 2 i had to buy new versions.

My suggestion is try to install the software. Some stuff will run ok without any change. If the installation fails, or the program doesn't work, then go to there support web pages and see if the is a vista upgrade. If there is they should have instructions to follow.

Another available option, if your tech savvy enough, is to dual boot XP on your Vista box. I've included a link to instructions I've successfully used. You'll need to check with your PC's support page to see if the have the necassary Vista drivers. If they don't, then this option may or may not work. One laptop I dual booted for a student was a toshiba. They didn't have XP drivers so I had to go to the hardware vendors (sound, video, etc) to find vista drivers. This task is not for the squeamish.

Hope this helps and Good Luck

most softwares for xp work on vista just fine, youll just need to have the admin. privileges and if it still doesn't work you can set the compatibility mode of the proggy to winXP. this should give you a workaround for most apps.

compat. mode can be accessed from the properties dialog of the respective apps. just right click on the EXE or the shortcut and goto the compat. tab. and from the drop down list select the appropiate environment.

I'm in IT/desktop support, I would highly recommend checking all hardware compatability before using Vista...there are still quite a few devices that are not compatible w/ Vista.

XP works just fine....well, keeps my employed, anyways...so I've got that going for me...which is nice....

No, No, No. There are quite a few programs that won't work with Vista but do work with XP. Be aware.

No, everything doesn't work for sure. Scan your computer with Vista upgrade advisor, available at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/windowsv...

If anything needs to be changed or is a question mark, it will tell you.