Using the software with Windows Vista and Windows 7:
The software runs under the MS .Net Framework version 2 which is the Vista version of the framework.
The software is developed on a Vista computer.
Hence the software automatically works on all versions of Windows: 2000, 2003, XP, 2008, Vista & Windows 7.
If you are not using Windows XP-SP2 or Vista you may need to download the free dot net framework V2.

Making Vista run faster:
We find that it runs a lot faster if the Screen Enhancements are turned off.
- To do this we Click on Start and right-click on Computer and choose Properties.
- Then we Click on Advanced System Properties.
- Under the Advanced Tab we click on Performance Settings.
- In the Performance Options we choose the Adjust for Best Performance Radio Button.
- Then in the check boxes we enable "Smooth Edges of Screen Fonts".

What is different with Vista and Windows 7:
Windows Vista introduced the concepts of Folder Lock-Down and User Access Control.
Every folder on the computer now has folder permissions so that Viruses and Piracy programs cannot change or execute software without the user's permission.

When you want to do something that voids this policy the UAC pop-up shows and asks your permission.
If you are logged into a Vista or Win7 computer as the administrator, you are not actually allocated admin rights until you give permission to the UAC pop-up screen. However if you disable UAC in the User Accounts then your computer becomes more like XP and Admin rights are maintained.

If you use data in the Program Files folders and the data folder write permission has not been allowed, then Windows will hide your data in a Virtual Program Files folder. (This is called Windows Virtualization.)
If you use this virtual data and then later allow write permission or disable UAC, then you will connect direct to the Program Files folder and not to your old Virtual data and will have to locate it using explorer.

The Strategy Map Scorecard software V3, V4 & V5 must install and use data into the Program Files/AppliedPC/StrategyMapScorecard folder to maintain uniformity with Windows XP.
Hence our installer will change the folder permission so that the new data can be written.
When we release our new version 6 we will use the Program Data folder for our data, instead of the Program Files folder.

Using the Vista 64 bit version:
Almost all software in the world is written for 32 bit processors and one of those is Microsoft Access with the dbJet database system that is used by Outlook, Access and Powerpoint.
We have customers using Vista 64 bit and have been advised that the software runs well on this system and also on MS-SQL 64 bit servers.
However when we upgraded our development system to Microsoft Visual studio, we found that the Pro version would not run on 64 bit computers.
Hence our V4.5 needs to be used, instead of the latest V5 build.

Using the software with Open Office:
The software does not need Microsoft Office or Microsoft Access and we have customers who use Open Office.
It is absolutely essential that all the service packs be carefully installed as per the installation walkthrough document on our downloads pages.
If you intend making heavy use of the software, then we strongly suggest that you use Windows XP with ServicePack 2, or Vista, and install all the Microsoft updates.
We would prefer it if all computers had at least MS-Office 2003 installed.
- However when we produce Version 6 using a different database system, this will not be an issue.

Vista 64 bit version - more info in FAQ:
We also have added some details in our FAQ section.

Version 6 of our software:
With Version 6 we will not be using the dbjet database for the Professional License.
For the Pro version, we will be using a database system called VistaDb (no relation to Windows Vista).
VistaDb is fully 64 bit compatible, so there are no 64 bit compatibility problems.