Hard to explore Windows7 compatibility with network devices

Faced with the criticism of the previous generation of operating system Vista, which is blamed for poor compatibility, Microsoft hopes to regain the confidence of Windows NT6 series kernel in the market through the official launch of Windows 7, and expects it to successfully replace Windows XP as a consumer. Love. Microsoft has made sufficient preparations for this, and has released a number of test versions for users to try, in order to find compatibility issues through this extensive trial. Microsoft said: "Vista's launch has been resisted by compatibility, but I believe that Windows7 will not have similar problems under current compatibility." But what about the compatibility of Windows 7? Through the trial of Windows7Ultimate, the author especially explored the compatibility of Windows7 with network devices and common external storage.

After installing Windows 7, Windows 7 automatically recognizes and installs almost all integrated NIC drivers already on the computer. It can be seen that Windows 7's network functions and network card support are better than Windows XP. Moreover, in Windows 7, an icon that can use the Wi-Fi access service can be instantly displayed in the task bar, and the user can click the icon to use the corresponding Wi-Fi service; while the Windows XP or Vista user is using the Wi-Fi connection. Before, you must manually make the appropriate connection settings.

It is worth mentioning that in Windows XP, you need to manually install the driver's Broadcom 4311 wireless network card, which is correctly recognized by Windows 7 and automatically installed. Moreover, it has been proved in the test that the compatibility of the low-power mode of the wireless network controller in Windows 7 has been strengthened, and it is only enabled when the wireless AP device supports the low-power mode, and does not detect whether the Vista cannot be detected in advance. Support for low power modes can cause problems with a sudden interruption in the wireless network connection.

As a necessary device in the network age, in order to better verify the compatibility of Windows7 on various network cards, the author also used a variety of network cards, especially the classic chip network card for testing, in order to better match Windows 7 network compatibility is tested.

Test results show: Realtek8029 network card support is correct, system driver is automatically installed; Realtek8139D network card support is correct, system driver is automatically installed; IntelPRO100/1000 network card network card support is correct, system driver is automatically installed; ZD1211USB wireless network card supports normal, drive Need to install manually, the driver used is Windows2000/XP version; Realtek8180 wireless network card support is correct, system driver is automatically installed; Bluetooth adapter support is correct, system driver is automatically installed......

In the subsequent networking and network transmission tests, these devices that were "collected" in one machine performed normally, did not appear to conflict with each other, and did not show a situation in which they could not be used normally.

In addition, we have tested other common hardware and peripheral drivers. In a test platform, Windows 7 failed to correctly identify the ATI motherboard driver (SM bus controller) and power management driver, but this situation also exists in Windows XP, for which you can download the ATISB600 south bridge driver and the notebook dedicated power supply. The hypervisor is manually installed.

So, comprehensively, Windows 7 can better support a variety of peripheral devices such as mobile phones, digital cameras, printers, external storage, etc. Windows 7 provides a "DeviceStage" function specifically for all peripheral devices. Applications and services are brought together for user management. Through the test of USB hard disk, USB memory, all-in-one, USB card reader, USBMODEM, USB network cable and other devices, Windows 7 can automatically provide driver support and easily identify various USB peripherals.

It is worth mentioning that in order to test the hardware compatibility of Windows7, the author specially selected a 2002 external USBMODEM for testing - using the USB data cable to connect the device to the Windows7 system. After testing the computer, the system correctly identified it as "ADSLUSBMODEM" but did not find the corresponding driver. Since the product has been discontinued, only the Windows 2000 driver is available. I use the Windows 2000 driver to install the driver by manual installation. The method is to double-click the device to be installed or upgraded in the Device Manager. Then select "Upgrade Driver" in the "Driver" option, follow the instructions in the "Upgrade Device Driver Wizard", "Automatically Search for Updated Driver Software" to install the device driver for the hardware. Select "Browse my computer for driver software", "Search for driver software in the following location", and then point out the function-driven path in "Browse" to install the driver manually. Windows 7 "adopts" the driver normally, and the device is used normally.

The whole test results show that Windows7 can identify most network device drivers normally, and some can't correctly identify them. Just download the driver of Vista or Windows7 and use some installation tips to identify them properly. Through a series of hardware product testing, we believe that Windows 7 is very inclusive for network devices and storage devices. It not only provides comprehensive support for the new generation of mainstream products, but also makes the compatibility of older hardware products. Look at each other. Almost all mainstream products can correctly identify and install drivers. Even if you don't recognize the products temporarily, you can get good support by manually installing WindowsVista or even Windows2000/XP drivers without Windows7 drivers. And with the continuous introduction of the Windows 7SP patch package, the number of its driver integration is increasing, and its hardware compatibility will be better and better.