How the Microsoft Compatibility Exchange Works

Applies To: Windows 7, Windows Vista

The Microsoft® Compatibility Exchange is a Web service that propagates application compatibility issues from various data sources, such as Microsoft Corporation, independent software vendors (ISVs) and the ACT Community, from the server to the client. This process involves allowing the client to connect to Microsoft using the Internet to check for updated compatibility information.

This topic includes:

• Microsoft Compatibility Exchange high-level process

• Microsoft Compatibility Exchange data sharing

Microsoft Compatibility Exchange Process

After you click the Send and Receive button in the Application Compatibility Manager, the following process occurs:

1. You are given an option to review all application data that will be sent to Microsoft. You can also view and save a log file of the content that is about to be sent. If you want to exclude specific applications from being uploaded to the Microsoft Compatibility Exchange, you can change the corresponding Send and Receive status on the related report screen.

Note

You can exclude applications from transmission to Microsoft; however, if you do not send the application data, you will not receive updated issue data for the application. Additionally, if you are not a member of the ACT Community, your data will not be synchronized with the ACT Community data.

2. The Microsoft Compatibility Exchange uploads your last synchronization time stamp to verify whether new issues occurred since you last synchronized.

3. If the Microsoft Compatibility Exchange finds new issues, it uploads your application evidence data. If the Microsoft Compatibility Exchange does not find any new issues, it sends you a notification, stating that no new issues occurred since your last synchronization.

4. The Microsoft Compatibility Exchange updates your time stamp to reflect your synchronization.

Microsoft Compatibility Exchange Data Sharing

The following sections provide information about which data is shared during the synchronization process and about how data matching occurs so that you receive the most current issue information.

Provider Name	Subprovider Name
Community	Anonymous
My Issues	My Issues

Microsoft Compatibility Exchange - Data Sent to Microsoft

During synchronization, the Microsoft Compatibility Exchange sends the following information to Microsoft Corporation:

• Application information and properties. This data includes the application name, the vendor, the version number, the language, and the deployment type.

Note

The data-synchronization process does not send your list of URLs visited as part of the information exchange. The process only synchronizes your application and application-related data, as described in this topic.

Microsoft Compatibility Exchange - Data Sent to the ACT Community

The Microsoft Compatibility Exchange sends the following information to the ACT Community for each application that you have decided to share with the community:

• Application information and properties. This data includes the application name, the vendor, the version number, the language, and the deployment type.

• Miscellaneous data. This data, which the Microsoft Compatibility Exchange gathers and sends as an XML file, includes the database GUID (which identifies the particular organization that the data is from), the issue data, the issue ID, the platform and destination operating system, the severity, the cause, the symptom, the solution data, the solution type, the issue and solution provider, the issue and solution subprovider, the issue and solution published date, and your risk assessment.

Note

The data-synchronization process does not send your list of URLs visited as part of the information exchange. The process only synchronizes your application and application-related data, as described in this topic.

Microsoft Compatibility Exchange Data Matching

After you send your data, the Microsoft Compatibility Exchange matches your application properties against the known issues, listed in the Application Profile database. The Microsoft Compatibility Exchange downloads any issues and corresponding solutions that match your application set and then stores the information in your ACT database.

Microsoft Compatibility Exchange - Data Sent from Authoritative Sources

For each application that matches an application in the Application Profile database, the Microsoft Compatibility Exchange returns the following information, provided by authoritative sources consisting of Microsoft Corporation and independent software vendors (ISVs):

Data	Description
Risk assessment	The determination of whether the application has compatibility issues
Symptom	Behavior exhibited by the application
Cause	Reason for the failure
Provider and subprovider	Source of the compatibility issue
Issue ID	A unique ID number for the compatibility issue
Severity	Impact this issue has on the application experience
Priority	Degree of impact that this issue has on your organization
Published Date	Date that the source entered the data into the database
Operating system name	Friendly name of the installed operating system
Major version	Major version number of the operating system
Minor version	Minor version number of the operating system
Locale	Language ID of the application to which the compatibility issue applies
Title	Short title of the compatibility issue
Summary	Description of the compatibility issue
Service pack major	Major version number of the operating system service pack
Service pack minor	Minor version number of the operating system service pack
URL HREF	URL of any links provided for the compatibility issue
Provider and subprovider IDs	IDs for the source of the compatibility issue's solution
Solution type	Type of solution provided for the compatibility issue
Locale	Language ID of the application to which the solution applies
Title	Short title of the solution
Details	Description of the solution
URL HREF	URL of any links provided for the compatibility issue solution

Microsoft Compatibility Exchange - Data Sent From the ACT Community

For each application that matches an application in the Application Profile database, the Microsoft Compatibility Exchange returns the following ACT Community information, which you will receive only if you are a member of the community:

Data	Description
Works	The total number of applications that you have marked as Works, based on 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.
Works with Minor Issues or has Solutions	The total number of applications that you have marked as Works with Minor Issues or has Solutions, based on 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.
Does Not Work	The total number of applications that you have marked as Does Not Work, based on 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.

See Also

Concepts

Microsoft Compatibility Exchange Technical Reference
ACT Community Technical Reference
Selecting Your Send and Receive Status
Sending and Receiving Compatibility Data