LabVIEW
W11 - LabVIEW compatibility
I tried installing and running LabVIEW 7.1 on Windows 11 and succeeded. Installation had a few minor hiccups but eventually worked. The issue is not so much LabVIEW, although there is the occasional possible problem, but mainly the drivers. If a driver uses a kernel driver component, things can get a lot trickier but Windows 11 has for a large part the same kernel driver model than what Windows 10 had. Windows 11 may look different on the user interface but the underlaying kernel architecture is very much the same as what Windows 10 had. My initial reaction to Windows 11 was, that it is a "new" and "shiny" UI (with many more things hidden away in almost unfindable configuration screens), but the new version number was also for a large part a marketing thing, despite breaking the earlier vow that Windows 10 was going to be the last Windows version that gets released. 😁
The NI compatibility charts are simply what NI has tested and they are based on the principle to never retroactively test older software versions on a new OS when it gets released. This is a resource question. Testing is very time intense and when you start testing older versions retroactively there is always the question where to stop and it opens the flood gates to more requests about: if you tested 2021 why can't you also test 2020, and 2019 and besides why not go back to 2009??
@rolfk wrote:
I tried installing and running LabVIEW 7.1 on Windows 11 and succeeded. Installation had a few minor hiccups but eventually worked. The issue is not so much LabVIEW, although there is the occasional possible problem, but mainly the drivers. If a driver uses a kernel driver component, things can get a lot trickier but Windows 11 has for a large part the same kernel driver model than what Windows 10 had. Windows 11 may look different on the user interface but the underlaying kernel architecture is very much the same as what Windows 10 had. My initial reaction to Windows 11 was, that it is a "new" and "shiny" UI (with many more things hidden away in almost unfindable configuration screens), but the new version number was also for a large part a marketing thing, despite breaking the earlier vow that Windows 10 was going to be the last Windows version that gets released. 😁
The NI compatibility charts are simply what NI has tested and they are based on the principle to never retroactively test older software versions on a new OS when it gets released. This is a resource question. Testing is very time intense and when you start testing older versions retroactively there is always the question where to stop and it opens the flood gates to more requests about: if you tested 2021 why can't you also test 2020, and 2019 and besides why not go back to 2009??
That was my reaction as well. Shiny new (and annoying) UI covering an engine that hasn't changed much under the hood.
@RTSLVU wrote:
No problems with LabVIEW itself on Windows 11 but several third party instrument drivers I require that have their own proprietary installation and DLL are not compatible with Windows 11.
If it is really an instrument driver and not a full driver with its own kernel driver component, the main issue are usually old installer technologies that trip over the Windows version number shenanigans as reported by the various APIs. Microsoft managed to squeeze in changes with that with almost every version in an attempt to work around brain damaged applications doing completely stupid version checks, so those versions are often not even useful hints anymore. To get the real version you have to use prepared macros that will fail on older OS versions because of missing exports or do your own detective work.
Unpacking such installers and installing them manually often works. While NI tends to do the mandatory version change circus on a yearly schedule or more, many third party manufacturers tend to try to point you at drivers on some obscure download server that were released shortly after Windows 95 was the hottest kid on the block. Both extremes are not very convenient for a developer and utterly difficult for end users.
