windows-10-logoOn July 29, 2015, Microsoft introduced their latest operating system, Windows 10, which is a free upgrade for qualified users of Windows 7 or Windows 8.1. I have received a few client inquiries asking whether Act! is compatible with Windows 10, so I will attempt to answer that question here.

In short, the answer is yes, particularly for users of Act! v17 or greater. It is strongly recommended that users of Act! Premium (access via web) not upgrade to Windows 10 at this time. But if you are using the Act! v17 locally installed Windows product, Windows 10 is supported. If your version is older than Act! v17, support by Swiftpage as well as Windows 10 patches will not be offered.

There are some steps you will need to do first to prepare before you upgrade to Windows 10:

  • Definitely make sure that you create an Act! backup
  • Make note of your username and password (if you have one). Your username is autofilled when you logon to Act!, and many users have the “remember password” selected, so it isn’t something that you type regular or necessarily remember. You can check your username by going to Tools > Manage Users. You can reset your password, if necessary, by going to File > Set Password. There is a good chance you’ll be prompted for this information when you reopen Act! after the Windows upgrade, so have it readily available or else you will be unable to open Act!.
  • Additonally, Swiftpage provides some helpful tips that you should review before you upgrade to Windows 10, which you can find here What are the best practices for using Act! v17 and later with Windows 10?

It should be noted that Windows 10 introduces many new features that may affect Act!.  For Act! v17 and newer, there are workarounds to address some of the known issues which you can view here Known issues and workarounds for using Act! v17 and later with Windows 10.