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Can a Windows XP computer read data generated by a Windows Vista computer and vise versa?

I have a Windows XP computer and I'm planning to buy a Windows Vista laptop. I'm afraid the two might have incompatibility issues when transferring files and documents between the two.

Public Comments

1. XP and Vista both use the same kind of files, so either one can read files from the other... networking the two, now that's a different story, it's not easy...
2. As long as you can run the program that created the data, you'll be able to read the data. Reading data is rarely a problem. Program compatibility can be, but I very highly doubt that it will be. When it comes to programs, Vista and XP are very compatible. (Hardware, however, can be another story)
3. If you generate a Document or picture in XP, Vista can read it. IF your Vista machine has Office 2007 and you create a document with Word 2007 or Excel 2007, and save it. Older versions of Office will not be able to read it because the default setting for Office 2007 is to save all files as DOCX for word documents. Office 2007 adds the X to the file type and only office 2007 can read them. HOwever you can SAVE AS DOC. Other than that, Files can be transferd back and forth between vista and xp without any problems.
4. Vista is still generation of Windows XP. Cause of that it has compatiblity with previous version.
5. Shouldn't be any problem at all. They both use the same types of files. To be more precise, windows vista and windows xp does not create or generate the data. The programs that run on those operating systems create the files and data contained in them. So, a word document can be seen on both machines. Pictures created by MS paint use the same file formats. If you have program that creates its own specific files, and that program is not on the new machine, you could have a problem opening it. Example: If you have Microsoft Office on the XP machine, and you create a spreadsheet file. You will need to have a program on the vista machine that will also open that spreadsheet file also. Hope that clears things up.