As you already know, a new version of the Windows operating system called Windows Vista has just been delayed and is expected to ship in Q1 2007. When released most software companies will have to support this operating system. We realize that our customers need to test their products with Windows Vista before it is released, and that is why we have updated TestComplete to version 4.21 to support testing desktop applications under Vista.
TestComplete 4.21 Works with Vista
Officially, we will introduce full support for Windows Vista in TestComplete 5. In the meantime, our customers can use TestComplete version 4.21 to test their applications under this operating system (we used Windows Vista build 5308 in our tests). Please keep in mind that Windows Vista is still in development and we can not guarantee that TestComplete 4.xx will work without problems.
Vista Security and TestComplete
One of the most obvious new enhancements in Windows Vista compared to previous Windows versions is the tighter security model. The new changes in the security model will limit access to data in some applications. You can read more about this at http://msdn.microsoft.com/windowsvista/security/#uap. Some of the changes in the security model of Windows Vista that can cause TestComplete to malfunction:
Even if you are logged into Vista using an administrator account, the applications that you execute will not necessarily have administrator rights. When TestComplete is launched from a user account, it will not have access to some application processes, since administrator privileges are required for this. TestComplete will work incorrectly if its security permissions differ from those of the application under test. Even if TestComplete and your tested application are running under the same user account, they may have different security permissions under Windows Vista. For example, running TestComplete with administrator permissions and running your tested application with user permissions will not work under Windows Vista.
Using TestComplete with Vista
To test your application under Windows Vista, TestComplete and the application you are testing must have the same security privileges level:
If TestComplete has administrator privileges, the tested application must also have administrator privileges. If TestComplete has user privileges, the tested application must also have user privileges.
To launch an application under Vista with administrator privileges, you can right-click on the application shortcut and select Run as administrator from the context menu:
Application Context Menu
You can also modify the shortcut properties, so the application will always be executed with administrator privileges:
Right-click the application shortcut. Choose Properties from the context menu. Switch to the Compatibility tab. Select the Run this program as an administrator check box and press OK to save changes:
Compatibility Tab
If you select the Run this program as an administrator property for TestComplete, you need to make sure to also check this property for the application under test.
Note that when a tested application is launched from TestComplete, the application will automatically gain the same privilege level as TestComplete. So if you call the tested application from the context menu of the TestedApps project item or by calling the TestedApps.RunAll method in your script, you do not need to modify the application properties.