Compatibility issues were the bane of Windows Vista's existence, and Microsoft is on a mission not to go down that road with Windows 7.

In a post on the Windows 7 Team blog, Mark Relph, Senior Director with the Windows Product Strategy Group, checks in with an update on the hardware and software products that work with Windows 7. The crux of the post is that Microsoft is doing all it can to make sure its partners have all the resources to test and build on Windows 7.

Windows 7 Bible: Your Complete Guide to the Next Version of Windows

The software giant has been working closely with partners over the past few months in preparation for the Windows 7 launch on Oct. 22.

Writes Relph: "This includes hosting more than 60 application compatibility labs, 6 logo fests, and outreach to partners in more than 93 different countries. In the Windows Ecosystem Readiness Program alone we now have over 50,000 developers from 17,000 companies using our technical resources to ready their products for Windows 7."

The Windows Ecosystem Readiness Program is designed to help Microsoft partners (independent hardware and software vendors, OEMs) achieve compatibility with Windows 7. It gives partners access to Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 R2 beta builds, development and test toolkits, technical documents and application testing labs.

Two other key points from the post:

- Windows 7 has more applications with the Windows 7 software logo than at launch for any previous release of Windows.

- On the hardware side, 9 out of 10 beta testers and early adopters of Windows 7 have the drivers available for all hardware devices in and connected to their PCs.

Flash memory products maker SanDisk is one Microsoft partner that is Windows 7 compatible. Its Sansa media players are the first portable media players to become certified under the new Windows 7 logo program (Microsoft's Ready. Set. 7 Web site lists what partners are certified with Windows 7)

"Our experience with the Windows 7 logo certification was painless and easy," says Greg Stevens, SanDisk's director of integration and quality assurance for the Sansa products group. "To have that Windows 7 logo on our packaging is important to our users so they know our devices interface well."

For more on the SanDisk's Windows 7 certification with its Sansa players, click here.

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