Believe it or not, way back when Windows Vista was in beta, there were a bunch of “app compat guys”. Over the years, many of us have moved on to other things but one guy has stood the test of time. Chris Jackson has earned the title of “The App Compat Guy” hands down. Chris is always a joy to watch and I recommend watching his recent appearance on the Edge Show at TechEd. Chris talks about how compatibility has changed over the years and gives his insights.
As a bonus, I’ll share my favorite Chris stories… Back when we were doing a lot of App Compat stuff with ISV’s in building 20, Chris was visiting Redmond and stopped by. There used to be an Xbox room with a nearby kitchen stocked with really good ice cream bars. Chris had never played Guitar Hero before and he tried it out one afternoon. I saw him the next day looking very tired. He played the game for 12 hours straight until 4 am only stopping to eat ice cream bars. 