Using Home Cookin with Windows 7

Update April 2, 2010 - This review was written in 2009, just before the release of Windows 7. The few minor issues mentioned in the review were resolved in July 2009 with the release of version 5.9. I now use Home Cookin full time with both the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7, and many of my existing customers have switched to Windows 7 also. It works equally well with Windows Vista and XP.

Home Cookin no longer supports Windows ME, 98, or 95, so I am leaving this review active as a reference for users planning to upgrade to Windows 7.

Home Cookin is ready for Windows 7

Microsoft will be releasing the new Windows 7 operating system in October 2009. While Home Cookin Recipe Software already works with XP and Vista, new OS upgrades often cause compatibility problems. So, I thought I would give users a first look at Home Cookin running on Windows 7, and discuss a couple of issues you might encounter.



Just to clarify my setup, I am running the Windows 7 RC1 evaluation version on a virtual machine using Sun's VirtualBox software. Windows 7 installed quickly and properly configured my hardware and network settings with virtually no input from me. I have a fairly complicated collection of hardware, so this was a great first impression compared to Vista and XP. And while I haven't used Windows 7 long enough to be really comfortable with it, I do think it looks better, operates faster, and has far fewer security warnings than Vista. This release might finally be worth the upgrade.

As most users would do, I logged onto the Mountain Software Web Site using the supplied Internet Explorer 8. I downloaded the Home Cookin 5.8 trial version, saving it in the default "Downloads" folder. From there I was able to install Home Cookin quickly and easily, with no errors and minimal security warnings. A big step forward compared to the overly paranoid Windows Vista.

Once installed, Home Cookin opened normally, all screens looked and performed as usual, and every operation I tried worked perfectly. I added and edited recipes, moved recipes between chapters, prepared grocery lists, planned meals, and much more with ease.







In short, Home Cookin worked just as well on Windows 7 as it does with Vista and XP. The easy to use interface performed perfectly with no errors, odd displays, or other crashing problems. However, I did encounter two issues with Windows 7 that indirectly imposed limits on Home Cookin.

First, Windows 7 does not install an email client (Outlook Express) like past versions of Windows. This prevents Home Cookin from sending recipes or help requests by email. Thankfully, Microsoft offers a free "Windows Live" pack that will install a mail client. After a few minutes configuring Windows Live, Home Cookin had no difficulties emailing recipes or other emails on Windows 7. Of course, Home Cookin gracefully detects the missing email client if you have not installed Windows Live. [April 2010 Update: I recommend the free Thunderbird email application to replace the lack of email client in Windows 7.]

The second issue is common with new OS upgrades, the lack of driver support for existing hardware. In my case, there is no printer driver available for my networked Brother HL-5250DN laser printer. I checked with both Microsoft and the printer manufacturer and neither had a working driver yet. Hopefully that will be addressed before the October release of Windows 7, but for now it prevented me from testing the print features of Home Cookin. However, I have no reason to believe there will be any issues once a working printer driver is available.

Obviously, my testing was limited, but users should feel confident Home Cookin Recipe Software will work with Windows 7 if they buy new computers or upgrade their existing operating system. I will continue testing in the coming months, and will monitor feedback from users. If anything should turn up later on, I will do my best to fix any issues as quickly as possible.