Microsoft Picture It incompatability with Windows 7 and alternatives for .mix files.

Anonymous

I have been using Microsoft Picture It for years to design tons of graphics for my business and now I have purchased a new pc loaded with Windows 7 and find that my true love Picture It! is not compatable. I never dreamed this would be the case for a software that isn't even a decade old or that new pc I just spent thousands on would be sitting right back at the store it came from. I really feel that Microsoft has cheated me out of something I paid for and invested so much work in by making it unusable and it has brought my small business to a standstill. What other program is available that is compatable with Windows 7 that will allow me to edit and view existing .mix and other Picture It! format files and contain all the capabilities of Picture It? I would be willing to purchase additional software from Microsoft to make Picture It compatable to Windows 7 if necessary.

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Anonymous

Hello all,

I know that you are all disappointed that Microsoft Picture It is not compatible with Windows 7.

Your feedback would be better heard if you send it to the Windows 7 Feedback site.

http://mymfe.microsoft.com/Windows%207/Feedback.aspx?formID=195

These are your options when software is not compatible:

If the program is not compatible, then you may try to install and run the program in compatibility mode.

Use the following steps:

1) Right click on the Program

2) Click on Properties

3) Click on Compatibility tab

4) Select Run this program in compatibility mode and select Windows XP, Windows Vista or whatever operating system the program was running successfully.

Refer to the link here: Make older programs run in this version of Windows

http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows7/Make-older-programs-run-in-this-version-of-Windows

If you run Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate version, install Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP mode (http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/default.aspx) and execute your software in Windows XP.

If you run Windows 7 Home Premium, try VirtualBox (www.virtualbox.org) or VMware Player

(www.vmware.com) or any other 3party virtualization software and install a separate copy of Windows XP (either Home Edition or Professional) for that purpose. You can find virtualization software free of charge that will run on Windows 7 Home Premium.

Sincerely,

Marilyn

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320 additional answers

Anonymous

2015-12-10T00:52:35+00:00

16Yes, exactly. Nothing else does the same job. It is still simply the most brilliant program of its kind, and the product it turns out in the way of photo-quality collages is just stunning.

I don't understand Microsoft, either, for having tried to kill the best program they ever made. It almost seems as if they WANT to drive you to Linux!

I've been keeping a couple of older computers running Windows XP for years, and still have them running it, just to be able to use the full features of Picture it. I've only been experimenting with Windows 7 and Windows 10 because it's becoming harder all the time to find replacement parts for those old 'puters when they need a transplant. I mean, have you looked for PC2100 RAM recently?? And is anybody on this planet besides me still using a genuine Compaq Evo 510 with a P-4 1.5 in it??

Picture It is that irreplaceable to me!
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Anonymous

2015-12-09T23:39:39+00:00

I am fortunate to have upgraded from 7 to 10 and still have the program work. I play with photos and like the photo app on 10 and several photo apps in the store. I still find my going back to Picture it for features not on the other apps.
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Anonymous

2015-12-09T23:18:51+00:00

I agree. Nothing beats Picture It. Why on Earth Microsoft would not keep it going is baffling. Why would they be so cruel to customers who plead for this app.

This experience with microsoft leaves a bad taste in my mouth when it comes to considering a mobile device platform. not going to make the same mistake with a device.
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Anonymous

2015-12-09T22:27:37+00:00

16Certainly there are programs that will doctor a photo. I use Jasc Paint Shop Pro 6.2 and 7.4 -- considered unsupported since Corel consumed Jasc. If all I want to do is lighten or darken or change the contrast or the color balance, they make it easy. Paint Shop Pro will work under Windows 10 at least as far back as version 4. While older Microsoft programs are balking and moaning during install, Jasc almost leaps off the disk and charges the hard drive yelling, "Let me make things pretty!"

But while those versions do support layers and transparency, and will cut items out of a picture to allow for layering them into another, it's much complicated there than in Picture It.

There's just nothing that takes the place of Picture It when it comes to composition photos and collages. You can download the free version of a program that calls itself "Collage" something or other, but all it makes are what I would classify as scrapbook pages, and that can be done easily in either Paint Shop Pro or Picture It. I certainly wouldn't spend a hundred bucks on it!

You might keep it in mind the next time you do a clean install that Picture It can be installed and used on either Windows 7 or Windows 10. Working through the workbench tab is really no more complex than using the now-unreliable Projects tab; it's just a matter of remembering that you have to do it that way now.

I do so wish there were a "Picture It Project" dedicated to keeping Picture it alive, as there is for Windows Media Player Classic, though. Barring that, I wish Microsoft would start producing the program again, since the original, which dates back to Windows 95, is still being used, even if only for its templates and backgrounds. Turning it into "Digital Image" was a mistake they could have recovered from!
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