PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 Windows Vista Compliance

Windows Vista and the Windows logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation in the United States and/or other countries.

SoftEther completed Windows Vista support for PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 and commenced offering free Windows Vista compliant update files from December 1st, 2006 - two months before the official release of Windows Vista at the end of January 2007. This page provides information concerning PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 software's support for Windows Vista.

Windows Vista Compliance

SoftEther offers official support for Windows Vista for all editions of PacketiX™ VPN 2.0. Windows Vista compliant Build 5280 update files have been available free of charge from the download page from December 1, 2006. Windows Vista compliance related development was carried out on Windows Vista RC2 and tested after the release of Windows Vista RTM (Build 6000). SoftEther has obtained permission to use the Works with Windows Vista logo on the following three PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 products: VPN Server 2.0, VPN Client 2.0, and VPN Bridge 2.0.

Windows Vista compliant update files (Build 5280) are offered free of charge to all PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 users (including users of the Trial Version, and the SOHO/HOME Editions).

Download the latest Windows Vista-compliant build (English version beta)

Supported Windows Vista Editions

PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 supports the following Windows Vista editions:

Windows Vista-Compliant PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 Software

PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 consists of several different software products. All of these products have been updated to run correctly on Windows Vista. Specifically, the following software operates correctly on Windows Vista:

Multiple product editions of the above PacketiX™ VPN Server 2.0 software exist, all of which support Windows Vista (including the Trial Version and SOHO/HOME Editions).

Windows Vista-Compliant Build: Build 5280

Due to certain functions of the Windows operating system that were added or changed for Windows Vista, PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 Build 5210 and earlier versions will not work correctly on Windows Vista.

To use PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 software (PacketiX™ VPN Server 2.0, PacketiX™ VPN Client 2.0, or PacketiX™ VPN Bridge 2.0) on Windows Vista, please ensure you use Build 5280 (released by SoftEther Corporation on December 1, 2006) or later.

Recommendation to Update VPN Server to Build 5280

Even if the computer that you use to run PacketiX™ VPN Server 2.0 is not Windows Vista but an older operating system (such as Windows 2000, XP, and Server 2003, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris or Mac OS X etc), if you intend to have one or more computers running Windows Vista on your virtual network (VPN) we recommend updating your version of VPN Server 2.0 to Build 5280 or later. This recommendation is due to changes in the way Windows Vista handles gratuitous ARP packets.

Points to Note if you performed an Upgrade Install from Windows 2000 or Windows XP to Windows Vista

There are two ways to install Windows Vista: By clean install or by upgrade install.
Windows Vista only supports upgrade installs from Windows 2000 or Windows XP Professional. If you upgrade to Windows Vista from either of these two operating systems, the version of PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 used on the pre-upgrade operating system will only work correctly on Windows Vista after the upgrade if its build number is Build 5280 or later.

If you are using PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 Build 5210 or earlier, it is necessary to install PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 Build 5280 either before upgrading to Windows Vista or after completing an upgrade install to Windows Vista (We recommend installing Build 5280 before performing an upgrade install).

In the case of VPN Client, in principle, after performing an upgrade install from a version of Windows 2000 or Windows XP on which you were using PacketiX™ VPN Client 2.0 Build 5280 or later to Windows Vista, it is highly likely that you will be able to use all functions without having to make any further adjustments. Certain system environments however, require that VPN Client software be reinstalled and virtual LAN cards be recreated after an upgrade install to Windows Vista.

Areas that Required Development in order to Offer Windows Vista Compliance

As for Windows Vista compatibility, PacketiX™ development team focused on providing support for the new functions of Windows Vista listed below.

Known Issues

Compared to previous operating systems, the following issues are associated with using PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 on Windows Vista.

Number "2" looks strange in some fonts

When comparing the screens of previous versions of Windows with Windows Vista, you may get the impression that the bottom left part of the number two ("2") is missing.

The above phenomenon occurs in the user interfaces of PacketiX™ VPN Server 2.0, PacketiX™ VPN Client 2.0 and PacketiX™ VPN Bridge 2.0. This is due to specification (i.e. character shape) changes in the MS UI Gothic font included in Windows Vista. It is not caused by PacketiX™ VPN 2.0. Thank you for your understanding.

Permission is required when creating virtual LAN cards

User Account Control (UAC) is enabled by default in Windows Vista. PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 supports UAC, so when certain special actions are required (e.g. when creating virtual LAN cards etc.), a dialog box saying "Windows needs your permission to continue" is displayed on the screen. This is a Windows Vista specification.

Virtual LAN cards support User Account Control (UAC) - a new Windows Vista security function. They also support kernel mode device drivers, which are compulsory in the Windows Vista x64 Edition.

Planned Response to Future Issues

At the current point in time, SoftEther believes that PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 software operates equally as well on Windows Vista as on previous versions of the Windows operating system. If future changes or the addition of extended functionality to Windows Vista restrict the use of certain functions of PacketiX™ VPN 2.0 software, SoftEther plans to add support for such changes and release such updates in the same manner as Windows Vista compliant updates.