For engineers and technicians maintaining NI test systems, navigating hardware compatibility is a crucial step to making sure that your hardware and software perform together seamlessly. Microsoft Windows, as the top operating system (OS) in the world, is an incredibly important system to know. In this post, we will take a look at compatibility between NI hardware and Windows versions 10 and 11, helping you to make informed decisions for your systems.
Successful interoperability of a system depends on reliable data communication, and this communication is only successful when the hardware and/or software in question is compatible. In order to be regarded as compatible, all of the parts in a system must agree on the method by which they communicate data. Compatibility requirements ensure that the hardware and/or software is able to function together without requiring modifications. This makes sure that systems, devices, and programs are able to communicate with ease.
When it comes to NI products, it is important to know what OS versions are supported by the hardware in order to avoid potential issues with functionality. One of the biggest benefits of NI hardware and software compatibility is that most of the drivers that run on Windows 7 will also run on Windows 10 and Windows 11 without any issues. If you are ever unsure, the download page of the driver in question should list all of the compatibility.
Another important factor for determining hardware compatibility is the application. Depending on how the parts are being used, they may not work with certain programming environments- even if those programs install and run just fine on the newer versions of Windows. The newest driver is not always the best option, especially when working with legacy hardware. It can take a bit of trial and error, but older versions of a driver can work just fine for your application.
One helpful rule of thumb to go by is that if a driver was released around the same time the hardware was, they are more often than not compatible with one another.
NI drivers can be divided in two distinct components: user-mode and kernel-mode. Essentially, user-mode has restricted access rights and is used to operate applications, while kernel-mode has complete access to all hardware resources and is used to operate core system components.
The architecture of the operating system is identical to the driver’s kernel-mode component, while the user-mode component does not need to be the same. As a result, 32-bit or 64-bit software can be created for any user-mode application. The kernel-mode component for a majority of NI drivers is capable of operating on either a 32-bit or 64-bit operating system. A 64-bit user-mode is a feature that is only found in a few drivers from NI, which means that a driver may be able to run on a 64-bit version of Windows while not fully using the 64-bit architecture. If a driver is using a user-mode architecture that is different from the kernel-mode architecture, a software layer can be employed to change the 32-bit to 64-bit.
Released in 2015, Windows 10 combines features from the previous Windows 7 and Windows 8 OS versions in addition to a variety of new capabilities. The interface of Windows 10 was designed to be more desktop-oriented, and offers a range of features to make it easier to develop engineering applications. Windows 10 is available in either 32-bit or 64-bit.
The 32-bit version of Windows 10 only allows access to 32-bit addresses- meaning that it can operate on x64 hardware but can only use 4 GB of RAM. Both x86 and x64 hardware can run the 32-bit version of Windows 10, with the exception of 64-bit drivers and software that are intended to operate natively on 64-bit operating systems.
The 64-bit version of Windows 10 offers access to substantially larger memory spaces for applications. Only x64 hardware can be used to install this version, and all of the drivers must be natively compatible to function properly. Even so, the majority of 32-bit software programs can function with a 64-bit emulation layer.
Many drivers and platforms are supported by both the 32-bit and 64-bit configurations of Windows 10, including the NI-845x and NI-568x series and the NI-488.2 and NI-5690. Parts from the FieldPoint, NI PXI, Instrument I/O Assistant, NI R Series, NI-Industrial Communications, and NI System Configuration series and platforms are also supported by both bit configurations.
Additionally, the NI-DAQmx and NI-IMAQ suite drivers for NI CompactRIO devices are supported by all configurations. The NI-DMM suite supports all configurations with version 15.2, while the NI-FGEN and NI-HSDIO drivers require version 16 for support of both configurations. The NI-Digital Pattern, NI-Scope, NI-RFSG, and NI-RFSA drivers require version 15.0.2 or higher. The .NET APIs for NI-RFSA, NI-RFSG, and NI-Scope are also supported, requiring version 16 or higher.
Some drivers, including NI-FBUS and NI-CAN, are not supported by the 64-bit version of Windows 10 when using 64-bit software. The RMX-410x is not supported by the 32-bit Windows 10- instead requiring version 20.7 for both of the 64-bit setups.
As of the writing of this post, Windows 11 is the most current version of the Microsoft Windows operating system, and it is a 64-bit OS- the first from Microsoft to exclude 32-bit functionality. However, 32-bit applications can still be used with 64-bit operating systems.
There are many advantages to the 64-bit system. While a 32-bit version of Microsoft Windows can only utilize a maximum memory of up to 4 GB of RAM, a 64-bit architecture is capable of using up to 2 TB of RAM. This increased capacity for accessible physical memory leads to better system performance by removing the need to swap programs between page files on hard drives. A 64-bit CPU can also utilize additional registers in order to speed up program execution.
Compatibility requirements with Windows 11 for NI systems heavily depends on whether a 32-bit or a 64-bit software is being used. The 2022 Q3 version of Windows 11 supports both 32-bit and 64-bit architectures for a wide range of NI platforms and series, such as NI-845x, NI-DAQmx, NI-SCOPE, NI-VISA, RMX-410x, NI- IMAQ I/o, and more. Version 21.5 of Windows 11 supports both architectures for NI software and drivers including LabVIEW Instrument Design Libraries, NI-Serial, NI-488.2, and NI-RDMA. Similarly, both architectures are supports by version 21.0 for both the NI IVI Compliance Package and NI-USRP.
Certain NI series are not compatible with either architecture on Windows 11- these include the NI-ELVISmx, NI-5690, NI-568x, NI- Embedded CAN for sbRIO, and certain PXI (Digitizer) Instrument Design Libraries.
Certain drivers, such as the NI-FBUS, are supported by version 16.0 for 32-bit systems but not for 64-bit systems. Similarly, the NI-272x Reference VIs are supported by version 13.0, but only for 32-bit systems. The NI-VXI driver is compatible with version 16.0 across both system architectures, offering even more support for legacy systems.
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