How to run MicrosoftMax on Windows Vista

In the PDC, many people are so impressed about what Microsoft Max can do. However, Microsoft Max can not be installed on Windows Vista if you use that address they give out on PDC: http://www.microsoft.com/max 

But the demo was run on a Vista machine! There must be some way right? Yes.

Use an XP machine or VM, install WinFX September CTP first (use the link given on Max’s homepage, Max installer can screw WinFX installation on some machine). Then you run the setup program of Max. It will create a folder in C:, say C:\1ab423ae218, and extract the Max package into it.

Now open Command Prompt and type “xcopy /s C:\1ab423ae218 C:\Max”, you will be able to replicate the files without sharing violation errors.

Copy the whole folder “Max” to your Vista machine, run the max.exe. And you have it. Enjoy.