ACT! Compatibility with Windows 8

If you are buying a new computer:

We highly recommend you upgrade to Act! v17 or v18 for the best experience.

Act! v18 is the newest version released in Dec 2015.  It is compatible with Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, Windows 7, Windows Vista, and can be upgraded on Windows XP.

Act! v17 works very effectively with nearly every version of Windows & Microsoft Office.  It will remain under official Swiftpage support until 11/30/2017.  This means that there will be continued patches & service packs released to keep Act! v17 running smoothly.  Another important consideration is that many new computers are bundled with Microsoft Office 2013, which is only supported by Act! v17 and Act! v16.

This guide is intended for Act! users who are switching to Windows 8 or Windows 8.1 but want to keep their current outdated edition of Act!.

Windows 8.1 (32-bit & 64-bit) and Windows 8 (32-bit & 64-bit)

These versions of Act! (Pro & Premium) can be installed and run without any issues.

• Act! v18
• Act! v17
• Act! v16
• Sage ACT! 2013

These versions of Act! can be installed and run in our tests, but are not officially supported by Swiftpage.  This means that there are no ongoing patches or updates for these versions. There are minor issues with these versions & Windows 8.1 which will never be fixed unless you upgrade Act!.

• ACT! 2012
• ACT! 2011
• ACT! 2010
• ACT! 2009

Any earlier editions not listed above failed to install on Windows 8.1 in our tests.

Windows 8 RT OS

The Windows 8 RT OS for the Microsoft Surface RT tablet is not compatible with any versions of Act!.  The Surface Pro, however, uses a full version of Windows 8 and is therefore compatible.

See our full post on installing Act! on a Surface Pro here.

Microsoft Office 2013 Compatibility

Act! v17 and Act! v16 are the only versions that will work with 32-bit Microsoft Office 2013.  No version of Act! is yet compatible with 64-bit Microsoft Office.  This is not to be confused with 64-bit Microsoft Windows, which does work very well.

Act! can still be installed and function completely independently of Microsoft Office.  However, you will lose valuable integrations such as Outlook history recording, Excel imports/exports, Word mail merge templates, and Outlook email composing.