4

If someone asks a question relating to Windows Vista... Would relatively the same question (wanting to know how to accomplish a task) be considered a duplicate if tied to Windows 7?

If not, Would there be a distinction between Windows XP and Windows 7? Windows 2000?

(Then apply the same idea to apple's operating systems) Should I provide a more specific example?

2 Answers 2

4

In the context of versions, the tags should reflect the scope of the question and answers.

  • If the Q&A is specific to a version, it should be tagged to that specific version.

  • If the Q&A work for every version, you can safely tag it and avoid duplicates.

  • If the Q&A only works for some versions, you could tag it like .

It isn't a problem if the question was tagged too specific, we can retag it as duplicates show up.

The only problem I still foresee is when a question would apply to , and but not to :

7

I think there are two cases.

  • The original question makes it clear that it's for a specific version. In this case, if you have a new question that related to another version of the OS, just ask it and make sure that you reference the old question. Tell us why the solutions there do not apply to the new version. However, it would be preferable to do this if the solutions are drastically different and it's not just a minor change in the name of buttons, menus, etc.

  • The original question does not make it clear. For example, it was written when Vista was still the most recent Windows operating system. In this case, you should probably consider just editing the question to make it broader and place a bounty, in order to attract new answers that focus on newer versions as well. Or edit the existing answers (if any) to include instructions for newer versions, if you can do that.

Without any examples, it's hard to say, and I guess you can leave it for the community to decide whether they want to close it as a duplicate or not. I don't believe there's a general rule here.

6
  • 4
    Keep in mind that probably 80% of things are the same between Vista and 7, so in many cases, you could edit the old "vista" question to apply to 7. Less so for XP though.
    – nhinkle
    Nov 3, 2011 at 22:13
  • I'm asking about a question to which there was no solution posted.
    – wizlog
    Nov 3, 2011 at 22:47
  • @wizlog Then you could probably edit it to make it a bit broader and place a bounty.
    – slhck
    Nov 3, 2011 at 22:48
  • @slhck (unrelated) if I post a bounty to someone else's question, can I pick an answer? Would I get rep for up-votes?
    – wizlog
    Nov 3, 2011 at 22:50
  • @wizlog You can pick whom to award the bounty to - but you won't get reputation.
    – slhck
    Nov 3, 2011 at 22:53
  • 2
    Another issue is users just asking for their particular version, while most or at least the accepted solutions apply to more Windows versions — after it was initially tagged as e.g. windows-vista. In such cases, I recommend editing the question to broaden its scope.
    – Daniel Beck Mod
    Nov 5, 2011 at 7:54

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .