Vista - Old software for Vista

I recently bought a new dell with Vista. My last OS was XP, the XP system allowed me to download my old software, Lotus, WP and Quicken, vista will not. Will I have to purchaser all new software is their a way of downloading my existing programs?

You can try open office which is free and has many of the type of applications you require.
I dont know if you can import the data files from the programs you have mentioned though.

I don't use office type apps but most other things I've found work in Vista64. You can try compatibility mode if an app doesn't work normally. Many freeware apps have Vista equivalents or have been updated to work with Vista now. Check out Softpedia.com. There's tons of freeware on that site and they are pretty good about updating in a timely manner(whenever I notify them any of my programs have been updated most of the time the new version is up the next weekday.)