Microsoft to provide 'XP Mode' with Windows 7

Gman496

Super Moderator
Staff member
Good o'l Paul Thurrott is keeping us informed as usual....

Microsoft is publicly acknowledging a new XP virtualization technology it is readying for Windows 7 that two Windows experts first revealed late on April 24.

Read more.....

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I don't have much Info on it either Ferg other than I new it was going to be in Virtual mode.

There are some valid points in that article you pointed towards but It's an area that will be much discussed & argued I'm sure.

On my own rig right now I still have XP Pro as my main OS but I also have VM Workstation installed & within that I have the following OS's running,

1. XP Pro

2. Vista Ultimate

3. Windows 7 Ultimate

4. Linux Ubuntu v810

5. Windows 98 SE

6. Windows 2000 Professional

7. Kubuntu Desktop 810

All the above OS's can be run with a double mouse click & all have Internet connectivity & also can use my peripherals such as printers, Sound, Skype, Logmein Etc.

I find it invaluable for my work when dealing with customers on different OS's as it can be mind boggling to try and remember all the mouse clicks for all the OS's, especially when providing support over the phone.

I just run up the virtual machine for whichever OS I'm dealing with.

Another great plus is the ability to try out different software in the virtual environment, that could be a genuine piece of software or a potentially dangerous piece of software ;-) & you don't care if it causes all sorts of problems or even if it infests the system because the virtual OS's have a "Snapshot" feature so if you mess anything or everything up you can just revert to the previous snapshot in a couple of clicks.

What Microsoft are intending, I'm not fully sure yet. If nothing else, they are inadvertently admitting that XP without doubt has been the best OS ever & they know that we know that too :woot:

All we can do is keep an eye on developments.

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Edit:

I'm not saying this will be the case but imagine this,

You love using DVDShrink but discover that it won't work in Windows 7?

So you fire up the virtual XP machine & do what you need to do with Shrink, wouldn't that be nice? :leaving:


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If it works, usably that is, then yes it will be a nice feature to have and would definitley be a selling point. Because as you said, XP is probably the highest regarded OS that ms has published. But if they continue to push it as a key feature and it fails, then the outcome could be a fista disaster.

BTW: As a personal note, I am amazed that you can run that many OS in the first place, let alone keep track of what you are doing. Awesome :)
 
But if they continue to push it as a key feature and it fails, then the outcome could be a fista disaster.

I don't believe MS intend to use it as a selling point or key feature.

It's more of a sweetener for all those XP die hards (Like me LOL!) who refused to accept the demise of the best MS OS ever & remained steadfast in their refusal to migrate to Vista. I'd say MS are hoping that the mention of XP being available within Windows 7 might at best, tease the majority to move over, and at worst ease any bitching they might do over the new OS.

MS have already announced the expected end of support dates for XP and that begs another question.

From a security point of view, "How would users update/patch XP within Windows 7 if no further update were being released"?


I'm keeping a very close watch on the progress of Windows 7 & I'm very pleased with it so far. It has a much much smaller footprint than Vista has, so it's minimum requirements hardware wise is no greater than XP, therefore it's going to run nicely on many existing boxes even some of the much older ones without any need for upgrades. I expect it will be a successful release.

Only time will tell......



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Update.

For anyone who has access to msdn/technet, MS have just uploaded a new version of virtual PC & Windows XP Mode (For Windows 7).


3.jpg



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---------- Post added at 11:25 AM ---------- Previous post was at 11:01 AM ----------

Microsoft's new Windows 7 operating system took a step closer to a commercial launch on Thursday with a "release candidate" being made available on the web. The release candidate, which has all the features of the proposed final version, is currently only available to subscribers to Microsoft's MSDN and TechNet programmes for technology professionals. From 5 May, (Endo will remember this date :Party:) anyone will be able to download it from HERE. The new OS is expected to offer enhanced search and simplified home networking features.


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