WinXP mode for Win7

[Alucard]

This is pretty super awesome. Win7 just sounds more and more awesome with each day. My friend has installed his on his pc with the release MS released to the public thats pretty much the final. He's loving it so far.

Over a month ago, we were briefed about a secret Microsoft technology that we were told would be announced alongside the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) and would ship in final form simultaneously with the final version of Windows 7. This technology, dubbed Windows XP Mode (XPM, formerly Virtual Windows XP or Virtual XP, VXP), dramatically changes the compatibility story for Windows 7 and, we believe, has serious implications for Windows development going forward. Here's what's happening.

XPM is built on the next generation Microsoft Virtual PC 7 product line, which requires processor-based virtualization support (Intel and AMD) to be present and enabled on the underlying PC, much like Hyper-V, Microsoft's server-side virtualization platform. However, XPM is not Hyper-V for the client. It is instead a host-based virtualization solution like Virtual PC; the hardware assistance requirement suggests this will be the logical conclusion of this product line from a technological standpoint. That is, we fully expect future client versions of Windows to include a Hyper-V-based hypervisor.

XP Mode consists of the Virtual PC-based virtual environment and a fully licensed copy of Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3). It will be made available, for free, to users of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions via a download from the Microsoft web site. (That is, it will not be included in the box with Windows 7, but is considered an out-of-band update, like Windows Live Essentials.) XPM works much like today's Virtual PC products, but with one important exception: As with the enterprise-based MED-V (Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization) product, XPM does not require you to run the virtual environment as a separate Windows desktop. Instead, as you install applications inside the virtual XP environment, they are published to the host (Windows 7) OS as well. (With shortcuts placed in the Start Menu.) That way, users can run Windows XP-based applications (like IE 6) alongside Windows 7 applications under a single desktop.

Obviously, XPM has huge ramifications for Windows going forward. By removing the onus of legacy application compatibility from the OS, Microsoft can strip away deadwood technology from future versions of Windows at a speedier clip, because customers who need to run older applications can simply do so with XPM. For Windows 7 specifically, XPM is a huge convenience, especially for Microsoft's corporate customers, who can of course control XPM behavior via standard Microsoft administration and management technologies like Active Directory (AD) and Group Policy (GP). And it significantly recasts the Windows 7 compatibility picture. Before, Microsoft could claim that Windows 7 would be at least as compatible as Windows Vista. Now, they can claim almost complete Windows XP compatibility, or almost 100 percent compatibility with all currently running Windows applications.

We've both been using and testing Virtual XP for over a month and we we've been dying to communicate what we've discovered, as you might imagine. So here's what you can expect. Paul will publish a high-level screenshot gallery on the SuperSite for Windows showing off Windows XP Mode and what it's like to run Windows XP and Windows 7 applications side-by-side. On Within Windows, Rafael will provide a deep technical dive into Windows XP Mode and explain how it works and how you can make it work the way you want. Later, Paul will add a Windows XP Mode article to his Windows 7 Feature Focus series as well. And of course we'll be covering this feature in-depth in "Windows 7 Secrets," which will be published by Wiley & Sons later this year.

http://community.winsupersite.com/bl...windows-7.aspx





That last screenshot is very cool in terms of compatability. Its Windows XP Mode running Word 2003 under XP and Word 2007 under Windows 7. So both at once. If you tried that with an updated MSOffice with an older version it would implode on you. Massive issues in work places. Very cool.

[CongoJack]

Originally Posted by Alucard

If you tried that with an updated MSOffice with an older version it would implode on you. Massive issues in work places. Very cool.

Very true and awesome, I probably had to explain that a million times in the last few years. Which is nowhere near as much fun as telling the girls in marketing that two monitors don't connect to make a computer.

[Alucard]

You think two monitors is funny. I had to deal with a girl in accounts who wanted two mice put in since she is a left hander and left hand mice will not work with right handed people who sometimes use her pc aswell because the pc knows they are right handed and disables the mouse, so she wanted two plugged in. I was like.......

[CongoJack]

HAHA you should of hooked her up with a trackball and told her it was a 'special' lefty mouse. I'm sure if you taped her using it, a laugh could be had for years.

[Alucard]

I could go one step further and convince her its a microphone aswell.

[CongoJack]

Maybe its just me and I'm a terrible person, but after reading that I couldn't help but think that would make an excellent tv show. Somehow I doubt they would laugh after finding out they're on tape though.

[Alucard]

It would be easy to do aswell but the show would be largely filled with women since thats majority of the office workers I ever see. Probably why theres so many stupidly useless people to service also.

[Seraph]

Wait, isn't this just virtual PC?

The probelm with Virtual PC is that it takes up a lot of resources. It's litereally running 2 OS's on your hardware. For applications like MS Office this is fine, but I wouldn't expect to be running any games this way.

It is cool they are giving away XP licesnses now though.

[Zachalmighty]

Originally Posted by Seraph

Wait, isn't this just virtual PC?

The probelm with Virtual PC is that it takes up a lot of resources. It's litereally running 2 OS's on your hardware. For applications like MS Office this is fine, but I wouldn't expect to be running any games this way.

It is cool they are giving away XP licesnses now though.

Giving them away?! Where?!

[Alucard]

Friend was showing me some other things you can do on win7. You can choose any section thats on your screen, like say if you have the forums viewing at the time through a browser. With this feature you can write over it and then screencapture crop a specific part of the screen you want into a picture file. Pretty cool considering the stuff you can use that for. I mean how often have we wnted to show someone wants on our screen with a problem for example, and we've had to printscreen, open picture program, format it, upload it, etc. This one just click done.

[Seraph]

Originally Posted by Zachalmighty

Giving them away?! Where?!

XP Mode consists of the Virtual PC-based virtual environment and a fully licensed copy of Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3). It will be made available, for free, to users of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions via a download from the Microsoft web site.

Which is great because in the past when you wanted to run a VM you needed the license for whatever OS you were going to install.

And yes, Windows 7 sounds awesome. They fixed the one issue I had with Vista, resource whoring, and added a slew of cool features. The only thing that worries me is that I tried to install the Beta on my machine and it just hung. The same way Vista hung during installation and that was a pain in the neck. I really REALLY love the new taskbar and when I get Win7 I might switch to a side docked taskbar. It was never viable before but now you lose no functionality doing so. Why take up 5% of your screen with the taskbar when you can take 3%?

[Reality]

Originally Posted by Alucard

Friend was showing me some other things you can do on win7. You can choose any section thats on your screen, like say if you have the forums viewing at the time through a browser. With this feature you can write over it and then screencapture crop a specific part of the screen you want into a picture file. Pretty cool considering the stuff you can use that for. I mean how often have we wnted to show someone wants on our screen with a problem for example, and we've had to printscreen, open picture program, format it, upload it, etc. This one just click done.

It is a cool feature. I've been using it ever since I got OSX. So thats about 7 years ago. I even have it in widget form.

[Alucard]

MAC USER IS LIKE SATAN IN PC FORUM GO AWAY SATAN GO!

[Reality]

[MarionetteKazuk]

Windows 7's XP Mode Requires Virtualization-Friendly Processor, 2GB RAM

A Microsoft director has pinned down the details for the "XP Mode" to be included with higher-level Windows 7 editions. Those running Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate, with at least 2 GB of RAM and an Intel or AMD processor that supports hardware-level virtualization (often labeled as AMD-V, or VT on Intel chips), and already owning a licensed copy of Windows XP Service Pack 3 will have access to the "XP Mode" download for free. And while the virtual XP machine will run seamlessly and in the background, it will require its own antivirus and protection software. [CNET via Gizmodo]

Update: While the rest of the details seem firm, the language in the CNET article leaves the question of licensing somewhat vague. Elsewhere on the net, however, it seems XP Mode will actually be a pre-bundled XP image that won't require a license or Software Assurance checks. Apologies for any confusion.

Source


*slaps them for the confusion about the license*

Question is do most current processors support hardware-level virtualization. Alucard, I leave you to that answer.