gHacks Technology News | Latest Tech News, Software And Tutorials » virtual xp mode http://www.ghacks.net A technology news blog covering software, mobile phones, gadgets, security, the Internet and other relevant areas. Sat, 11 Feb 2012 09:52:46 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 Virtual XP Mode Coming To Windows 7http://www.ghacks.net/2009/04/25/virtual-xp-mode-coming-to-windows-7/ http://www.ghacks.net/2009/04/25/virtual-xp-mode-coming-to-windows-7/#comments Sat, 25 Apr 2009 08:04:37 +0000 Martin Brinkmann http://www.ghacks.net/2009/04/25/virtual-xp-mode-coming-to-windows-7/ windows 7The last two weeks were filled with rumors about the upcoming Windows 7 Release Candidate. Not only because it was a major step in the development of the next Microsoft operating system but also because of some major announcements regarding the operating system that were supposed to be revealed around the same time. It seems that at least one of this major features has been revealed in the leaked Windows 7 Release Candidate.

The feature is called Virtual XP Mode, or XPM, and is available in Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise. It requires one additional download but is completely free in those Windows 7 editions. It basically allows users to run a virtual Windows XP client on the computer system so that compatibility talks should be a thing of the past. The Windows XP applications can be displayed on the same desktop as their Windows 7 counterparts making it a one desktop solution.

The major benefit for companies is that they can now run their proprietary programs that are compatible to Windows XP on Windows 7 as well without the fear of another Windows Vista disaster which turned out not to be as compatible as advertised. The following screenshot shows two Word clients running under Windows 7. Word 2003 in Virtual XP Mode and Word 2007 in Windows 7 natively.

virtual xp mode

Paul Thurrott who broke the news about the benefits:

  • Users can run Windows XP-based applications (like IE 6) alongside Windows 7 applications under a single desktop.
  • Microsoft can claim almost complete Windows XP compatibility, or almost 100 percent compatibility with all currently running Windows applications.

That’s a pretty interesting feature for many companies that have not made up their minds yet about Windows 7. It should give them a positive boost in the pro-Windows 7 direction.

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