James Delahunty
26 Apr 2009 13:03
In an effort to convince businesses to migrate to Windows 7, Microsoft will offer an add-on for the upcoming operating system that will allow users to run applications designed for Windows XP in a virtual machine. This represents the first time Microsoft has relied on virtualization for backwards compatibility.
The add-on, called "Windows XP Mode" creates an XP virtual environment running under Virtual PC within Windows 7. "All you need to do is to install suitable applications directly in Windows XP Mode," said Scott Woodgate, the director of Windows enterprise and virtualization strategy. "The applications will be published to the Windows 7 desktop and then you can run them directly from Windows 7."
Windows XP Mode (XPM) will be available as a free download for users of Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise, whereas presumably more cut-down versions of the operating system will require a fee to add the functionality. A fully licensed copy of Windows XP Professional SP3 will be included with the add-on.
The details were first revealed by Rafael Rivera and Paul Thurrott, two prominent bloggers who are also collaborating on a book called Windows 7 Secrets. "XPM does not require you to run the virtual environment as a separate Windows desktop," Rivera said. "Instead, as you install applications inside the virtual XP environment, they are published to the host (Windows 7) OS as well. That way, users can run Windows XP-based applications, like IE6, alongside Windows 7 applications under a single desktop."