Coming Soon: Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC

Posted by:
Scott Woodgate
08:08 PM Friday
Apr 24, 2009
337 Comments

Windows XP Mode is specifically designed to help small businesses move to Windows 7. Windows XP Mode provides you with the flexibility to run many older productivity applications on a Windows 7 based PC.

All you need to do is to install suitable applications directly in Windows XP Mode which is a virtual Windows XP environment running under Windows Virtual PC. The applications will be published to the Windows 7 desktop and then you can run them directly from Windows 7.

Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC are best experienced on your new Windows 7 PC. We will be soon releasing the beta of Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC for Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate.

Tags: Windows 7, Virtualization, Windows XP Mode, Windows Virtual PC

Comments

SpazticOrange

Posted on: April 27, 2009 at 12:58PM
But you tend to wonder what it would be like in the release candidate, right?

Things work in XP what if they are equally stable in windows 7 with this new implementation? Would it completely rule out the need for windows xp?

I remember when I once upgraded my computer, and the MoBo nForce chip no longer supported Windows ME or any of the older stable OSes and I had to switch to XP. I admit, I did doubt XP for a while, but I learned to love it like everyone else. Windows Vista was a real shocker, but I seem to see good things with this windows 7 release. We'll have to wait for 5th of may to find out huh?
marcpodi

Posted on: April 27, 2009 at 4:22PM
the biggest surprise i've seen so far.

i'm definitely sold for Windows 7 with or without XPM
jansloep

Posted on: April 28, 2009 at 3:22AM
Woeaaah Microsoft what a joke, MS must integrate XP in a virtual machine in order to maintain backward compatibility? So what do you need Windows 7 for than?

I have WindowsXP already running for more than a year for my legacy software on Ubuntu with (free) Virtualbox. Beside that you can run not only XP, but the complete windows family from NT to Vista and even (unofficialy) Windows 7. And it works all flawlessly, See www.virtualbox.org/.../Screenshots It is especially nice when you run it in the seamless mode, in which case you have your windows taskbar at the bottom of your linux desktop, from where you can start any windows program as if it was a Linux program. Perfect, and if you wish you can run for example Dos, NT, WinXP and Vista simultaneously. And if you don't like VirtualBox, just use VM ware which does the same.

What MicroSoft however does not tell you is that each virtual machine needs its own memory which you must share between host and guest. So if you have 1 GB memory, you have to split it up. It will work on a 32 bit system which however is restricted to 3+ GB maximum. Much better ofcourse is a 64 OS which can address much more memory. But if you buy 64 bit Windows 7 you can not run any of your old 32 bit software in Windows 7 itself anymore, except for in the XP mode. At least, if there will be a 32 bit version of Windows XP available in the 64 bit Windows 7 version? But why than should you upgrade to Windows 7 ?

So you, as a user, are stuck. As the future will absolutely be 64 bit systems you have to decide whether you will keep investing in old 32 bit software or throw away your software and buy again the 64 bit version of your 32 bit software or do nothing and stick to your old, but doomed, WindowsXP. The industry ofcourse will love it if you replace all your 32 bit software with 64 bit software, but will you?

My 64 bit - 6GB- dual core Linux machine runs both 64 bit and 32 bit software at the same time. In the rare case a certain program is not available in 64 bit you just run the 32 bit version. No special mode needed for that, in Linux you can run 32 bits programs on a 64 bit system. But not only that, in VirtualBox you also can run for instance Vista in both the 32 bit and 64 bit version and in both single processor and dual core mode.

As VirtualBox also is available for Windows you also could run WindowsXP with Virtualbox on Windows 7. But what sense does that make if you only need Windows 7 to be able to keep your WindowsXP software running. You don't need Windows 7 for that as you already have Windows XP and if you want to upgrade to a 64 bit system the problem of losing your investment in your 32 bit software will always be there (now or in the future).

So for me the choice for Linux, Ubuntu 9.04 in this case, is absolutely clear. As VirtualBox is free, the only thing I am curious about is if Microsoft will charge extra for the XP license in Windows 7 and what will happen when you run Windows 7 in VirtualBox on Linux and decide to work in the XP mode of Windows 7? A virtual machine in a virtual machine, would it work?

Only than I would think about buying Windows 7, only to be able to run my legacy software (Autocad and some special design programs). If not, I stick to my old WinXP.
Vistablog.at

Posted on: April 28, 2009 at 3:39AM
@jansloeb

"But if you buy 64 bit Windows 7 you can not run any of your old 32 bit software in Windows 7 itself anymore"

Damn. So I do the impossible! Most of my software is 32 Bit, and i thought there were working in my 64 Win7 (and Vista before). So I use something, that can't be real. Thank you for pointing that out.

No really, i have the feeling, that your technical skills and knowledge are somewhat limited. It's of course no problem to run 32 Bit Software on 64 Bit Windows, you don't need the XP Mode for that. You need to use the XP mode only for legacy software, that were written so badly (security!) so they were broken on Vista/Win7. And yes, the virtual machnie needs RAM, but i don't think that Microsoft tries to hide that ("What MicroSoft however does not tell you is that each virtual machine needs its own memory "), the reason for not pointing that out is more, that this requirement is very clear for *everyone*. And who cares for the extra 256 MB, that is taken for the Vm, while it is running? Escpeciall when you have 6GB RAM. A running native Firefox takes more sometimes,...
jansloep

Posted on: April 28, 2009 at 4:11AM
@ VistaBlog What do you mean with that my knowledge is somewhat limited and with "It's of course no problem to run 32 Bit Software on 64 Bit Windows" this? support.microsoft.com/.../282423 or this www.microsoft.com/.../64-bit.aspx
devsfan1830

Posted on: April 28, 2009 at 7:10AM
@jansloep Those articles right there prove you have no idea what you are talking about. All those say is that a 64 bit app MUST be 100% 64-bit dlls and all. Also, 32bit installers must be ONLY 32 bit, dlls and all. And on a 64 OS, you must use 64 bit drivers, which all hardware has now. There is nothing in those links to suggest that a normal 32 bit app cannot run in a 64 bit environment. I'm running Vista x64 Ultimate and about 90% of my applications and games are 32 bit XP tested only and run FLAWLESSLY and no I'm not running any compatibility software. The main issue with Vista was the amount of upgrades you needed in hardware and the alck of proper drivers at launch. I was lucky enough to come away with one upgrade only which was a printer that a week after I got a new one HP finally came out with drivers, so that was my fault for being impatient. I'm totally looking forward to Win 7. I've used the beta and I am stunned with how stable it is and how it can use existing drivers. And for the record, we cant hold onto XP forever. I just had to rebuild a real old machine to run XP because my new computer had motherboard hardware that kept bluescreening the installer. Eventually new hardware is going to necessitate the jump to a new OS, and I think that OS will be Win 7.
webDev_Indy

Posted on: April 28, 2009 at 11:42AM
XP Mode is there for 1 reason only... To make the transition from Windows XP to 7 easier and more tolerable for businesses.

Yes; Businesses can run XP in a virtual environment to get their work done. I think the point is to make everything integrated into the OS so that you don't have to worry about a 3rd party software package or renewing an XP license to get the job done.

I know there is a good amount of applications used within our business that will not run on Vista or 7. The chiefs over the IT department are not going to approve Windows 7 until they feel that they are going to be 100% able to continue with business as usual. This includes Windows Server 2003 R2 network machines and legacy database servers.

We are developing solutions that will replace the legacy applications, but it will be a few more years before the transition is complete. XP Mode may actually allow for us to upgrade without compromising.

Of course, this all will be tested over the next couple years, so it could be that our legacy systems are no longer a problem when we finally upgrade...

AS LONG AS XP Mode is an option that can be turned on or off and it doesn't consume machine resources when it's not running, I am not too worried about it. If it is made as a free optional download, even better because people who don't need/want it won't have to waste the disc space. I can't think of many other problems that I would have with this as a consumer...
mohab1220

Posted on: April 29, 2009 at 4:57PM
it good idea and good work
alt-92

Posted on: May 06, 2009 at 3:04AM
"What MicroSoft however does not tell you is that each virtual machine needs its own memory which you must share between host and guest. So if you have 1 GB memory, you have to split it up"

What's the difference between your VirtualBox setup and XPM then?

Oh, right, nothing, as your Vbox guest also uses system memory.
TechSlave

Posted on: May 15, 2009 at 2:30PM
XP mode is a great idea and a great tool to allow Windows 7 to move forward and not be tied to the past.

Hope the MS windows team decides to rely on XP mode a lot and really move Windows 7 code base to the future .

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Coming Soon: Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC

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