Using Windows 7 XP Mode
By Simon Bisson, 13 Aug 2009 at 11:14
There’s a lot of legacy software out there – old applications that still run your businesses. That’s a problem if you’re planning any major system upgrades, especially if you’re rolling out a new OS release or deploying new hardware. Old software may not be compatible with your new systems, and the compatibility tools built into a new OS may not be suitable for your older software.
It’s not such a big problem with server software. All you need to do is fire up a virtual machine manager, install the appropriate server OS, and then install the applications you need. Things get more complicated when it’s desktop applications that need to be kept running. Desktop virtualisation tools are less common these days, though VMware’s Workstation soldiers on, along with Microsoft’s free Virtual PC. There’s plenty of innovation on Apple’s Macintosh, where tools like VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop blend Windows applications with the OS X desktop – hiding the virtual machine from the user.
Microsoft’s MEDV (Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualisation), uses similar techniques to deliver managed applications to Vista users – with centrally managed desktops run on local virtual machines. It’s that same approach that drives Windows 7’s XP Mode, though here there’s no central management server, just a licensed XP client running on a Windows 7 PC in a version of Virtual PC sharing resources with your PC via Terminal Services. This is probably the last generation of Virtual PC, with Microsoft’s Hyper-V hypervisor now getting the lion’s share of Redmond’s resources.
There are some restrictions, and XP Mode will only run on Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate, as Microsoft is treating it as a business tool, and delivering only to the business SKUs. You’ll also need to have PCs that have hardware virtualisation support – XP Mode won’t run on hardware that doesn’t have CPUs with it built in, or with BIOSes that don’t have it enabled (as some Sony laptop users discovered recently). Many laptops use low power Core Duo processors that don’t have the requisite features, and you certainly won’t find it on a netbook with an Atom processor.
However, if you can jump over the hurdles, then XP Mode is an important piece of the Windows 7 jigsaw puzzle, and one that will make it a lot easier to manage upgrades from Windows XP – especially if you’re not planning on deploying and managing the full MEDV platform.
You may also like...
Sponsored Links
advertisement
You may also like...
Latest Barcode Scanners News
Microsoft Tag reader comes to Android
Barcode scanner app marks Microsoft's first ever foray into the Android Market in response to 'huge demand' for mobile barcoding.
Latest Barcode Scanners Reviews
Google Nexus One review: A week with the superphone
advertisement
Most popular
- Google releases Chrome for Android beta
- Will someone rid me of these troublesome Macs?
- OneNote hits Google?s Android
- BlackBerry Bold 9790 review
- Google sends in Bouncer to sort out malicious apps
- Ubuntu vs. Windows 7 on the business desktop
- Who to trust after the VeriSign hack?
- Head to Head: Mac OS X 10.7 Lion vs Windows 7
- ACTA: the basics, the controversies, and the future
- BT considering Ofcom price cap appeal

















Ubuntu with WINE
Surely WINE in Linux is more efficient at running basic Windows apps? Running an entire VM seems a little unnecessary.
By Markius_Lanzius on Monday Nov 2