Earlier yesterday, Paul Thurrott and Rafael Rivera revealed a secret new feature in Windows 7— Windows XP Mode (XPM). XPM allows you to run Windows XP in a virtualized session, and includes a license for Windows XP SP3. As Thurrott & Rivera’s blog post says:
Windows XP Mode dramatically changes the compatibility story for Windows 7 and, we believe, has serious implications for Windows development going forward.
Interestingly, XPM does not require you to run a separate desktop with Windows XP. Applications installed in the virtual environment are published to the Windows 7 host and shortcuts placed in the host’s Start menu. Users can run Windows XP applications (installed in XPM) directly and transparently in Windows 7 desktop!
All I can say is— this is super cool! And although I haven’t had a chance to try it out yet, it seems application compatibility is quickly headed to be a non-issue with Windows 7.
More details in Secret No More: Revealing Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 on Thurrott’s SuperSite for Windows, and screenshots in Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 Screens.
Scott Woodgate confirmed it later in Coming Soon: Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC on the Windows Blog.
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Sorry for posting this here, but there’s contact link on the blog.
You should take a look @ your RSS feed. The last entry on it is 1/19/2009 while your blog content is a lot more recent.
Needs special configuartion like virtualization support for cpu motherboard and BIOS
Which nearly all modrn cpu's have, so that's not an issue. Also, if the CPU supports it, usually so does the bios.