Windows 7’s Windows XP Mode: Removing Application Compatiblity From The Equation

by Bharat Suneja

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 }

Lee May 11, 2009 at 3:41 pm

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.

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Anonymous May 25, 2009 at 12:18 pm

Needs special configuartion like virtualization support for cpu motherboard and BIOS

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Anonymous December 2, 2009 at 12:04 pm

Which nearly all modrn cpu's have, so that's not an issue. Also, if the CPU supports it, usually so does the bios.

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