Windows 7, Secret Feature revealed.... Paul Thurrott and Rafael Rivera have just unveiled a new feature of Windows 7 today that they have been forced to keep a lid on for quite some time. Introducing Windows XP Mode (XPM) for Windows 7!
Over a month ago, we were briefed about a secret Microsoft technology that we were told would be announced alongside the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) and would ship in final form simultaneously with the final version of Windows 7. This technology, dubbed Windows XP Mode (XPM, formerly Virtual Windows XP or Virtual XP, VXP), dramatically changes the compatibility story for Windows 7 and, we believe, has serious implications for Windows development going forward. Here's what's happening.
XPM is built on the next generation Microsoft Virtual PC 7 product line, which requires processor-based virtualization support (Intel and AMD) to be present and enabled on the underlying PC, much like Hyper-V, Microsoft's server-side virtualization platform. However, XPM is not Hyper-V for the client. It is instead a host-based virtualization solution like Virtual PC; the hardware assistance requirement suggests this will be the logical conclusion of this product line from a technological standpoint. That is, we fully expect future client versions of Windows to include a Hyper-V-based hypervisor.
XP Mode consists of the Virtual PC-based virtual environment and a fully licensed copy of Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3). It will be made available, for free, to users of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions via a download from the Microsoft web site. (That is, it will not be included in the box with Windows 7, but is considered an out-of-band update, like Windows Live Essentials.)
More news - HERE - http://community.winsupersite.com/blogs/paul/archive/2009/04/24/secret-no-more-revealing-virtual-windows-xp-for-windows-7.aspxScreenshots - HERE - http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/xp_mode_pre_shots.asp
In my opinion it will hardly have any effect at all, it's just good news for professional who still have some legacy programs incompatible with Vista/Seven. I really doubt that today any serious company would still develop a new application incompatible with Vista/Seven.
And for gamers, well it's a virtual machine and unless Virtual PC have made tremendous improvment recently when it come to 3d acceleration support you can hardly play any recent game on it.
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOh Top Secret XP. That was just plain funny as hell! Good one, NT!
Actually, it's probably there to wean XP users into 7. When will MS wake up? Most people have XP. They like it. It works. Do they really need more? No. Just another "Mine is bigger than yours" pissing contest, imho.
7 will necessitate a whole new "buying a new computer" round. Cool....the computer manufacturers (China) get an economic stim. Just what we all need. Someone above said it: Buy a new computer for an OS. Feh!
When does Sustainability, Carbon Footprint, Waste, Pollution, Planned Obsolescence and just plain Nonsense enter into all this hype?
This is like having a phase out period while switching to Metric... it doesn't work.
Yeah but too bad that windows 7 is hyper glitched and your system can be hyjacked by a 3kb program that bypasses the HDD
http://gear.ign.com/articles/976/976242p1.html
From what I understand of that article, that glitch requires actual, physical access to your computer during startup. You've got other things to worry about if a hacker is actually at your computer.
I have a virtual machine with 98 on it for some old games that don't work right on XP. You guys that are bitching about backwards compatibility have some serious mental problems. All the compatibility modes are a mess, containing them in a virtual system is much better. I'll wait to see what they have for hardware support before I start cheering, but if the damned thing will use your gpu for 3d accelleration, it's a godsend.
That sounds a mite like a BIOS to me, but I digress.
Personal attacks are illogical and don't promote healthy discussion. They are also against the rules of the Forums.
It's true that if a hacker enter into you house... physically access your computer... install VBootkit on it... then yes it will be able to access all your files.
Remember kids, don't let evil hacker enter your room
So I've heard.
The primary reason for businesses skipping Vista is because there are a raft of compatibility issues with a lot of legacy software becoming incompatible. XP Mode on the enterprise editions of Windows 7 blows away all those arguments about legacy compatibility. It's now a non-issue and businesses will now be more confident in leaving XP behind.
This is a very smart move by Microsoft. It shows that they "get it". It
Couldn't agree with you more...
No, it shows they got YOU.
Doesn't strictly classify as 'personal attack'....more a generalized opposition/opinion....
Back on topic....if W7 has a VPC ver of XP with appropriate 3D acc in graphics, etc then they will definitely be on a winner.
Interestingly...I have Win7 running in VMWare on an XP box....and the bloody 7 boots faster than the host.
God this thing is slow.
Really? Wish I could say that about mine....
My xp out runs my win7 on any startup. Only difference is the way I have win 7 configured maybe. Hard to match that with xp. But I don't care how it boots up or shuts down. It's the way it handles and stuff it can do. But it is like a two way street. One does this better and such and such does this like this. So if you think you need another OS to get what you want on the net? Then go for it and buy a new computer with win7. Go all the way and get the 64 bit with touch screen and add a gaming table for the livingroom too.
Thats what I'm think of... A gaming table with touch screen for the livingroom. Just so the relatives can come over and play with the thing and have fun. Plus it would look nice too! Who cares if it is slow or whatever. Long as it does what they want it to do after it is running good. Then it's cool and looks good to me.
Oh and there is that little price tag too! Just get a figure on that stuff.
but who cares - if they make it - they will buy it for sure. Won't they? Hell I will if it looks that good to me...
Not trying to flame, but why does this seem typical of these forums? They are offering this primarily for businesses. If you don't like it, don't use it!
Intersting that they ommited it can't be done remotely. The hacker has to be physically at your computer! Besides, you can do this in any OS on the market....
At my last position we had a few people still running Win3.1 so they could run arcahic mainframe emulation. And many of our clients had custom designed software that practically demanded Win95/98. The same is true for XP in some cases.
Upgrading to Vista (just for the support issues) was near impossible. If Win7 allows for seamless XP emulation then a number of problems could be resolved and the cost of ownership would be reduced significantly.
This is a huge win for MS.
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