Windows 7's XP Mode: The feature that will kill XP
- TAGS:Windows 7, Windows XP, xp mode
- IT TOPICS:Operating Systems, Windows
XP appears to be the operating system that refuses to die -- until now, that is. Windows 7's most intriguing feature, Windows XP Mode, will finally kill off the operating system that refuses to die.
As I've written before, Windows XP still lives because it's solid, reliable, sturdy, and durable. It may not be flashy or glitzy, but like the old Dodge Dart, it runs forever.
There are applications that run on XP that won't on Vista, and may or may not run on Windows 7. That's a problem for Microsoft --- and one that Microsoft seems to have solved. Windows XP Mode, if it works as promised, gives people the best of both worlds, the compatibility of Windows XP and the flash and new-generation features of Windows 7.
Here's how it's supposed to work: Run XP in Virtual PC on Windows 7, install applications on XP on the virtual machine, and from that point on those applications will be available just as if they're native to Windows 7. You'll launch them directly from the Windows 7 interface, but in fact, they'll be running in an XP compatibility box.
Not only that, but you won't have to buy a copy of XP. The Windows 7 license will include the right to run XP inside it.
The feature isn't yet available yet, so it may or may not be all it's cracked up to be. But if it does work as promised, there will be no reason for people and enterprises not to switch to Windows 7. It may well be the feature that finally kills XP, much to Microsoft's relief.
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