Absolutely Brilliant, Windows XP Mode in 7 | The Coffeehouse

intelman

http://www.withinwindows.com/2009/04/24/secret-no-more-revealing-windows-xp-mode-for-windows-7/

This certainly makes sense. I certainly suspected that Microsoft might go this route. There is no reason to be worried about compatibility, if this functions well. If the economy were not so down, I'd say this would be a real catalyst for Windows 7.

I wonder how Direct3D will work with this. Will I be able to playStar Wars Jedi Knight Dark Forces II?

Evil SEO
An undercover agent trying to stop Rick Astley from destroying the world.

"Will I be able to playStar Wars Jedi Knight Dark Forces II?"

Not if your GPU doesn't have a sufficient concentration of midichlorians in it.

W3bbo
The Master of Baiters

I'm curious as to how this works w.r.t. the display system. I'm guessing the window display works similar to Parallels Fusion on the Mac? In which case does it mean that there will be no display driver virtualisation and instead rely on emulation, and in that case, which chipset does it emulate?

staceyw
Before C# there was darkness...

That sounds great. I wonder how application virtualization is coming along and what if anything is in Windows7? Install apps x and y with different service packs, different .Net versions and remove at any time without effecting anything else.

phreaks

What an awful idea.

Necessity is the mother of innovation (or something like that), now all the hacks have an excuse for continued complacency.

jamie

In reply to phreaks

#Apr 24th @ 6:44 PM

does this mean that the most popular theme for windows ever (luna) will run in 7?

ManipUni
Proving QQ for 5 years!

In reply to phreaks

#Apr 24th @ 6:44 PM

... And how many hacks can Microsoft remove from Windows as a result?

Greater good if you ask me. Particularly if Microsoft step up and remove several of the really old compatibility bits on Windows that very few users really take advantage of anymore.

I'm assuming this is meant to be Microsoft's answer to what Apple did with OS X. But what I struggle to understand is; alright so Microsoft have rolled out their virtual service but what have they removed? When OS X shipped they broke MOST OS 9 Applications and rewrote a lot of the framework, Microsoft has done none of that but released this virtual machine thingy.

Can we expect Windows 8 to be Microsoft's answer to OS X or aren't Microsoft ambious enough for that?

matthews

It'd be even better if it would be made to be:

A) Preinstalled by default
B) Available in all Windows 7 SKUs
C) Supporting not just Windows XP, but Win98SE, WinNT4, Win3.1, and DOS 6.22 (for basically complete compatibility with all PC software)
D) Completely transparent (use the compatibility index, age identifiers, etc)
E) Supported hardware graphics acceleration

Edit: And I realize that Virtual PC or VMware satisfies most of these, but then you still have to go through installing all these things, they're still not integrated that well (even in Unity mode).

Bass
www.spreadfirefox.com/5years/

This reads as if Windows 7's killer feature is the ability to emulate Windows XP. Wink

intelman

In reply to Bass

#Apr 24th @ 10:45 PM

Or the ability to be 100% compatibile with previous versions of Windows....

Bas
It finds lightbulbs.

Amazing. I wonder how that'll work in practice. Also, weren't there a bunch of Softies here a year ago or something proclaiming that virtualizing XP was a terrible idea and that people were fools to suggest it?

Sounds like a great feature. Too bad it isn't in the Home SKU. This'd be great for people who aren't very computer literate and don't have the luxury of calling tech support or simply buying new software.

Edit: wouldn't it be a funny dickish move if the leaked RC was intentionally leaked without this stuff in it, just to make people who downloaded and installed it download and install the RC that does contain it all over again?

littleguru
<3 Seattle

This could finally mean that compat stuff would removed in the actual version of Windows... how nice would that be. Finally! Smiley

*grin*

littleguru
<3 Seattle

This means that old crapware that was developed by breaking guidelines that were out since windows 2000 (and before) is now running without any modification on Windows 7. Wink

Give Luna a rest... We don't want playmobil software Tongue Out

Bas
It finds lightbulbs.

From the screenshots, I see both XP and Windows 7 style windows run side by side, and XP running in a regular old Virtual PC window. I wonder wat limitations there are to just running XP Mode stuff in the Windows 7 desktops, seeing how they apparently also offer full Windows XP in a virtual machine.

And yeah, all the BC stuff can be stripped from Windows, but has it? Because I haven't head anyone running the beta say that their old stuff doesn't work anymore. What's the point of offering virtualisation for BC if all the BC code is still in there?

stevo_
Human after all

Its not an awful idea at all, but its just so 'meh' to me, its just virtual pc that comes with an edition of XP, boorrrring.. and I doubt this will be a common compat route for Windows.. just that XP is pretty different to Vista and 7.. but really, not that much? I can honestly say I've had like zero compat issues with software I use.. (where compat issues are breaking functionality).

Bas
It finds lightbulbs.

Can you do this with "just Virtual PC that comes with XP"?

All the Virtual PC sessions I've had required me to run all my XP software on an XP desktop inside the Virtual PC window, not side by side with Vista/Windows 7 applications on my Vista/Windows 7 desktop... but I may have simply overlooked that Virtual PC feature all these years.

blowdart
Peek-a-boo

In reply to Bas

#Apr 25th @ 4:13 AM

No you can't. So I'm looking forward to this ... *IF* there's a full version of Virtual PC that will do this for any application.

Dovella
Go Microsoft !!!!!!!

Windows XP mode in Windows 7 RC : Work USB port? Discard USB port when device is turn off?
---------

Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 Screens http://twurl.nl/6w237w

stevo_
Human after all

In reply to Bas

#Apr 25th @ 4:13 AM

No you cant but I don't see why that makes this so amazing really..

TommyCarlier
I want my scalps!

What I find cool about this is that it's free and it includes a fully licensed copy of Windows XP.

intelman

In reply to TommyCarlier

#Apr 25th @ 7:58 AM

Well, I do not consider it free. You still pay for Windows 7. It is a feature.

Bas
It finds lightbulbs.

You don't get it on Windows 7, you have to download it seperately. Kind of like how Messenger isn't a Windows feature, but more a free application.

Although I guess you have a point in that you probably need a Windows 7 license to be able to use the free XP license.

Evil SEO
An undercover agent trying to stop Rick Astley from destroying the world.

In reply to TommyCarlier

#Apr 25th @ 7:58 AM

Free = Having to buy Windows 7 Business or higher.

GoddersUK
I CAN has cheezburger and you CAN'T has stop me!

In reply to Evil SEO

#Apr 25th @ 9:16 AM

well you know what he means...

you don't have to fork out for Windows XP IN ADDITION TO 7.

So effectively it's bogof.

ManipUni
Proving QQ for 5 years!

Before you all start getting carried away with this "free XP licence" thing... There is no evidence that this will be licenced for stand-alone usage. They could (and likely will) only licence it to be run within the virtual machine.

As I said this is just a carbon-copy of what OS X did to OS 9.