[Vision2020] Microsoft Windows News

[Kenneth Marcy]

Here is a computing heads-up. Microsoft's soon-to-be released new version of 
Windows will offer, for some editions, a copy of the older Windows XP to 
enhance backward compatibility for the new combination release. Below are the 
guys from the Windows SuperSite Blog breaking the news about XP Mode.

http://tinyurl.com/dg22sm 

SuperSite Blog
Secret No More: Revealing Windows XP Mode for Windows 7

Rafael Rivera and Paul Thurrott reveal a new Windows 7 application 
compatibility feature called Windows XP Mode. Yes, it's that "secret new 
feature" you've been hearing about ...

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.) XPM works much like 
today's Virtual PC products, but with one important exception: As with the 
enterprise-based MED-V (Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization) product, 
XPM does not require you to run the virtual environment as a separate Windows 
desktop. Instead, as you install applications inside the virtual XP 
environment, they are published to the host (Windows 7) OS as well. (With 
shortcuts placed in the Start Menu.) That way, users can run Windows XP-based 
applications (like IE 6) alongside Windows 7 applications under a single 
desktop.

Obviously, XPM has huge ramifications for Windows going forward. By removing 
the onus of legacy application compatibility from the OS, Microsoft can strip 
away deadwood technology from future versions of Windows at a speedier clip, 
because customers who need to run older applications can simply do so with 
XPM. For Windows 7 specifically, XPM is a huge convenience, especially for 
Microsoft's corporate customers, who can of course control XPM behavior via 
standard Microsoft administration and management technologies like Active 
Directory (AD) and Group Policy (GP). And it significantly recasts the 
Windows 7 compatibility picture. Before, Microsoft could claim that Windows 7 
would be at least as compatible as Windows Vista. Now, they can claim almost 
complete Windows XP compatibility, or almost 100 percent compatibility with 
all currently running Windows applications.

A little more of the story, and more links, can be found at: 
http://tinyurl.com/dg22sm 


Ken