[pchelpers] Windows XP Mode in Windows 7

Hi, folks,

What is Windows XP Mode:
Windows  XP  Mode  is  basically  Virtual  PC  running Windows XP in a
pre-built virtual machine (VM) that you download  free from Microsoft,
complete with license. Virtual PC only runs on Windows 7 Professional,
Enterprise,  or  Ultimate,  and  the  computer  must  have the virtual
emulation hardware features that Virtual PC needs. Shortcuts on the XP
Public  Start  menu  are  sutomatically  copied to the Windows 7 Start
menu, and adjustments are automatically made behind the scenes so that
the  Windows  XP  Mode  applications  can  work  with documents on the
Windows  7  desktop  or  Documents folder.  For example, when you tell
such an application that you want to look at the desktop, you actually
see the Windows 7 desktop, not the XP desktop.

What to expect:
Once it is set up and configured, applications installed in Windows XP
Mode  are  pretty  much  seamless  with Windows 7; they look like just
another  application,  and  they  appear  on the Windows 7 Start menu,
although  sometimes  you have to do some tinkering to get them to show
up.  The first time after you log on to Windows 7, there is a delay as
the virtual machine is started up, but after that, applications pop up
instantly,  until  the next time you log on. If you have the Windows 7
and  Windows XP appearance set to look similar or the same, you cannot
easily,  if  at  all,  tell  whether  an  application is running under
Windows XP or under Windows 7.         

How to set it up:
Go    to    the    Microsoft    Virtual    PC    download    page   at
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx  to download
both  Windows  XP  Mode  and Virtual PC. You should install Windows XP
Mode  first,  then  Virtual PC. Once you have both installed, and have
restarted  te  computer,  you should find Windows XP Mode listed under
Virtual  PC  in your Start menu, and you can then start Windows XP and
configure it and install your application(s).

Caveats:
Applications  running  in Windows XP Mode automatically have access to
the  same  drives  that  Windows 7 does, and use the Windows 7 network
(internet)  connection,  so  it  should not be considered a protection
against  malicious  software. Windows XP also needs all of the updates
and  protection (including antiviru software) that it would need if it
were  running on real hardware, although since all of the data appears
to  go  through  Windows  7, it's probably not quite as insecure as it
would be otherwise. Nevertheless, there is always the possibility that
a  security flaw in Windows XP can make the Windows 7 system easier to
attack.          

Gamers should be aware that DirectX is not supported under Virtual PC,
so  older  games  that don't run under Windows 7 will need a dual-boot
system.

Conclusion:
Although  Windows XP Mode could be easier to install (such as included
with  Virtual  PC  or  preinstalled  in  Windows  7),  and  installing
applications  in  Windows  XP Mode could also be made transparent (for
instance,  right-clicking  on  the installer and selecting "Install in
Windows  XP  Mode"  would  be nice), it seems pretty likely, as others
have commented, that this is the future of backwards compatibility, to
make it easier for old technologies to be dropped from future versions
of  Windows,  or  even  to  transition to something which bears little
resemblance to modern Windows.
-- 
--Scott.



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