Say goodbye to Windows 7 incompatibilities

Just announced today, Windows 7 will allow you to use a new feature called XP Mode. This is a version of Virtual PC that allows you to run your incompatible applications in an XP environment, but still on your desktop, and it will act as if it worked fine in Windows 7! So if you have applications you know are incompatible, rest assured you can now move to Windows 7 and not have to worry.

The only downside is that you require processor-based virtualization support, but most modern CPUs have this, so if you are running a reasonably modern system (a Core 2 Duo or equivalent), then you will be able to take advantage of this feature. This, and you need to have either Professional, Enterprise or the Ultimate edition of Windows 7.

From Within Windows:

“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.”

For companies, this is a really big benefit as all the incompatible applications, or even intranet sites that require IE6, can be run on Windows 7 without issue.

Edit: Forgot the link to Within Windows.