Today Microsoft announced Windows XP mode no longer require virtualization technology. Windows XP Mode for windows 7 makes it easy to install and run many older Windows XP applications directly from your Windows 7-based PC. It utilizes virtualization technology such as Windows Virtual PC to provide a Windows XP Mode environment for Windows 7.
If you are an existing XP Mode customer, there will be no need to get the new bits, Microsoft officials said. If you are not and will be downloading the new bits, there’s no need to worry about whether your CPU has built-in virtualization support
Customers already using Windows XP Mode with hardware virtualization should continue using it. Customers not yet using Windows XP Mode can start using the product without having to worry about hardware virtualization. For Windows XP Mode, we expect the performance will be more than acceptable with or without hardware virtualization. For developers using Virtual PC with Windows Vista or Windows 7 virtual machines we recommend HAV as the non-HAV is only tuned for XP Mode
Windows XP Mode was designed for the small and medium business user who doesn’t have a lot of resources to spend on IT or on revamping important software. Windows XP Mode extends the lifecycle of many older Windows XP applications to continue providing business value. Once you install these applications directly in your Windows XP Mode environment, they will be published to your Windows 7 desktop With just one click, the business user can run many Windows XP applications from a Windows 7 desktop just as if it were a Windows 7 application. There’s no need to re-train the user, or to re-learn the application.
You can find more information and download the update which will go live later today here.
The update to Windows Virtual PC to support running on systems without hardware virtualization is now available for download. You can grab it here:
- For 32-bit host operating systems: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=837f12aa-1d37-464e-ae59-20c9ecbebaf6
- For 64-bit host operating systems: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=e70dd043-e262-43c0-a002-446567f1e2b4
