I read a very interesting article over lunch today by Paul Thurrott that
describes XPM - Windows XP Mode - that will be available in
Windows 7 Release Candidate. In a nutshell, XPM is a virtualised
copy of Windows XP Service Pack 3 that allows XP applications to be
run WITHIN the Windows 7 desktop environment, without the need for
a second desktop.
2 things for me really stand out:
- This is a super cleaver way to allow legacy applications to run
on Windows 7
- This is probably the smartest thing Microsoft could have done
to ensure Windows 7 adaption outpaces Vista, and more importantly,
allow those still on XP to migrate in full confidence that Windows
7 will be 100% XP compliant!
From a technical stand point, this is fantastic news. This will
allow Microsoft to really start to clean up and remove legacy code
within Windows much more quickly and easily than it could
previously, and by allowing the applications to share the desktop,
it will be a seamless process for most users. The Windows Super
Site already has some
pictures of IE 6 running next to IE 8!
One area I thought Microsoft may have struggled with in pushing
Windows 7 adoption was the uptake by many enterprises who still
rely heavily on XP (or earlier) based applications to run their
business. While I've
read that Windows 7 adoption should be better than the uptake of
Vista, many businesses seemed to still be sticking with XP, and
I believe it was mainly because of application support (and
probably training too, but that's is a story for another day). Now
by including Windows XP Mode in Windows 7 these applications can
run on a virtualised instance of Windows XP, while allowing other
tools like Office 2007 and IE 8 to be run on top of Windows 7. Very
smart move.
For those interested in the technical aspects, take a read of
Windows XP Mode Internals - Part 1.
