Windows 7 To Include Bridge To XP Applications

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In Windows 7, Microsoft will give customers the ability to run older applications from within a virtual Windows XP environment running under Windows Virtual PC, a move that solution providers are calling the final nail in the eight-year-old XP's coffin.

In a Friday blog post, Scott Woodgate, a director of product management for Windows enterprise and virtualization strategy at Microsoft, said the idea behind the so-called 'Windows XP Mode' is to let small businesses upgrade to Windows 7 without breaking compatibility with their older productivity applications.

Microsoft will soon release the beta of Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC for Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate, according to Woodgate, who offered little in the way of additional information.

Microsoft bloggers Rafael Rivera and Paul Thurrott did a deeper drill-down on Windows XP Mode and reported that Microsoft will offer Windows XP Mode as a free download to customers that buy Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate editions. By including this feature, Microsoft is giving Windows 7 near-100 percent compatibility with all Windows applications, they said.

Many industry watchers believe Microsoft's fundamental mistake was letting XP become too ingrained in its customers' infrastructures. Resistance to Windows Vista among small businesses has been particularly strong, and recent reports have suggested companies may also delay Windows 7 upgrades, in part due to the staggering economy and the lack of perceived value in the forthcoming release.

Microsoft doesn't plan to offer a direct XP-to-Windows 7 upgrade path, and for the past year has been urging XP customers to upgrade to Vista before Windows 7 to minimize compatibility issues. But adding the XP Mode option in Windows 7 will go a long way toward spurring customers to finally start upgrading from XP, according to solution providers.

Ken Wallewein, a partner with K&M Systems Integration, a Calgary, Alberta-based Microsoft partner, has been using virtualized XP in Windows Vista and says it's indispensible for certain types of tasks. "There simply are some things, like VPNs, that XP does better than Vista," he said.

"Windows XP Mode is precisely the sort of solution that customers require to maintain backward-compatibility, while also embracing and realizing the benefits of Windows 7, and it should also help remove concerns that some folks have about upgrading," said Daniel Duffy, CEO of Valley Network Solutions, a Microsoft Gold partner in Fresno, Calif.

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