In a move that was very expected, but is very unexpectedly early, Microsoft have today announced that they’ve removed the barrier that has been preventing many people from installing and using the new XP Mode feature in Windows 7 Professional and higher.
As of today it will run without requiring this hardware support. This is excellent news for Windows going forward and is finally a clear sign that Windows 8 could drop all legacy support completely in favour of a virtualised solution like this.
In an interview this week, the General manager of Microsoft’s Windows Commercial Product Management (how do they fit these titles on business cards?) Gavriella Schuster, admitted that Microsoft have found a way to eliminate the need for hardware virtualisation at the BIOS level.
An updated version of XP Mode is being released today, though Microsoft have stressed that anybody already running it has no need to upgrade.
XP Mode is a virtualisation solution that allows you to run older, incompatible software, in a virtual machine as though they were installed in your current Windows 7 installation. This means they will appear in your Windows 7 Start Menu and run in normal windows on your Windows 7 desktop. There is no need to have your own licence for XP, as it comes will a full licence for XP Professional, and you don’t need to boot into Windows 7 and then also boot into XP in the VM.
This is excellent news for all Windows 7 users, especially businesses. Virtualisation offers a way to truly aid in maintaining a stable and reliable operating system. XP Mode is a huge advance in this area now that the physical hardware barrier has been eliminated.
It was widely expected that this move would come in time for the launch of Windows 8 in 2012. Clearly the general availability of it already paves the way for a smaller, leaner Windows in two years time that business users will embrace.
You can download XP Mode here.
Source : ZD Net
