Switchfast Blog: The Future of IT
XP Mode: Killer App for Windows 7 Enterprise Adoption?
Wednesday, August 05, 2009 by Michael Holley
Microsoft has announced that XP Mode, a highly anticipated tool
for Windows 7, is now available as a Release Candidate. XP Mode was
designed to alleviate the issue of hardware compatibilities that
plagued enterprise Vista users in the early days of Vista's
release. Microsoft claims that in most cases, users will not need
to use XP Mode to run any applications, but that the feature is
available for less common instances where old software is not
completely compatible with the new OS. This is significant because,
as polls have shown, the biggest worry that IT departments have
with upgrading to Windows 7 is the fear of bugs and incompatibility
with legacy software. If XP Mode works as it should, any problems
that admins may find between old software and the new OS could be
immediately alleviated by simply running the old software in XP
Mode.
The big questions that remain are centered on how easy it will
be to use XP Mode, which essentially acts as a virtualized OS when
active, and how stable the experience will be. Microsoft claims to
have addressed many of the concerns that users had with the Beta in
the newly released RC version, but will it be enough? If XP Mode
performs well, are there any reasons left for businesses not to
upgrade to Windows 7?
From the Windows Team Blog, here is the list of new
features in Windows XP Mode RC:
- You can now attach USB devices to Windows XP Mode applications
directly from the Windows 7 task-bar. This means your USB devices,
such as printers and flash drives, are available to applications
running in Windows XP Mode, without the need to go into full screen
mode.
- You can now access Windows XP Mode applications with a
"jump-list". Right click on the Windows XP Mode applications from
the Windows 7 task bar to select and open most recently used
files.
- You now have the flexibility of customizing where Windows XP
Mode differencing disk files are stored.
- You can now disable drive sharing between Windows XP Mode and
Windows 7 if you do not need that feature.
- The initial setup now includes a new user tutorial about how to
use Windows XP Mode.
What do you think?
Best,
Michael Holley
Switchfast Technologies
Chicago IT Consulting
& Support
Rochester
IT Consulting & Support
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