October 13, 2009 - Free download Microsoft Windows Virtual PC Windows XP Mode For Windows 7

The backwards compatibility of new operating systems has been a constant thorn in Microsoft's side. With Vista, the compatibility problems at launch were so great it never really stood a chance of convincing cautious consumers and ultra-conservative businesses, with the result that many of them are still happily running Windows XP.

When the release candidate build of Windows 7 appeared in May 2009, Microsoft surprised almost everyone by announcing a solution: Windows XP Mode. On paper, this gives the new OS 100 per cent backwards compatibility with XP, so you can run all your old software on Windows 7. But what is it, how does it work and is it really the magic bullet it claims to be?

What exactly is Windows XP Mode?

Windows XP Mode is a full virtualised copy of Windows XP SP3, meaning Windows 7 runs the whole of XP within itself. Technically, it's a virtual machine (VM) powered by a brand-new version of the Windows Virtual PC virtualisation engine. Virtualisation may be old hat, but the novelty of XP Mode is that Microsoft is giving you a completely free extra operating system.

Normally you'd need a separate licence to install and run XP in a virtual PC. You'd also have to create the virtual machine yourself. With XP Mode, you get a pre-configured virtual hard disk (VHD) file, complete with a standard single-user licence. Installation takes only a few minutes.

Windows Virtual PC provides the capability to run multiple Windows environments such as Windows XP Mode from your Windows 7 desktop. To download Windows Virtual PC and the Windows XP Mode environment, please follow the steps below. For information on how to set up Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode, check out Running Windows Virtual PC with Windows XP Mode in the Documentation section.

Key features

Microsoft has added several new features to Windows Virtual PC to make it easy to use and to help you run many older Windows XP applications in Windows 7.

* Easy setup of Window XP Mode

* One click launch of Windows XP Mode applications
* USB support

Get started with Windows XP Mode
Find out how to best configure Windows Virtual PC to work for you.

* Running Windows XP Mode for your small business

* Customizing virtual machines for IT Pros

* Working with multiple operating systems for developers

Easy setup of Windows XP Mode

Once both the Windows Virtual PC and the virtual Windows XP environment are installed, Windows Virtual PC provides a simple wizard to set up Windows XP Mode with just a few clicks.

USB support

Users can access USB devices attached to the host directly from virtual Windows XP. These devices include printers and scanners, flash memory/sticks and external hard disks, digital cameras, and more.

Folder integration between host and guest

Access your Windows 7 Known Folders: My Documents, Pictures, Desktop, Music, and Video, from inside the virtual Windows environment, such as Windows XP Mode.

All you need to do is to install suitable applications directly in Windows XP Mode which is a virtual Windows XP environment running under Windows Virtual PC. The applications will be published to the Windows 7 desktop and then you can run them directly from Windows 7.

Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC are best experienced on your new Windows 7 PC. We will be soon releasing the beta of Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC for Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate.