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Windows 7 in action: a closer look at Windows XP Mode

By | October 19, 2009, 3:55pm PDT

Summary: For any sort of upgrade, software or hardware, compatibility issues can be true deal-breakers. If a mission-critical program originally written for Windows XP won’t run under Windows 7, you’re stuck. And the economics can get ugly if an expensive or hard-to-replace peripheral doesn’t have Windows 7 drivers. In this week’s screencast, I demonstrate a new feature called Windows XP Mode, which is Microsoft’s way of handling compatibility problems.

[Update: Do you have questions about Windows XP Mode? So do a lot of people, apparently. See my follow-up post, Windows XP Mode Q and A, for some answers.]

For any sort of upgrade, software or hardware, compatibility issues can be true deal-breakers. If a mission-critical program originally written for Windows XP won’t run under Windows 7, you’re stuck. And the economics can get ugly if an expensive or hard-to-replace peripheral doesn’t have Windows 7 drivers. In this week’s screencast, I demonstrate a new feature called Windows XP Mode, which is Microsoft’s way of handling compatibility problems.

Windows XP Mode (available only with Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions of Windows 7) consists of two parts. The first is Windows Virtual PC, a lightweight virtualization environment. The second is a fully licensed copy of Windows XP with Service Pack 3, which integrates with Windows 7. Although setup can be a little tricky, it all works well together. In my case, it’s allowed me to continue using an old Fujitsu ScanSnap scanner with a 64-bit copy of Windows 7 despite having no 64-bit drivers and incompatible control software.

I’ve attached the USB device to the 32-bit Windows XP Mode virtual machine, which recognizes it and allows me to install the necessary XP drivers. To scan a document, I open the ScanSnap Manager program and save the resulting PDF file to a shared folder on my host PC, where it’s available for any application.

I was never very impressed with Microsoft’s previous iterations of Virtual PC, but this one is different. It’s small, fast, and easy to work with. And its integration features are supported by Windows Vista and Windows 7 as well. You can build your own VM using either one of those operating systems and have a sandbox where you can test apps without adding cruft to the registry or the file system.

Windows XP Mode has some rough edges, but once you learn how to sidestep those it’s an excellent power user’s tool.

Previous screencasts:

More coverage of Windows 7:

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Topics

Microsoft Windows XP, Windows XP Mode, Microsoft Windows 7, Microsoft Windows, Operating Systems, Software, Ed Bott

Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications.

Disclosure

Ed Bott

Ed Bott is a freelance technical journalist and book author. All work that Ed does is on a contractual basis.

Since 1994, Ed has written more than 25 books about Microsoft Windows and Office. Along with various co-authors, Ed is completely responsible for the content of the books he writes. As a key part of his contractual relationship with publishers, he gives them permission to print and distribute the content he writes and to pay him a royalty based on the actual sales of those books. Ed's books written prior to fall 2011 have been distributed by Que Publishing (a division of Pearson Education) and by Microsoft Press. As of November 2011, Ed is a partner in the independent publishing company Fair Trade Digital Exchange, which exclusively publishes his books.

On occasion, Ed accepts consulting assignments. In recent years, he has worked as an expert witness in cases where his experience and knowledge of Microsoft and Microsoft Windows have been useful. In each such case, his compensation is on an hourly basis, and he is hired as a witness, not an advocate.

Ed does not own stock or have any other financial interest in Microsoft or any other software company. He owns 500 shares of stock in EMC Corporation, which was purchased before the company's acquisition of VMware. In addition, he owns 350 shares of stock in Intel Corporation, purchased more than two years ago. All stocks are held in retirement accounts for long-term growth.

Ed does not accept gifts from companies he covers. All hardware products he writes about are purchased with his own funds or are review units covered under formal loan agreements and are returned after the review is complete.

Biography

Ed Bott

Ed Bott is an award-winning technology writer with more than two decades' experience writing for mainstream media outlets and online publications. He's served as editor of the U.S. edition of PC Computing and managing editor of PC World; both publications had monthly paid circulation in excess of 1 million during his tenure. He is the author of more than 25 books on Microsoft Windows and Office, including the recently released Windows 7 Inside Out.

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I can't view the videos
pgit 18th Apr
I have the latest flash version on Linux. I tried everything to get the videos to work, I tried disabling noscript and adblock, I changed the user agent to IE 8 running on vista. (and a few other settings) I even tried it in chrome.

At least in chrome I got a message "the flash player is out of date," which it most certainly isn't.

I understand the idea of checking flash versions, but what use is there in denying the user the ability to view the video? It's not like your server can be compromised. The result is I find increasing numbers of videos I can't see because I use Linux. Ironically, the same videos (eg BBC news) do run on a windows XP machine with a very outdated flash version.

I could cry "discrimination!" but that's not my style. happy
View in thread
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Now that's cool
CobraA1 19th Oct 2009
So XP apps can be run directly on the desktop? Now
that's cool happy.
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CPU limitations
JJ Brannon 20th Oct 2009
Like Ed I own a Scansnap that the Win7 Compatibility Utility identifies as problematic.

I would love to implement this solution.

However, the Intel Processor ID Utility -- http://www.intel.com/support/processors/tools/piu/ --
reads my Xeons as incapable of VT-mode.

JJB
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How is this different than Virtual PC?
itpro_z 19th Oct 2009
Ed, I have XP running under MS Virtual PC 2007 on my Vista Business x64 machine. How is this different? I know that I had to supply a copy of XP for mine, which is included with the Win7 XP mode, but what other differences do you see?
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USB support, for starters
spec07 19th Oct 2009
... (previously a feature only availalbe in the $400+ VMWare Workstation).

Also, the individual windows for applications running in the "guest" PC are not bounded within the VM window as with traditional virtualization platforms (i.e., aside from the different visual look of the Window, you can't tell a given application is running within a VM).
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Traditional virtualization platforms?
Richard Flude Updated - 19th Oct 2009
A feature many VM users have been enjoying for sometime
(e.g. VMWare's Fusion on Mac).

It's a good thing for windows users but why are the home users
excluded? Surely they're likely to be the ones with the greatest
number of unsupported peripherals.

This 32 / 64-bit incompatibilities is also a source of confusion for
many of us. Do I run 32 or 64-bit version of XP on my 32 or 64
version of windows 7. What combinations work? Can I run 32 AND 64
bit version of XP? What's the benefit of this again?

Maybe Ed can do another matrix.
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Contributr
Home users
Ed Bott Updated - 20th Oct 2009
If a home user wants this capability, they can pay for an upgrade, which in turn gives them this capability. If they already have a copy of Windows XP and a PC that supports hw virtualization, they can install the free Windows Virtual PC and their own copy of XP without paying extra.

There is no need for a 64-bit version of XP. None.
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32bit
Jimster480 20th Oct 2009
its a 32 bit Xp in a 64 bit environment. I'm not
sure if your able to run 64 bit OS's in the
Virtual machine.
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Contributr
No, you can't
Ed Bott 20th Oct 2009
...although it is difficult to find that documented anywhere, I finally tracked it down.
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That's a BIG deal !!
Watzman@... 20th Oct 2009
Re: "I know that I had to supply a copy of XP for mine, which is included with the Win7 XP mode" ... That's a BIG deal; first, a copy of XP is $100 to $400 depending on the edition and how you got it. Second, just how available do you think that new copies of XP will be (price not withstanding) in 2011? Remember, it still has to do Product Activation and, for many purposes, pass WGA validation.
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Printers, Scanners, Digital Readers...
Steve@... 30th Oct 2009
In early 2008, I was flying to London, and a woman came through first class with a shopping bag. She was handing out free Sony digital book readers to everone in first class. When I upgraded my machine to Vista 64 bit, Sony's software and drivers would no longer work. With the Win 7 XP mode, I can now use my digital book as well as a Sony digital voice recorder I bought a few years back for school. Both of these items were about to be scrapped. The real crime of technology is that Moore's law is filling our landfills with electronics that cease to work, when we upgrade our operating systems.
Thanks MS, XP mode is a true gem.
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Wondering how often this is needed
tonymcs@... 19th Oct 2009
We have had no trouble running any XP software on Vista or 7. My own company's software is around 1,000,000 lines of code first written in VB long ago. Last compiled in VB6, it had no problems with either Vista or 7.

The only problem we get occasionally is having DEP on (easily fixed by putting our software in the exclusion list) due to some older components. Is DEP on in the VM as well?

I think it's great that MS offers this feature, but I'm wondering how many people have XP apps that won't run on Vista or 7?
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1 and counting
JonWayn 20th Oct 2009
I had a major problem with a 32-bit software that wont ever get up[dated/graded] by the creator. It is an address processing software that takes my output addresses from a file, passes them through their server and update zipcodes with the last 4 digits if all the other address elements match what is on their server. They now sell an updated version for a lot of money but allow us to continue use of the older program free. I have 64-bit Vista that wont allow me to install this 32-bit program. I can use a vm, but the vm cannot save the output to the host, which is where Id want to do all my processing except for the use of the incompat software. Maybe in your situation, you are moving from 32-bit XP to 32-bit W7. If thats the case, then you wouldnt have any problem with your setup. Likewise if you are moving from XP-64 to W7-64. I welcome this feature with arms wide open. I was yet to fugure out a way to get my job done before this new feature. By the way, is it possible to access data saved on the host from the guest machine. I am using VirtualBox for my VM. Can you advise Ed?
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Contributr
Your situation is ideal for XP Mode
Ed Bott 20th Oct 2009
You can save output from the VM to the host. That is exactly how I use my scanner in XP Mode. Its output gets saved to the host drive.
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just for the knowledge
JonWayn 20th Oct 2009
My question really pertained to the traditional VM. Say, with VirtualBox (or any other traditional vm), if I saved a file on the host, is there a way to run a virtual machine that accesses that data, makes changes to it, then have the host take it from there and do other things with it? Or, can a shared folder be accessed by both the guest and the host? If yes, how do you set that up?
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Yes, you can.
Thunderbuck 20th Oct 2009
Pretty much every VM now has integration features that allow you to save from the guest OS to the host.

In the case of the new VirtualPC (and VMWare and VirtualBox, for that matter), your VM can be set up with shared folders that are visible to the host.

Though with XP Mode, even THAT isn't necessary; you just open your app from within the host and specify where you want your output to be stored.
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Developers, for one...
Thunderbuck 20th Oct 2009
Developers will love XP Mode. They can run older versions of development environments like Visual Studio 6 that likely won't run on 7
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and test websites against IE6. (nt)
bigsibling 20th Oct 2009
nt
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RE: Windows 7 in action: a closer look at Windows XP Mode
alokgovil 19th Oct 2009
How much hard-disk space does XP mode use? Is it as much as a usual Windows XP installation?
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Contributr
Roughly
Ed Bott 19th Oct 2009
My Windows XP Mode virtual machine uses about 2.1GB of disk space.
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Firewall AV requirement
alokgovil 19th Oct 2009
Would I need separate security software (Firewall + AV) on it?
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Yes
Richard Flude Updated - 19th Oct 2009
Add antivirus and don't forget to patch.

Seem strange shipping a product with "Mainstream Support Retired" in a
new product. Ed could you outline the support issues, if any, this is likely
to create for end users?
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What about windows 95 comp mode
nz_helpdeskguy 19th Oct 2009
Can you still right click an exe in 'XP mode' and click the 'compatibility' tab & 'Run this program in compatibility mode for Windows95' ?

I will need this for my xmas leemings!
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Sorry, but you'll have to try for yourself
Richard Flude Updated - 19th Oct 2009
Download two pieces of software, 6.5 and 450MB around. You'll need
double the free space if using IE as it downloads to a temp location
before COPYING (yes not moving) the file to the download location.

Install the smaller VM host first then restart. I clicked on the shutdown
button by mistake (little option arrow smallish). Seems you don't have
to worry about any pesky "Are you sure?" alerts on this OS for such a
major operation.

During shutdown you'll be greeted with the "updating windows: don't
lose power" message.

Restoring power I'm greeted with a "Configuring windows updates: Do
not turn off computer". Oh then it shuts down again.

Ok starting windows again, "Configuring Windows" again. Tempted to
see what would happen if I did turn off the computer but I didn't.

Here I was ordered to change my password. For a standalone version
of windows 7 this appeared a confusing request, but given no choice I
complied.

Now we click on the self extracting XP machine. Extracts to another
temporary location, several warnings (malware platform target cop-
outs) then installer that helpfully report the operation may take
several minutes (from experience this covers 1 second to infinity).

Finally launch XP mode, failed. Seems VMWare doesn't enable the
hardware virtualisation support (not that surprising really).

I wish all computing could be this simple;-)
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Contributr
Yes, that option is available
Ed Bott 20th Oct 2009
It is a complete and unaltered copy of Windows XP and does everything you can do in a physical machine (except attach to external non-USB devices).
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Contributr
Answers
Ed Bott 19th Oct 2009
1. It's a separate add-on, not "shipping in the product."

2. Mainstream support retired, yes, but security patches available till 2014.
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Thanks Ed, further...
Richard Flude Updated - 19th Oct 2009
"1. It's a separate add-on, not "shipping in the product.""

Clear - Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode aren't actually part
of windows 7, requiring 2 additional downloads yet are restricted to
ultimate and professional users (or hack with XP SP3 license for other
versions). Are there 32/64 bit version incompatibilities I should be
worried about?

"2. Mainstream support retired, yes, but security patches available till
2014"

Aren't no-charge incident support dropped, as are warranty claims.
Extended Hotfix Support for a fee and restricted to Volume License
customers(?).

Does Windows XP Mode add-on alter any of these XP conditions?
Perhaps a link to the EULA, I can't find it (because it's still not final?).
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Contributr
Answers
Ed Bott Updated - 20th Oct 2009
It is a 32-bit version of Windows XP. Windows Virtual PC comes in 32-bit and 64-bit versions, depending on the Windows 7 host. I have experienced no issues with 32/64 bit compatibility.

As for extended support, the reason for using Windows XP Mode is because you have a program or device that runs well under XP but lacks drivers for Windows 7 or is incompatible for some other reason. In that scenario, you don't need Extended Hotfix support or no-charge incident support, any more than you would if you were to deploy a brand-new box, install XP on it, and run your old app or device. Extended Hotfix Support is for customers who are building new custom applications and need help working around incompatibilities unique to their environment.

The EULA is available via MSDN or TechNet as part of the final release of Windows XP Mode and will be available for the public at GA of Windows 7 later this week.
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Contributr
Well....
Ed Bott 20th Oct 2009
In my case, that is not necessary. I am using it to run a single application (scanner control program) that does not communicate with the Internet. I'm not using the web browser or e-mail in the virtual machine, so there is no vector for malware to attack.

If you are using it with an app that connects to the internet, then you would want a separate security program. The free Microsoft Security Essentials program is a good choice.
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Only If...
arminw 20th Oct 2009
your virtual machine needs to be connected to the Internet. The
Windows 7 host environment would need to have (maybe) some of that
software burden since it IS connected to the Internet. To use a scanner
or other obsolete hardware within the XP virtual machine, that virtual
machine needs to have no Internet connection.
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RE: Windows 7 in action: a closer look at Windows XP Mode
kenosha77a 19th Oct 2009
Good article, Ed. Yet, I have a curiosity that made me
hesitant to voice it in a public forum since, as you already
have stated, previous versions of Windows are, at best,
used to run legacy programs and by definition, should be
only a minor part of a person's modern computing
experience. (Whew ... large preamble but here comes the
bottom line.)

Could you report in a future test if the virtualization
program used by Microsoft is better or worse at running XP
(or any other OS) than those that run under OSX?

I know you have a current mac mini (which, by chance
closely matches my current MacBook's engineering specs)
and should be perfect for a side by side comparison of the
virtualization programs.

As it is, I happen to use Fusion ver 3 (which technically goes
on sale in a few days) to run XP and my legacy Window's
programs. (Although I'm familiar with and impressed by all
the other virtualization programs currently available.)

Still, from your article, I know I don't experience any of the
"rough edges" that you experienced using Microsoft's virtual
PC program.

Again ... this is just for curiosity's sake. I'm sure that if a
legacy program can be accessed and used in virtual mode,
the end user would ... and should ... deem the virtualization
program a success regardless of which operation system is
used. (Hense my hesitation to start a discussion which
could degenerate into a useless OS bashing exercise.)
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Contributr
Rough edges
Ed Bott 20th Oct 2009
The rough edges I speak of come from the integration components and the way that Microsoft devlivers XP Mode. Presumably, you will not encounter these issues if you purchase a new PC with Windows 7 Professional and XP Mode already installed. Also, if you use Windows Virtual PC to create your own virtual machines, it's quite slick and elegant, equal to any other PC-based virtualization platform I've tried.

I'll look at Mac-based solutions later.
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Curious about installs
WoW > Work Updated - 20th Oct 2009
Had a few questions and ideas how this could be a huge deal for some:

For starters, someone had mentioned AV and patching on XP in the XP mode. If you're only using installed applications (in your case, the Office 2003) and not hardware (like the need to scan from a scanner,) would you need AV and patching on the virtual machine?

Another question: as for me (and I'm sure most tech people do) I reinstall Windows every couple of months (maybe I have OCD?) When reinstalling XP Mode, can we copy the virutal machine over (applications included), or need to reinstall all of the applications again?

Lasty, and this is a non-business related question: Spore caused quite a stur when it included the dreaded SecuROM software. I don't know about others, but I am dead set against using any product that includes the awful DRM software on my computer. However, in a virtual environment, it might not be as detrimental.

Would it be possible to avoid a SecuROM main system install by installing Spore in XP mode, but running the game via the host? I'm going to take a guess and think it wouldn't work, since it's probably still considered "virtual" and wouldn't run well. Just thought I'd throw it out there as a far fetched idea.
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RE: Windows 7 in action: a closer look at Windows XP Mode
kingsclear 20th Oct 2009
This means new life for a host of fax programs which became obsolete with Windows Vista. Among them are WinFax and Phone Tools.
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Not installed by default?
nrshap 20th Oct 2009
I upgraded a Vista Home install with Windows 7 Ultimate RTM. But it doesn't appear that I have Windows XP mode installed. So it's not installed by default? I would like to install it for software testing...but only if it has a state bookmark feature like parallels that lets you "go back" to a known configuration after installing something. (Right now I do testing on a Mac using Parallels because of this feature.) Does it have that?
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Contributr
Download
Ed Bott 20th Oct 2009
You need to download two files to use XP Mode. One is the Windows Virtual PC update. The other is the Windows XP Mode package. Both are available at MSDN and TechNet now but will be available to general public on or after Oct 22.

No support for bookmarks as far as I can tell, although of course you can back up a VHD and "roll back" to a prior configuration that way. You can also back it up as a system image.
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Undo Disks
Row5 20th Oct 2009
There is the ability to create undo disks that will allow you to modify your VM without changing the VHD. If you want to keep the changes you can apply the changes to the VHD. Otherwise you can discard the changes.
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MS is moving away from bundleware
cquirke 3rd Nov 2009
After the legal challenges over IE and Media Player, it makes sense to stop bundling stuff with Windows - and instead, offer this as extra value from Windows Live (ex-MSN), who need all the value they can get.

That's one reason why XP Mode isn't bundled in the OS; another may be to reduce the support call load.

Finally, less bundling means less code surfaces to patch, and that's good news all round.

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XP Mode little more than a bullet on a feature sheet
SteveMak 20th Oct 2009
Ed's closing statement should not be overlooked: XP mode in WIndows 7 is not intended to replace XP, but to (hopefully) allow you to run XP software that would otherwise not run in Windows 7.

Notes on XP Mode:
(1) Your hardware must support hardware virtualization
(2) Your XP apps and drivers will "hopefully" work in XP mode.
(3) XP mode runs on a single core, as a virtual machine, so if you're used to multi-core performance and responsiveness, leave those expectations at the door.

XP Mode exists to help sell Windows 7, not as a compelling reason for XP users to move to Windows 7.
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Obviously you know little about Applications
VietOne 20th Oct 2009
Any application that is already optimized for multi-core systems already works in Win7. You would be hard pressed not to find a multi-core app that doesnt work just as well in Win7/Vista.

XP Mode is for applications that don't work in Win7. All of them are old enough to where multi-core processors had no effect on their performance.

When multi-core processors were introduced to the market, the most common complaint was that the performance increase was non existent cause the applications could only use one processor or the load was split to where both cores would only run at 50% each, which is effectively one processor.

Before you even start to talk about application performance, at least have some basic knowledge of how applications performed in XP.

XP Mode performs well because in the applications that you would need to use it, a single processor will run the application faster than you can use it.
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About Virtualization
taife32 21st Oct 2009
Virtual machines provide you with a preset virtualised hardware environment. This means that when you install your OS it is installed on a different computer to your hardware (the virtual environment). So your windows xp applications that do not demand much of the hardware but require a particular OS environment will be well served. Most enterprise productivity tools only require this kind of environment. So your major games will not be happy with XPMode but then almost all of them are optimised to run on newer OSes. XPMode is not just to sell Win7 it is actually a compelling reason for XP users to upgrade. You see most XP users did not move to Vista because of compatibity problems since Vista was quite a jump (I am refering mainly to bussinesses -they do not care much about hardware needs as they can afford to buy new pcs but care a lot about their production tools working on the new pc)just as win7 is from XP. So now one can install Win7 knowing that the odd program will have XP engine to run on even though it is seemingly being used in Win7 environment. I have tested this and it works well.

The only problem that I do not fully understand is why the need for hardware virtualization. This requirement has blindsided a lot of people as it is not easy to know which CPU is capable and which one is not. On Intel CPUs the mess is caused by their confusing mix of attributes where you find a lower numbered CPU having more things than a higher numbered one and then again the higher you go the more you get.

Luckily for me I run the E6550 which has all the tech of higher end CPUs except the "Core i" range.
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RE: Windows 7 in action: a closer look at Windows XP Mode
etimer@... 20th Oct 2009
You point to the number one reason not one computer in my office will see the OS upgrade. Since I am the owner and pay the invoices, I see not one darn reason to change something that is working just fine.
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Good for you
AndyPagin 20th Oct 2009
Good for you etimer,

Plan your infrastructure upgrades according to the needs of your business, not the needs of Microsoft.

As far as I am concerned the time to upgrade an OS is when the existing one can no longer fulfil my requirements.

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Thats fine for you but your business isnt large enough to see the advantage
VietOne 20th Oct 2009
Small to medium business will more than likely stick with XP. Thats fine as you don't have a need for something that can scale higher and be practical.

For Large businesses, doing more is the goal. XP reached its limits long ago in terms of how much performance and efficiency a business can expect. For many large businesses that switched to Vista, the cost was justified in how much more was accomplished.

Many people don't like change. Change means time to get familiar with something new and thats why Vista wasnt so widely accepted. Was Vista better than XP? From a user standpoint, maybe not. From an IT standpoint, it was worlds better. More stable, better network features and increased security.

These days, I have seen one reason why small to medium businesses have kept to using XP. Because they have installed third-party solutions to gain business features that would have been available to newer versions of sharepoint and AD but were cheaper to buy and support in XP. Since your business is tied to those third party features that probably wont work correctly in Vista/Win7, you are tied to XP.
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Amen nt
keoz 20th Oct 2009
nt
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There's better version of XP compatibility
JohnPaterson 20th Oct 2009
and it's called Windows XP Professional. I keep seeing demos of Windows 7 showing me how cutely I can shake a window and minimise all the others. Who cares? These are all completely trivial features.

What people in the real world want is an OS that won't crash, is fast and runs all their existing applications perfectly.

While XP sometimes fails on the first two counts, I see nothing that makes me believe that Windows 7 will be any better.

The only persuasive reason that I've seen to get people to move is because support for XP will cease in April 2014. Luckily that's some time away.

Why fork out money and pull out hair to get a product that is worse than what you've already got? Who is the IT industry & media trying to fool telling us that Windows 7 is cool?

John Paterson
www.reallysimplesystems.com
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Totally agree!
jaaminc 20th Oct 2009
The writer here is correct on all points. The techies and the greedy Microsoft buffoons are just adding running shoes to a horse. You don't need 7 if you have XP.
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You are blind and biased
bobiroc 21st Oct 2009
Not everybody needs to run out and buy Windows 7 but your comment amongst others that post similar rubbish show that you have never used Windows 7 or if you did you went in with blinders on. If you have a computer that has XP on it and it works then don't upgrade if you don't want to. But to come here and say that people do not need it because you feel you don't is just stupid.
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Sounds like you can't get past the eye candy
bobiroc 21st Oct 2009
Sure Windows 7 adds some "Pizazz" over XP but you like many people do not seem to get past that and see the new functional features and security benefits of Windows 7. I find it really ironic that you have a website titled reallysimplesystems.com because Windows 7 makes things really simple. Keeping the same feel of Windows it adds features that make it simple for users to organize, find, and use their files and programs. Windows 7 is definitely more stable than XP and when a "crash" does happen it recovers data and applications much easier. Also if it comes to your OS gets corrupted the recovery features and backup features are much more intuitive. Windows Backup in XP sucked IMO and in Windows 7 and in Vista an end user can easily and effectively back up their data and settings automatically to an external drive and if they ever need to restore their system getting that data back has never been easier. So get your head out of your @$$ and look beyond the areo effects which I also find makes things easier to work and use your applications. You yourself admit you only see Demos. I can see a demo of a Corvette but I do not get the real experience until I drive one.
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supported
taife32 22nd Oct 2009
One of the major things I realised about XP showing age was when I bought a more morden PC. Then on your daily usage you can feel that XP does not use the new hardware the same way the OSes do. People who are happy with XP is mostly those who do not use other OSes and therefore cannot realise how far computing has progressed.
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XP PC, new PC: Pick one
cquirke 3rd Nov 2009
Building a "new" PC with XP would be like building a Win98 PC in 2002. You may have to do it, if forced by software of hardware that you have to use that won't work with modern Windows, but it is a dead end.

If you build a PC now, you'd want it to be useful for a number of years - 3, as per depreciation rules, perhaps longer otherwise. I don't think you will get that if chained to XP.

So you'd either build a cheap XP PC (and keep it cheap by using XP Home, not XP Pro) or build a new PC and leverage Windows 7 Pro's XP Mode.

A modern PC is likely to have hardware that will work OK, if not well, in modern Windows (i.e. Vista or Windows 7). You'd get at least 1G RAM, 250G hard drive, and it wouldn't cost much to double these to 2G and 500G.

Spending up beyond this minimum would put you at the limit of 32-bit addressing, i.e. 4G RAM, and any current (rather than last-month) processor will have VT as needed by XP Mode (even at the Celeron price point, there's VT in the E3xxx series).

And the chances are, the S-ATA operating mode won't be natively supported by XP, so you'd have that much more hassle getting that to work (think "F6 diskette" on a PC with no diskette controller) unless you dumb down the S-ATA from AHCI, losing some of the performance features.

So if I put all that together, I'd build a Windows 7 PC and choose 64-bit Windows 7 Pro. Old apps that won't play 64-bit will prolly also not play Vista/7, so they get dumped in the XP Mode sandpit. My total OS cost is the same as XP Pro, yet I'm getting both yesterday's Windows plus tomorrows'. To me, that's a no-brainer - if it works (i.e. if the legacy apps actually work in the virtualized OS).
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I can't view the videos
pgit 18th Apr
I have the latest flash version on Linux. I tried everything to get the videos to work, I tried disabling noscript and adblock, I changed the user agent to IE 8 running on vista. (and a few other settings) I even tried it in chrome.

At least in chrome I got a message "the flash player is out of date," which it most certainly isn't.

I understand the idea of checking flash versions, but what use is there in denying the user the ability to view the video? It's not like your server can be compromised. The result is I find increasing numbers of videos I can't see because I use Linux. Ironically, the same videos (eg BBC news) do run on a windows XP machine with a very outdated flash version.

I could cry "discrimination!" but that's not my style. happy

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