Excitement is building around the
launch of Windows 7. Microsoft's latest operating system was released
to manufacturing back in August and will be available to consumers on
October 22. Many eager Windows users are already enjoying their
retail copies of Windows 7 courtesy of the Windows 7 Party Pack –
in fact, some have decided to part ways with their Party Packs and
list
them for $200+ on eBay.
When it comes to Windows 7, there are
quite a few features that stand out in the minds of users. The
install takes up less space than Windows Vista, offers across the
board performance increases (especially for netbooks), and includes
numerous tweaks both to the user interface and beneath the skin. One
feature that has received a lot of attention is XP Mode which is
included with Business
and Ultimate versions of Windows 7.
As its name implies, XP Mode allows
users to run a fully licensed copy of Windows
XP in a virtual environment within Windows 7. While having the
ability to run a full copy of Windows XP Professional is no doubt a
nice addition for regular consumers and businesses that still rely on
Windows XP to run certain software or conduct business, is the trend
to provide easy access to XP a help or hindrance to software
development?
Windows XP was released late in 2001;
we are now late in 2009 and fast approaching 2010. Windows XP is an
eight-year-old operating system, which is quite ancient in terms of
modern operating systems. Since that time, Windows Vista was released
(October
2006 for businesses, January
2007 for consumers) and now were are tiptoeing towards the
release of Windows 7.
Is is that consumers and businesses are
just so set in their ways with using older, incompatible software?
After all, upgrading to newer software that is compatible with
Windows Vista/7 could be quite expensive for corporations on top of
the cost of upgrading to Windows 7 (or buying new computer systems
with Windows 7 already installed). Or are the software vendors that
provided these older software programs just not interested in making
newer versions compatible with Windows Vista and Windows 7?
In Microsoft's case, it's of little
concern, because anyone who buys a copy of Windows 7 Professional or
Ultimate for XP mode has ultimately bought a new Windows license. But
the question remains, why hang on to ties to the past?
Tell us your thoughts. If you plan on
using XP Mode in Windows 7, what software do you plan to run in the
virtual environment? Why are you using that software? Is there an
updated version that is compatible with Vista/Windows 7, but you're
comfortable using the older version? You have our ears!
