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Windows 'XP Mode': the New DOS Box

@ 2009/05/05

Overall, the XP mode end-user experience is uneven, with plenty of opportunities for novices to get confused as they navigate between physical and virtual applications and resources. Add to this the support requirements of maintaining two completely disparate OS images per system, and XP mode may be more trouble than it's worth.

Still, there's something alluring about getting a free, licensed copy of Windows XP on which to run your troublesome legacy apps. Kudos to Microsoft for at least trying to address the legacy compatibility issue, even if the resulting solution is at best a kind of inelegant kludge.

Comment from jmke @ 2009/05/06

these won't run on XP either
you'll need VMDsound http://www.dosgames.com/xphints.php

Comment from Rutar @ 2009/05/06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kougar

What game would run in XP but not in Windows 7? Would make more sense to run the game natively.

Old games

Comment from Kenshi @ 2009/05/06

I wonder wether certain hardware like tv cards, that didn't work anymore under Vista because of driver issues, can be used again in this XP mode.

Comment from jmke @ 2009/05/06

I agree, XP mode is meant for business for backward compatibility of old apps which simply can't be patch to work with Windows 7.
Currently have Virtual PC 2007 installed with WinXP image and Win7 image; works nicely; what XP mode will do is enable remote desktop on the XP install, and access all apps as if the VM install is a terminal server;

of course there's a performance impact, the author of that article should not be surprised, I think a 30% performance hit is far from bad for running another copy of an OS inside your main OS.

Comment from Kougar @ 2009/05/06

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rutar

they need to test games with XP mode

What game would run in XP but not in Windows 7? Would make more sense to run the game natively.

Comment from Rutar @ 2009/05/06

they need to test games with XP mode

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