Windows XP Compatibility Mode

Remember the bag of surprises that one Microsoft executive mentioned a few weeks ago (Major Windows 7 Announcements upcoming) ? Everyone was speculating from that point on which included final release date predictions to major interface changes. One of the things that most interested users did not think of was the introduction of the Windows XP compatibility mode in Windows 7 which will be included in Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate.

You may be asking why this is considered a major feature: It basically adds Windows XP compatibility to Windows 7 meaning that companies do not have to fear that their applications will not run in Windows 7 if they are working fine in Windows XP. This can be a huge incentive for companies to make the switch to Windows 7.

Paul Thurrott provides an in depth description of the feature:

XP Mode consists of the Virtual PC-based virtual environment and a fully licensed copy of Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3). It will be made available, for free, to users of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions via a download from the Microsoft web site. (That is, it will not be included in the box with Windows 7, but is considered an out-of-band update, like Windows Live Essentials.) XPM works much like today’s Virtual PC products, but with one important exception: As with the enterprise-based MED-V (Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization) product, XPM does not require you to run the virtual environment as a separate Windows desktop. Instead, as you install applications inside the virtual XP environment, they are published to the host (Windows 7) OS as well. (With shortcuts placed in the Start Menu.) That way, users can run Windows XP-based applications (like IE 6) alongside Windows 7 applications under a single desktop.

The interesting aspect here is that the applications will run on the same single desktop. This is good for the end user who can concentrate working on one computer system. Microsoft can now not only claim full compatibility to Windows Vista but also to Windows XP which should make a huge difference in the perception of the new operating system.

Updated from Martin Brinkmann (Windows7news)