Virtual Mode In Windows 7

Microsoft Corp. will unveil an add-on to Windows 7 that lets users run applications designed for Windows XP in a virtual machine, the company confirmed Friday — the first time Microsoft has relied on virtualization to provide backward compatibility.The add-on creates an XP virtual environment running under Virtual PC, Microsoft’s client virtualization technology, within Windows 7, said Scott Woodgate, the director of Windows enterprise and virtualization strategy.

Details of Windows XP Mode (XPM) were first reported Friday afternoon by Rafael Rivera and Paul Thurrott, two prominent bloggers who are also collaborating on a book, Windows 7 Secrets, due out this fall.

According to Rivera’s Within Windows blog — Thurrott published a nearly identical write-up on his SuperSite for Windows — Windows XP Mode will be offered as a free download only to users running Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise, the three top-priced editions of the new OS.

Windows 7 Enterprise is available only to companies with volume licensing agreements.