Windows 7 XP downgrade available with Windows 7 Pro & Ultimate

[john3347]

Below is a link to an article in Computer World announcing that a downgrade to windows XP Professional will be available with Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate. This program appears to be either identical to, or nearly identical to, the Vista Business downgrade program currently in place. It would seem that this would ease the transition for many businesses.



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[Tepid]

Below is a link to an article in Computer World announcing that a downgrade to windows XP Professional will be available with Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate. This program appears to be either identical to, or nearly identical to, the Vista Business downgrade program currently in place. It would seem that this would ease the transition for many businesses.



Microsoft backtracks, extends XP availability to 2011

I have not tested it yet, but will soon. There is another option coming as well for Pro, Enterprise and Ultimate users.

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I it is free to those users....
If this is stable and it works, this is the best solution for those users.

 

[carol_s]

Virtual XP Mode works well for me - I have my accounts software which would not run under Windows XP x64, Vista x64 or Windows 7 x64, even when using compatibility modes stretching back to Windows 95. However it runs beautifully in a Virtual Windows XP window on my system, I can copy and paste between it and stuff running on Windows 7 and it see my printers. I even installed an old scanner (Epson 1660 Photo) which has never been able to be installed in any of the x64 Windows iterations and this works fine too. It does take some time to launch, but is probably twice as fast than if I had to quit Win7 and dual boot into an installation of Win XP (plus I would have to buy another copy of XP as the one which I had on my now scrapped XP system was an OEM copy and these cannot be installed on any other system).

 

[john3347]

Virtual machines apparently work well for advanced users, but are quite a headache for the less qualified users. Having tried VMWare Player with Linux distros in the past, I would not expect "smooth" operation from Virtual XP Mode either. (I am one of those less qualified users that I speak of.) For users like myself, the option to buy an operating system that I can have a familiar OS to fall back to if desired would make the purchase much more appealing. Could even switch back and forth a time or two. I really wouldn't expect the Virtual XP Mode would be hugely popular with the masses. Perhaps that is the reason that it is not to be offered to the "home user" versions.