Wow this is ambitious. The idea is that Windows 7 will have deep compatibility mode where you can run an application in a kind of XP virtual machine mode box. I gather that Win 7 Pro/Ultimate users can download the required XPM bits free.
PS.
Microsoft’s Application Virtualization product (App-V) has been released to manufacturing and can be downloaded here:
So this is probably what Microsoft are looking at using for Windows 7. Instead of running an entire virtual desktop, it allows an application to run in a bubble. MS purchased V-App (formally SoftGrid) from Softricity.
PSS. MVP Brian Peek explains XPM – Brian Peek.com
Tags: Windows 7
Does that mean that XP apps won’t be compatible with Windows 7? (Or windows 7 isn’t backwards compatible with XP?) That will be a pain for the users “User: My app no longer works! Microsoft: Use the emulator!”
From a programming perspective that will be great – they no longer have to preserve all of the legacy crud that’s accumulated over the years. They even had to preserve bugs so that they don’t break existing apps when going from 95 to 98 and probably xp – I imagine this would be a nightmare!!
Is this the first time that they’ve deliberately broken backwards compatibility? Apple make a living out of it so it will be good to see how microsoft go.
The engine of Windows 7 is basically Windows Vista. So most XP apps will work on Windows 7 (as they do on Vista), and those that don’t XPM can handle.
All very interesting. I guess all will be revealed when W7 RC1 shows up (5th May??). Since the RC will last 1yr before expiring I’ll be installing it where I can, then upgrading later when RTM version appears.