Help me come up with a Windows XP-->Windows 7 transition strategy.

[Darwin]

+1 for XP mode. However, I have found that it is intensely slow to load up... to the point that I rarely use it. I had intended to learn how to use ArcGIS 9.1 properly but find that the double whammy of apathy (I had three years during which it was installed on my XP machine and *almost* never opened it) and the slowness with which XP mode opens and closes means that I rarely use it.

NB XP Mode is nice and quick once it has loaded. I WISH that the VM that XP Mode comes with and loads under would run prior versions of Windows - I'd love to play around with a VM of 3.11 (nostalgia). Finally, I have 4GB of DDR2 RAM on my notebook and it's maxed out. I have assigned 2GB to my XP VM. This may explain the lethargy with which XP Mode opens and closes...

[Darwin]

You do have to use Windows 7 Pro or Ultimate (if you have XP Pro you can upgrade) so although the XP image comes without paying for a license it isn't exactly free,

-Carol Haynes (November 03, 2010, 10:05 AM)

Very true. However, if you have a standalone license for XP (and I suspect that Superboyac does, given that he built his own desktop a year or so ago), you can run and VM program that you wish and install XP in that.

[Carol Haynes]

True and VMWare or VirtualBox are quicker. The nice bit of XP Mode the the way it integrates easily.