Windows 7 XP Mode now doesn't require hardware virtualization

[Carol Haynes]

Got an email today of from MS saying that Hyper-V hardware is no longer required for Windows 7 XP Mode in Win 7 Pro and Ultimate.

Haven't tried it yet (downloading now). It is available from:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/default.aspx

Basically you need the original two Hyper-V based downloads plus a third update which remove the Hyper-V requirement.

[Innuendo]

Yes, they changed that a couple months ago. Of course, I didn't find out till after I committed to buying a new setup with Hyper-V support, but I needed to upgrade my setup anyway. It was starting to get too slow for some of the things I enjoy doing.

[Carol Haynes]

I have to say it is quite nice having integrated Windows XP Mode from the Start menu. Bit slow when you load the first application but after that it is reasonable to use.

You can also create multiple XP VMs based on the same base install - so no activation issues (and presumably add other Windows such as Vista and 7 though I haven't tried that yet) - and have installed apps appear in the start menu too. Neat solution.

VMWare is less convenient because you have to start a machine manually to activate an application (and not free). Having said that Unity mode makes it pretty much the same as the MS solution once you have a VM open. I have to say that VMWare's virtual machine is much quicker in use than the MS Version and there is more flexibility when it comes to clients.

I didn't find out till after I committed to buying a new setup with Hyper-V support

At least you can use the VMWare ESX client now so that you can virtualise your whole system if you want

[nudone]

interesting. i was wondering if it was worth switching away from vmware. i think i'll stick with it if it offers better performance.

[Deozaan]

I downloaded this within the past month so that I could run a 16-bit game made for Windows 95 that doesn't run on 64-bit Windows. The game runs, but unfortunately it has performance problems while performing simple operations like click the mouse or dragging something from one place to another, so I end up getting frustrated real quick and don't play the game anyway.

I wonder if VMWare would have the same issues. . . 

[Carol Haynes]

Probably less so. VMWare now has full DirectX and Open GL support in its VM.

Before you switch over try allocating more RAM to the Virtual PC XP Mode. You have to shut down the Virtual PC first (ie. a full Windows XP shutdown) and then find Virtual PC in the start menu. You will see your machine listed and if you look at its properties you will see it has 512Mb allocated - assuming you have spare RAM try doubling it.

[Innuendo]

I downloaded this within the past month so that I could run a 16-bit game made for Windows 95 that doesn't run on 64-bit Windows. The game runs, but unfortunately it has performance problems while performing simple operations like click the mouse or dragging something from one place to another, so I end up getting frustrated real quick and don't play the game anyway.

Microsoft added XP Mode to Windows 7 for businesses that have proprietary programs that won't work in newer versions of Windows. There's no hardware acceleration of *anything* so as you found out it's not a solution for those looking to play older games.

[Deozaan]

Before you switch over try allocating more RAM to the Virtual PC XP Mode. You have to shut down the Virtual PC first (ie. a full Windows XP shutdown) and then find Virtual PC in the start menu. You will see your machine listed and if you look at its properties you will see it has 512Mb allocated - assuming you have spare RAM try doubling it.

My Virtual XP Mode defaulted at 256MB of RAM. I probably wouldn't hesitate to double that if I had more than 2 GB in this machine and I used "XP Mode" for anything else.

But how do you shut this thing down, anyway? I only get "Log Off" from the start menu, and even from the Action bar it only gives Restart or Sleep. When I close it, it just hibernates.

[Carol Haynes]

You can shutdown the VM by making sure the XP desktop is open and clicking CTRL+ALT+DEL at the top of the window. There is then a shutdown button.

Here are some further options:

http://blogs.technet.com/b/windows_vpc/archive/2009/10/29/tip-how-do-i-shut-down-a-virtual-machine.aspx