Microsoft introduced XP Mode last April, positioning it as a way for small businesses to run legacy XP programs from Windows 7 onwards. But XP Mode, a Windows XP SP3 virtual environment that runs on Windows Virtual PCs, has only worked with virtualization. Intel and AMD Processors.
XP mode also requires PCs with at least 2GB of RAM and 15GB of free disk space, and Microsoft’s recommendation to consumers to buy new PCs from its OEM partners.
Now that the hardware requirement is no longer enforced, Microsoft says XP mode will be for consumers to implement.
“This change makes it extremely easy for businesses to use Windows XP Mode to address any application incompatibility roadblocks they might have in migrating to Windows 7,” said Brandon LeBlanc, communications manager on the Windows Client Team, in a Thursday blog post.
XP Mode was intended to make the migration process to Windows 7 less difficult for consumers and showed Microsoft’s determination not to let consumers have compatibility problems as is the case with Vista.
But despite a still-moribund economy, there are signs that Windows 7’s rave reviews are translating into rollout plans. In a report released this week, Dimensional Research found that 58% of users plan to deploy Windows 7 by the end of the year. and 47% don’t plan to wait until Windows 7 Service Pack 1 is released before taking the plunge.