Windows 7’s XP Mode Considered Harmful
In the news recently was the new “XP Mode” feature of Windows 7. You can read Jeff Atwood’s rundown of it here, and Paul Thurrot’s preview of it here.
Essentially, XP Mode is an instance of Virtual PC that runs applications in their own little Windows XP environment, but does so in such a way that they look like they’re running on your normal Windows 7 desktop. It’s all very funky, and reminiscent of OS/2 Warp’s “seamless” support for Windows 3.x applications.
It wasn’t until I had read the Coding Horror post that I realised why this is important. After all, Windows 7 can run any old application – even DOS applications. Why would I need a full-blown VM just to run Windows XP applications? The truth is that this feature will become much more important in future versions of Windows. It’s no secret that Windows is embarrassingly backwards-compatible, but having to keep all that cruft around so that 16-bit applications can still run doesn’t do it any favours. XP Mode is the beginning of the end for native backwards-compatibility. Some future version of Windows could drop support for old applications altogether, but as long as it could run a virtual machine you’d still be able to fire up Comicster and add that latest issue of Fantastic Four.
Having said all that, I’m not sure XP Mode is good news. It’s great that the feature exists, and it opens up a whole new world of Windows versions free of the shackles of backwards-compatibility, but here’s the rub: People read about XP Mode and immediately assume that it’s there because Windows 7 won’t run their Windows XP applications without it.
It’s true! I’ve already spoken to a few people who have read about XP Mode on the web and, while technical enough to know what Windows 7 is, aren’t technical enough to grasp the reasons behind the existence of the feature. Heck – like I said, I didn’t even fully grasp them before reading that blog post.
What do you think? Should Microsoft have kept quiet on XP Mode, except for maybe a mention on an MSDN or TechNet page somewhere? Do you think it’s damaging to Windows 7’s compatibility reputation?
Comments
# hairyman
6/05/2009 10:07 AM
Even if MS kept quiet about it, mainstream media would have caught on as someone would have leaked it.
I haven't read the blog posts but removing backwards compat is a good step forward and if it helps speed up windows in general by not having to run all the old sh*t i'm all for it
# Euan
6/05/2009 10:30 AM
I am curious to know if I can run it as a sandbox for certain applications I want to check out.
And if the app is dodgy, can I reset the "XP mode" virtual environment to default?