Anyone acquiring a license of Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate versions get a "bonus" from Microsoft called XP Mode. This is a feature only available in these versions of software which allows you to run in a virtual machine Windows XP (under Windows 7), or no applications that would run the new operating system or have compatibility issues.

For companies that have legacy applications, XP Mode is a very welcome feature is that it can be decisive in the decision to migrate (and when) to Windows 7. But it can also be very useful for the end user who has some software that refuses to run in the new environment.

Install and use XP Mode, however, requires some tricks. The first step is to find out if your hardware is compatible with virtual machines and processor needs to offer this support and have virtualization enabled. To check if the installed CPU allows it, try the manufacturer's website for such information as those offered by Intel and AMD .

If the processor is compatible with the technology, it may be necessary to enable the feature through the BIOS. To access it, connect your PC and check during the boot process which key to press to access the BIOS (usually F2 or Del). Locate the option to enable virtualization and

You can also download and run the application securable to, among other things, indicates that the processor used allows virtualization or not.

Only the use of virtualization to be available from the two more complete versions of Windows 7, it is not part of the DVD installer and the user will want to download it from Microsoft Web site . Before installing it, make sure you also have the Virtual PC already installed on your machine. Both installations are simple and standard settings will be sufficient for most situations.

When you run XP Mode will need to provide a password for the user site and also decide whether or not you want automatic updates so that the installation is finally complete.

Once installed, when loaded on Windows 7, it runs on so called Desktop and provides access to a full Windows XP environment. Desktop mode is useful when you want to use a desktop environment completely separate from Windows 7. Note that by default, shortcut keys are only passed to the XP Desktop mode when it runs in full screen. In addition, you can not use the drag and drop (something) between operating systems, but you can share the file system within the Desktop mode.

Virtualization of applications
The most notable feature of the XP mode is so seamless. With it, you can run XP applications directly from the menus of Windows 7. To access this feature, you must install the desired application in Desktop mode and close the virtual machine. The installed application can then be located in the initial menu under All Programs, Windows Virtual PC XP Mode Applications. If you find that the application's default location is not convenient, you can move the shortcut to anywhere you want.

When you start this way from Windows 7, XP Mode runs in the background and the application in question runs as if natively on the new operating system environment. In this situation, they are called virtual applications.

If the installed application does not create a shortcut on the Start menu in Windows 7, as described above, or if there is already an application with the same name (but this belongs to the new operating system), you can create it in Desktop Mode C : \ Documents and Settings \ All Users \ Start Menu and the program will appear in the Start menu in XP Mode applications folder.

Limitations
Seamless mode has two problems. Who uses more than a video monitor in the same PC, the virtual application runs only on the primary monitor. In addition, virtual applications do not fit on the screen with the automatic feature of Windows 7: you need to resize them manually. And the Virtual Desktop and Seamless mode can not be used simultaneously.

Finally, you need to keep in mind that to run a virtual application, you must first load the XP mode that it is still a core of another operating system. So the first time you run the virtual appliance, there will be some delay to load it. Despite these limitations, the XP mode is feasible to run legacy in the new operating system.