Making migration easier
Microsoft released the beta of XP mode for Windows 7 - intended to make the migration from Windows XP (which most businesses still use) to Windows 7 easier for SMEs - in April. It has now incorporated the findings of that beta phase into the release candidate for XP mode and made it available for download.
The software giant trotted out spokespeople from Intel, AMD, HP, Dell and a bunch of other technology companies to say why XP mode is a good thing. They all basically stuck to the party line as summarised above, with Intel and AMD saying that virtualisation makes XP mode especially easy to use.
Here are the new things in XP mode RC:
- You can now attach USB devices to Windows XP Mode applications directly from the Windows 7 task-bar. This means your USB devices, such as printers and flash drives, are available to applications running in Windows XP Mode, without the need to go into full screen mode.
- You can now access Windows XP Mode applications with a "jump-list". Right click on the Windows XP Mode applications from the Windows 7 task bar to select and open most recently used files.
- You now have the flexibility of customizing where Windows XP Mode differencing disk files are stored.
- You can now disable drive sharing between Windows XP Mode and Windows 7 if you do not need that feature.
- The initial setup now includes a new user tutorial about how to use Windows XP Mode.
You can download Windows XP mode RC here. It works with the RC and RTM versions of the Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise SKUs.
