Windows 7: XP Mode and Med-V
Some applications you just don’t want to bring forward to a newer version of Windows. That’s perfectly normal. Every ISV typically has a popular version of their application that they left behind some time ago. Not a single developer left on the team who has experience with that code base let alone with a motivation to look at it again.
Of course you (the ISV) also like to upgrade/upsell all of your customers to the newer version. The one you are making compatible with Windows 7. But some customers will demand that they can stay on their old version of your application while moving to Windows 7.
Good news is that Windows 7 will offer tools to do exactly this. They are Windows XP Mode for small business and MED-V for medium and large business.
Basically both provide a virtual machine environment to run legacy applications in. But the great thing is that users don’t see that the application is running in a virtual PC as XP Mode and Med-V integrates seamlessly with the host OS.
The main difference is that with XP Mode you will need to install everything from the Windows 7 desktop while with MED-V lets you centrally manage all of this.
Windows XP Mode
https://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/default.aspx
- Windows XP Mode will be available as part of Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate.
- Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 makes it easy to install and run your Windows XP applications directly from your Windows 7-based PC. It utilizes virtualization technology, such as Windows Virtual PC, to provide a virtual Windows XP environment for Windows 7.
- Windows Virtual PC is the latest Microsoft virtualization technology for Windows 7. It is the runtime engine for Windows XP Mode to provide a virtual Windows environment for Windows 7. With Windows Virtual PC, Windows XP Mode applications can be seen and accessed from a Windows 7 desktop.
- To install applications in Windows XP Mode, you start by selecting Virtual Windows XP from the Windows 7 Start menu.
- You can install applications in Windows XP Mode just as you normally would on a physical PC. For example, you can install applications via web, from storage devices, or from physical media such as CD/DVD.
- To run your application directly from the Windows 7 desktop, just go to your Start menu.
MED-V adds management to XP Mode
Here’s a great quote:
Belgacom Group – “MED-V saves us time in standardizing our desktop across the multiple entities of the Belgacom group…With thousands of users in our environment, MED-V will significantly reduce the time required for testing and migrating the applications we have.“