Windows XP Mode now accessible to more PCs

Last week Microsoft made some major announcement around Virtualization and one of the announcements was around an update to Windows XP mode which makes it more accessible to PCs in small and midsize businesses who want to migrate to Windows 7 Professional but have applications that still require Windows XP. Windows XP Mode will no longer require hardware virtualization technology to run. 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. Windows XP Mode will of course continue to use hardware virtualization technology such as Intel VT (Intel Virtualization Technology) or AMD-V if available. You can find more information and download the update available here.

Windows XP Mode is designed for small and midsize businesses. For enterprise customers, we recommend they use Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) which is part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack for Software Assurance. MED-V provides deployment and manageability features better fit to address the needs of the enterprise customer. For more information on MED-V, click here. You can discover how MED-V works with deployment and management of virtual Windows desktops in key scenarios for the enterprise here on the Springboard Series on TechNet. And Stephen Rose recently blogged about our MED-V SP1 release here.