Sorry, guys, we’ve had that for years. Another marketing guys ploy got in the way of migration to “7″ so they took away the requirement to use virtualization. .
Wake up! M$ is jerking your change. Chroot has been around in the ‘NIX world since 1982. They tried to get you to buy new hardware to run “7″ and XP by virtualization but you realized your present hardware was adequate. Don’t migrate to “7″, just because M$ wants more money. What’s in it for you? … Nothing. That’s what I thought. When they finally succeed in killing the monster they created, XP, if you have to switch, switch to GNU/Linux because it works for you and not against you. GNU/Linux works better on the first day than that other OS after its first service pack because it is open and free.
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Not sure if you know.
The virtualization of XP in Win7 is not only dependent on the processor chip (not found in all Win7 computers) and the version (Professional and above), but even when you do get virtualization it is basically gimped from the get-go as there is no 3D acceleration. So even if you have your xp compatibility mode, no playing games if they don’t run on 7 yet did on XP.
Unless they somehow develop xp and 7 drivers that can access a video card simultaneously without issue. Unlikely.
Aren’t the hardware requirements there to ensure adequate performance in the first place? I’ve tried using qemu with and without kvm and the difference is between unbearable and close to native. This is supposed to count as a “feature”?
Remember, M$ is run by salesmen. The salesmen want people to migrate from XP to “7″ so they want to be helpful but at the same time they want people still using XP to suffer. They will do everything in their power to make using XP a second-class experience. My users can see that every day because we have identical units running XP and Debian GNU/Linux. The difference in performance is amazing. When I tell them performance under “7″ will be worse than what they have with XP they are convinced that going to GNU/Linux is the way to go. No technical arguments are required.
What this means is that some fraction of users of XP will migrate to GNU/Linux in the next couple of years. No one wants to be a second-class citizen. There is a bright lining in the cloud though. Schools are going to be able to install GNU/Linux on the many millions of PCs soon to be rendered obsolete by “7″. We just received 20 little donated beauties that are excellent for our uses. They are several times faster running GNU/Linux than XP.
M$’s share of the desktop has slowly declined from 95% to about 88% now. With “7″ offering little over XP, that should continue. M$ can do what it wants to slow the trend but it cannot stop it. The world is too large and there are too many players. Offering a second-class seat for users of XP apps on “7″ will be partially successful. It will greatly annoy users who will demand change. Some will change to “7″ completely and some will change to MacOS and some to GNU/Linux. It’s all good.
Microsoft have either remove the hardware requirement for XP virtualisation or are about to remove it with with Windows 7 SP1. You still don’t get it unless you’re running “Ultimate” though. Which in my books makes it a pointless addition.