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Windows 7's Virtual XP Mode a Support Nightmare?

CWmike writes "Microsoft's decision to let Windows 7 users run Windows XP applications in a virtual machine may have been necessary to convince people to upgrade, but it could also create support nightmares, analysts said today. Gartner analyst Michael Silver outlines the downsides. 'You'll have to support two versions of Windows,' he said. 'Each needs to be secured, antivirused, firewalled and patched. If a company has 10,000 PCs, that's 20,000 instances of Windows.' The other big problem Silver foresees: Making sure the software they run is compatible with Windows 7. 'This is a great Band-Aid, but companies need to heal their applications,' Silver said. 'They'll be doing themselves a disservice if, because of XPM, they're not making sure that all their apps support Windows 7.'"

3 of 413 comments (clear)

  1. XP is the best version of Windows... by CuteSteveJobs · · Score: -1, Troll

    ...better than all versions that came before it and after it.

    Surely it makes more sense to have Windows 7 running inside a virtual machine on XP.

    Seriously: If Microsoft had a brain they'd give up trying to force people to upgrade to versions of Windows that nobody wants. It's an OS for crying out loud. The important thing is the Applications it runs. Trying to hoosegowl (sp?) users into changing from a product you're already selling them they like to another they don't because some idiot trying to justify his job came up convinced other suits with a nice powerpoint is sheer stupidity.

  2. Re:"If a company has 10,000 PCs, that's 20,000" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: -1, Troll

    They want to do actual work, not fuck around recompiling kernels all day.

  3. Re:Pardon me... by bonch · · Score: 0, Troll

    Mac OS is a niche market.

    No, it's not.