Filed under: OS Updates, Windows, Microsoft, Beta, Windows x64
XP Mode in Windows 7 is no cop out
by Lee Mathews May 3rd 2009
I've been waiting to get my hands on the Windows Virtual XP beta for Windows 7 ever since reading about it on Within Windows. If you're not familiar with it, XP Mode is built on Virtual PC and the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP), and is designed as a way to avoid application incompatibilities like those that plagued Vista.
I've read some interesting complaints about it. Things like "XP Mode is simply a way for Microsoft to trick IT administrators into thinking that upgrading to Windows 7 is a better idea than moving to OS-independent cloud services." Or "It's an admission that Windows XP was just fine and didn't need to be replaced."
Nothing could be further from the truth. Rather, it's an acknowledgment by Microsoft that, even on a new OS, old applications must work flawlessly. It also has tremendous cost-saving potential for small and medium businesses. Businesses much like the one where I work.
At my day job, we (like nearly all of our customers) run point of sale software that has a Windows-only client. Windows XP has run just fine, but we're now getting to the point where it will be time for some hardware upgrades. We only change hardware once every five or six years, so I'd like to install mid-range 64-bit desktops that will be able to handle new applications and peripherals over that span - while still being able to run our trusty old POS software.
I've read some interesting complaints about it. Things like "XP Mode is simply a way for Microsoft to trick IT administrators into thinking that upgrading to Windows 7 is a better idea than moving to OS-independent cloud services." Or "It's an admission that Windows XP was just fine and didn't need to be replaced."
Nothing could be further from the truth. Rather, it's an acknowledgment by Microsoft that, even on a new OS, old applications must work flawlessly. It also has tremendous cost-saving potential for small and medium businesses. Businesses much like the one where I work.
At my day job, we (like nearly all of our customers) run point of sale software that has a Windows-only client. Windows XP has run just fine, but we're now getting to the point where it will be time for some hardware upgrades. We only change hardware once every five or six years, so I'd like to install mid-range 64-bit desktops that will be able to handle new applications and peripherals over that span - while still being able to run our trusty old POS software.
So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do.
Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game.
The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...
