Windows 7 XP Mode

I’m sure by now most Good Booters know how enthusiastic I am about Windows 7. And I’m sure my enthusiasm is shared by many Vista graduates who as I did experienced the “Vista upgrade to hell”.

For me Vista was not a problem once I coaxes it into accepting most of my software and hardware. In fact once Vista and I bonded I came to respect the new features it offered. But because it took so long to bond, it was many moons before I had an opportunity to engage in a casual walkabout to discover all of Vista’s features.

Not so with Windows 7. Because we bonded so quickly, after only a couple of weeks I was able to investigate some of the features that although they would not necessarily contribute to my daily computing activities, tweaked my curiosity.

The feature that intrigued me the most was the “free” to download XP Mode for Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate. So much so I thought there might be Good Booters who might also be curious about its possibilities.

Downloading, installing and accessing Windows XP mode is extraordinarily novice friendly.

I decided to give it a significant test by installing my Adobe Pagemaker and MGI PhotoSuite.

Pagemaker was the software I used to publish my Computing Journals. MGI PhotoSuite was in my opinion the first Windows user friendly state of the art photo editing software. Both are not Vista or Windows 7 compatible.

When I accessed XP Mode I was overcome with nostalgia. There were all the features of XP that many of us held so dear over many years of happy Windows XP adventures.

Both programs installed flawlessly and were up and running as though the Windows gods had turned back the hands of time. I could access and if I had wanted to, edited any one of my Computing Journals. And I was able to edit a photo with MGI PhotoSuite, save it and sent it back edited to Windows 7.

Although I’ll never use it to any great extent, I configured XP Mode to access the Internet and my Outlook. In fact, I sent the MGI PhotoSuite edited photo as an e-mail attachment via Outlook in XP Mode to my Outlook in Windows 7.

XP mode obviously will not be of interest to many, but if you have programs near and dear to your heart that are not Windows 7 compatible you might want to give it a try.

Here’s wishing you a Good Boot.