Whether your computer has Hardware Virtualization or not, this is a simple way to run XP mode on Windows 7 without Hardware Virtualization, as it is included in the Microsoft download. There is no additional cost to do this. You can run XP on your Windows 7 operating system with ease. Originally, Microsoft required that your CPU supported Hardware Virtualization for XP mode in Windows 7. Microsoft has dropped this requirement. You would have had to turn on Hardware Virtualization in your BIOS before this and you would have only been able to do so if you were lucky enough to get an update to enable it. Otherwise, you would have needed a different computer. This is now a thing of the past and you can now run XP.

Even though this is true, this will not work with Windows 7 Home version. You will need Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate for this to work. The computer used in this demonstration is a Gateway that does support Hardware Virtualization, but for the sake of this demonstration, the new version was installed. This article will clearly detail the procedure to install XP mode in Windows 7. The PC used in this demonstration uses Windows 7 64-bit version.
The first step is to go to the Microsoft XP Mode website. There are three downloads that you will need to install. The third actually does not have to be installed if you are using SP1. The three downloads are Windows XP Mode, Windows Virtual PC and the Windows XP Mode Update.

Source:http://www.ghacks.net/2011/08/30/how-to-install-xp-mode-on-windows-7-without-virtualization/

As a long-time programmer, I was still using Windows 95 when I finally purchased my mainstay computer that came with Windows XP. I am not the type to use the leading edge computers or software. The software I write (programming tools for programmers) was designed to run on minimal hardware, so I preferred to stay with an operating system much longer than most programmers would. Programmers are notorious for wanting the leading-edge computers, but not me.

My Windows 95 PC was starting to get a bit obsolete and it was time to switch to the latest operating system, so I purchased a new computer with Windows XP Home on it. The computer was an eMachine T2542, with a 2.5GHz Celeron CPU, 256 meg RAM and a 40 gig hard drive.

Well, maybe I shouldn’t use the term “was”. That XP computer is still my mainstay PC today. Sure it was upgraded to 768 meg RAM, a new inexpensive video card was added and DVD (read/write) drive; I just recently added a second hard drive to give me another 40 gig. I do all my work on this PC. I also finally outgrew CRT monitors (last one was a nice 17 inch flat screen) and now I use LCD monitors on all my PCs. Yes, I do have a PC with Windows Vista (just for testing software) and another with Windows 7. I still have a Windows 95 machine (for testing software) since I write software that will still be able to run on legacy operating systems. But the XP computer is what I use daily. I write all my software on it. The computer is nearly 8 years old now (the Windows folder is dated July 2003).

As far as I am concerned Windows XP is fine and it has many, many years of life left. Oh, I did have to downgrade one item on the PC when I got it. I say downgrade because I upgraded the computer with an old used part. They don’t make computer keyboards like they used to, so I downgraded the keyboard to an old IBM Model M keyboard. Nobody made keyboards like the old IBM. So I guess, if someone complains that I am using too old a computer, then my response is that my keyboard is at least twice as old.

Windows XP was never as “lean and mean” as Windows 95 was, but I have grown accustomed to it over time. It has slowed down a bit over the years, but it is still acceptable. I have been wanting to do a clean install of XP for some time, but just haven’t had the heart. The Windows registry on my computer must be a nightmare by now. I have installed and uninstalled so many programs over the years, that the registry is so bloated it is probably about to bust.

But XP is still chugging along. Windows Vista is too sluggish, so it never caught on, even though I have had a Vista machine for a number of years. I like Windows 7. It’s snappy, but I don’t like some changes to things like Windows Explorer.

As an experienced Windows API programmer, I can appreciate the difference in the operating systems more than the average computer user. It is quite amazing how backward compatible Windows has been over the years. I am not quite sure what all the fuss was about with Windows 7 and the need for an XP mode, since if software was written correctly for Windows XP, then there really shouldn’t be a need for an XP mode on Windows 7.

Windows XP was the last version of Windows that could run with minimal hardware, which made it easier for Windows 98/ME users to upgrade, while still using their existing hardware. Microsoft made the mistake of making Windows Vista too bloated and requiring too much horsepower (hardware power) and while Windows 7 is better than Vista in many ways, it too has too high a demand for hardware.

Do you realize that the average netbook today (with Windows 7 Starter) has more power (CPU) and memory than my Windows XP computer originally came with? Many today complain that most netbooks are underpowered and terribly slow. Even the the different service packs of Windows XP are noticably different in their hardware requirements and Service Pack 3 shows some of that bloat sneeking in.

Windows XP may turn out to be the Volkswagen Beetle of the Windows operating systems. It’s amazing how long a life span those little “bugs” have had. Windows XP is likely here to stay for a bit longer than many may think.

Source:http://betanews.com/2011/08/24/you-can-pry-windows-xp-from-my-cold-dead-hands/

How long have we been using Windows XP? The answer could be 10 long years given that Microsoft released copies to PC manufacturers on August 24, 2011.

Windows XP arrived in a very different climate. At the time Mike James,in his 5-page preview of the soon-to-be-released operating system in the UK print magazine Computer Shopper, asked:
Are you ready for yet another new version of Windows? Just got used to the fact that NT is now Windows 2000 and 98 has been overtaken by Windows Me? Well next in line is Windows XP.

You might be wondering why we have to have a new version of Windows every five minutes? The cynical answer is because Microsoft needs to make some money and indeed there have been rumours that the whole XP program has been speeded up because revenues from Windows 2000, and Office 2000 in particular, haven’t been up to the projections. A less cynical, but only just, answer is that Microsoft has been trying to get Windows right ever since the first version.

While in development XP was codenamed Whistler and Mike James comments:

I don’t know how Microsoft picks the code names for its projects, but in the past they have always been right for the go-ahead tough technology image that they probably wanted to convey – Chicago, Daytona, Memphis and so on. Now we have Whistler, which, I’m afraid just makes me think of “Whistler’s Mother”, the famous painting of a homely old dear sitting in a rocking chair.

Well, codenames aside, Whistler was the project to create operating system that Windows 2000 should have been on the desktop PC. Whistler is the first operating system using the NT (Windows 2000) kernel and supporting code to be designated as the Microsoft operating system to use on a single-user non-server PC.

While there have been versions of NT and Windows 2000 that were aimed at the “workstation”, users have always had the option, and mostly taken advantage of, the availability of Windows 95, 98 and even Me in preference to using them. Now you have no choice; it’s Windows NT code for everyone…

If you thought you were reading a review of Windows XP and are confused by all this talk of “Whistler” don’t be because they are one and the same thing. Presumably motivated by the fact that Windows 98 SE and Windows Me were already on the market, Microsoft went in search of a two-letter suffix for Whistler and for some strange reason decided on XP for eXPerience.

Windows XP is the first mass-market desktop operating system to be based on NT. It is supposed to be as easy to use as Windows 98SE/ME and, at the same time, better. Currently Microsoft has announced two versions of XP – Home and Professional – with Professional supporting more “server” facilities.

In a comment that we now have to see as a sign of the times the “Getting Started” section opens:

The first thing that has to be said about XP is that it is no lightweight! One of the many failings of Windows NT is that it has always been resource-hungry and XP is no exception. The minimum recommended RAM is 128Mbytes, which is of course only half what Microsoft thinks you should really use! You also need 2GBytes of free space and a fast processor. On the 500MHz Athlon machine I tested it on most it was distinctly sluggish and I would have been considering an upgrade to 1GHz!
After a detailed account of his early experiences with the OS, the review’s verdict reads:

Windows XP is a step that Microsoft has to take in the development of the Windows operating system but it certainly isn’t one users have to take at all soon. Given its need for lots of computing power, and its inability to cope with a wide range of hardware, the best advice is to probably wait until you have to buy a new machine and get it pre-installed. It looks cute but it doesn’t have anything that makes it a must-have upgrade. It is also clear that the Windows Product Activation copy protection system is going to put a lot of home users off buying any Microsoft products. Perhaps now is the best time to give Linux a try.

Since Windows XP we had the even more badly received Windows Vista which had the effect of extending XP’s active life and it was only in October 2010 that XP was no longer allowed to be pre-installed on new PCs. Now Windows 7 is the OS that comes as standard and Microsoft has had some success in persuading its existing customers to upgrade – largely as an escape route from Vista.

Many users, however, continue to cling to XP; Forrester Research estimated that in March 2011 nearly 60 percent of systems were still running it in . However, as we reported in Microsoft counts down to XP death it has a finite future and will be forcibly retired in April 2014.

Source:http://www.i-programmer.info/news/82-heritage/2935-windows-xp-10-years-on.html