Let’s assume that you’re an IT Manager and support a number of XP-based PC’s, but you haven’t purchased one with Windows 7 on it. Are you out of luck if some of your applications only work on Windows XP?
First, Microsoft still supports Windows XP. SP2 support stops in July of 2010 (tomorrow, actually!). All support of Windows XP ceases in April of 2014. Therefore, at some point in time, you will have to “bite the bullet” and move in Windows 7 if you want to remain in the Windows world.
Can you still purchase a PC with XP installed on it? Yes, but it’s getting harder and harder almost every day. You can purchase a Windows 7 PC, buy Windows XP separately and downgrade the PC yourself.
Do you need to go to such extremes? Not according to Microsoft. They have a feature called “XP Mode” that can be added to Windows 7 via a free download. They say that programs that will not run directly on Windows 7 can run in XP Mode. See the following page for the download: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/download.aspx
