Confused by Versions...

cu3ed · 3 Sep 2010 at 22:58

Just about to oder with a few thigns a 64bit version of Win 7, but unsure of which one Ill need.

Im just using this at home, not being hoked up to a network or anything, just internet connection, but, I keep reading conflicting points about Xp mode etc, now when I installed some older bits of software on another Win7 machine, i was able to right click, Trouble shoot compatability, then it would run it as Xp mode or somthing..now in some screen shots ive seen what looks like Xpwindows runnign within Win7, this Compatability jsut seem to run in the background, does this mode require a certain Version of Win7...confused the hell out of yas probobly

SiriusB · 4 Sep 2010 at 01:13

Compatibility Mode tries to run older software in such a way that it thinks it is running on whichever OS you chose from the list. (Not quite what happens but close enough!).

Unfortunately Compat Mode does not always work, especially for more complex or esoteric software. This is where XP Mode comes in. It is a fully working installation of Windows XP that runs inside a Virtual Machine within Windows 7.

XP Mode is only available in Windows 7 Professional and above. Unless you absolutely know you have software that will not run under Windows 7, I suggest just going for Home Premium and save a bit of money.

cu3ed · 4 Sep 2010 at 02:48

Well i have a 32bit version and it was just running the compatability modes and it ran everything 100% so looks like it's home premium then!

robinbredin · 4 Sep 2010 at 18:57

If your CPU can run virtual, you can download Oracle Virtualbox, and run XP within that. Or download VMware, where you can run XP as will. You can also run Linux as well if you wish.

SiriusB · 4 Sep 2010 at 19:16

With XP Mode you don't need a separate XP license. If you use different VM software you will need to use a fully licensed OS. There may be ways to run the XP image XP Mode uses, but I imagine it would break the license agreement for using it.