Okay need some advice please...

Diggsy · 30 Jul 2009 at 17:36

So, I have ordered Windows 7 Home Premium. I am currently running XP Pro and never bothered to make the switch to Vista.

Anyway, I run Adobe Illustrator CS2. It seems that it's going to give me headaches in Win 7. Now had I realised this before placing my pre-order, then I guess Win 7 Pro would have been a better option because of the virtual XP.

Given the jump in price now for Pro, that's not an option for me, and I cannot afford to upgrade to CS4 at the moment, so that's not an option either.

So, is there any other options for me? The way I see it at the moment my only option is to dual boot XP and Win7. This is obviously less than ideal, but I cannot see an alternative. Am I missing something?

marc2003 · 30 Jul 2009 at 17:41

you can get free virtualisation software like vmware server or virtualbox. not sure if these work with w7 right now but i'm sure they will by time it's released to retail.

Ascendancy · 30 Jul 2009 at 17:46

Microsoft's Virtual PC will work under 7, as this is what the actual XP mode runs in.

Diggsy · 30 Jul 2009 at 17:46

Thanks for the reply. Would it be easy enough to install Illustrator in something like that for day to day use?

Diggsy · 30 Jul 2009 at 17:48

Ascendancy said:
Microsoft's Virtual PC will work under 7, as this is what the actual XP mode runs in.

Will this be like a free download?

Ascendancy · 30 Jul 2009 at 17:50

Yeah pretty much, you'll just load up Virtual PC, install XP, then use it as you normally do.

Here's a guide on how to do it under Vista, but the instructions will be the same under 7

http://lifehacker.com/238071/geek-to-live--run-windows-xp-inside-vista-with-virtual-pc

Diggsy said:
Will this be like a free download?

Yes it's a free program.

Diggsy · 30 Jul 2009 at 17:57

Thanks for the tips. Hopefully that will work well. Seems easy enough, and given that I already have an XP license, I should be good to go