About Windows 7 Professional...

My dad and I have been trying to look for certain types of Windows 7 lately. But since 7 is basically just an upgraded Vista, I've been urging to get the Professional or Ultimate edition, as they supposedly have an XP emulator. However all of my knowledge this far is outdated, it seems. I've been hearing all sorts of things about this and that, and frankly we're getting confused on all of these new fangled stuff.

And our stores only seem to carry Home edition...

Getting to the point, I'd like to learn more about7 and getting its XP emu, as I'd prefer to have something a little more than just an upgraded Vista. I honestly have no idea who or where to ask. >_> What is it, exclusive to an edition or is it some sort of seperate upgrade?

*Sigh* Thank you.
-The Moron of technology.

Before jumping straight to emulating XP, tell me: what do you want to emulate? Are you familiar with Virtual Box? Most XP software runs fine in 7. For the stuff that doesn't, VBox would solve that problem.

http://www.virtualbox.org/

The only programs I've had major issues with have been old 16-bit games, since 16-bit compatibility is gone from Windows 7 64-bit. There's one or two older games that have also given me some issues, but Windows XP Mode isn't useful for gaming at all. If you really have critical software you need to run in Windows XP, you can always dual-boot.

Originally Posted by TheBuzzSaw

Before jumping straight to emulating XP, tell me: what do you want to emulate? Are you familiar with Virtual Box? Most XP software runs fine in 7. For the stuff that doesn't, VBox would solve that problem.

http://www.virtualbox.org/

Never even heard of it.

@ɹɐǝqıɹǝ: I'll probably be using the XP emulator, that is if I can get it because I'm still confused, to emulate programs that might be incompatiable with Vista/7, but worked on XP.

I've used XP for many, many years by now, even long after Vista came out. So most of my stuff do work on XP.

Originally Posted by The Goron Moron

Never even heard of it.

@ɹɐǝqıɹǝ: I'll probably be using the XP emulator, that is if I can get it because I'm still confused, to emulate programs that might be incompatiable with Vista/7, but worked on XP.

I've used XP for many, many years by now, even long after Vista came out. So most of my stuff do work on XP.

It sounds like you are worrying too much. Granted, I can't argue with someone who just wants to be cautious/safe. I'm just saying that you shouldn't have too much to worry about.

Are you running programs that are no longer supported? Has it been years since their last release/update? Even so, Windows 7 is still Windows. All I own at this point is XP software; Windows 7 runs them just fine. Plus, keep in mind that you can run programs in XP-compatibility mode (not through that emulator thing; you right-click the program, edit its properties, go to the compatibility tab, and change it to XP).

You're really not going to run into many incompatible programs. Like sea said, its mostly going to be old games. It's really not going to be a problem, and the upgrade from XP to 7 is very much worth it.

yeah, you should only need XP mode for programs that absolutely will not work on vista/windows 7 regardless of compatibility mode. If you don't have any programs like these, then you're better off not spending all of the extra money for professional. Plus, you should also check to see if your computer supports hardware virtualization, if not, then you won't be able to run XP mode anyways.

Buy home premium,

FYI it's not an XP emulator, it's an XP virtualization program.
FYI this feature is FREE via VMware.

basically you're worrying about nothing. I ran into 0 program incompatibilities on vista... and I've been on windows 7 for about a year now, since it's alpha stages... no incompatibilities with programs.

"XP mode" is aimed at businesses which have poorly made, proprietary software which hasn't gone through all the BS you'd get from a company like say adobe which makes sure EVERYTHING is ALWAYS compatible.

Originally Posted by TheBuzzSaw

It sounds like you are worrying too much. Granted, I can't argue with someone who just wants to be cautious/safe. I'm just saying that you shouldn't have too much to worry about.

Are you running programs that are no longer supported? Has it been years since their last release/update? Even so, Windows 7 is still Windows. All I own at this point is XP software; Windows 7 runs them just fine. Plus, keep in mind that you can run programs in XP-compatibility mode (not through that emulator thing; you right-click the program, edit its properties, go to the compatibility tab, and change it to XP).

The stuff that I do own that is old, are either 'remakes' or old programs that just seem to work on XP for some reason.

Example being Oddworld: Abe's Oddssey. It's very old, but for some reason it could still be played on my XP. As for remakes, I own several Creatures 'bundle packs', such as Albian Years or Exodus, old programs that were upgraded to work on XP.

All of my other favored programs would be things like Photoshop, video converters, and crap.

@Nighthawkx: I see... :/

Well I guess my only worry is if 7 is going to be exactly like Vista, minus the upgrades. Meaning, my mom's Vista freezes and crashes a lot, about at least three times a day. >_>

Originally Posted by The Goron Moron

Well I guess my only worry is if 7 is going to be exactly like Vista, minus the upgrades. Meaning, my mom's Vista freezes and crashes a lot, about at least three times a day. >_>

might be more of a mom problem than a vista problem unfortunately.

my XP was virus free, fast and stable on an athlon XP with half a gig of RAM
my mother's XP is virus/adware/spyware laden, unstable and slow on a faster athlon XP with 1.5GB RAM... there isn't much I can do as she F's it up faster than I can do anything and she doesn' have time to let me reinstall windows(paranoia)

make sure your drivers are up to date.
install the service pack
try running CCleaner.

I wish I could do something about my mom's computer. But she always insists me that all is fine, and blames me for all of the problems.

And I have to 'listen' to her, because it IS her computer. >_>