Windows 7 Question

[Whirlwind]

Does windows 7 home premium have the xp compatibility mode.....or do I need to get the professional version.

I am just wondering this, because i have many older games i like to play and do not want to be held back by a new operating system.

Does the xp compatability mode work for the games?

 

[MindoverMaster]

I am not sure. You could always use VirtualBox

 

[joelm3103]

According to this Windows 7: Compare Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, and Ultimate, it is only available on Professional onwards.

 

[Whirlwind]

Thanks for that info......I must get professional to have the xp mode.

Now the next question.....is that worth the $40 extra?

Anyone ?

I am assuming any game that has trouble with windows 7 should run in xp mode if it worked well with windows xp correct ?

 

[Lexluethar]

Tough to say. Perhaps post the games that you want to play to see if anyone plays those in windows 7.

You'd be suprised at what games are compatible. Honestly I would either see if people here play those games in 7 without any issues or see if a friend plays thos in windows 7 without issue. I play a few old games like Civ and have no issues.

As someone else stated you can always use a free virtual PC program and install XP on a virtual machine.

 

[Alvin.C]

Hi,

Just to make clear, all versions of Windows 7 have compatibility mode (including Windows XP SP2 and SP3), but only Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate support the Windows XP mode add-on.

How old are these games? In most instances, the built in compatibility mode in all variants of Windows 7 should suffice in getting the games running. However, you still might need to use Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate with XP mode for much older or fussier games.

Before choosing an edition, I'd recommend researching the compatibility of your games in Windows 7 first, to see if they'll be able to run in Windows 7 configured with compatibility mode.

 

[Kharn]

Also XP mode from what I can tell is little more than Virtual PC stripped down to support XP and only XP, I would save the 40 and either get virtual box or put it towards a legit copy of VMware workstation.

 

[Whirlwind]

I have way too many games to list....I have no particular games in mind....just some older games in general that work ok in xp.

So if I get the xp compatibility mode in home premium....it is just not supported....I dont see that as a big deal.

I just want to know for sure that home premium does have the xp compatability mode.....thanks for your help guys.

So if i get the xp compatability mode in home premium....I will save $40 and put that towards Just Cause 2

 

[Lexluethar]

They all have campatability mode - this started with Vista. Where the system will start the program up and it will make the program 'believe' it is in XP, 2000 or whatever option you choose. This is seamless to the user - you won't see anything different, it is all in the programming.

The one add on everyone is talking about is truely an emulator where you actually see everything as it would be in 'xp mode'. That is the one that costs more and comes with the more expensive version.

 

[patonb]

But will the graphics card work correctly in a VM?

The drivers are usually just generic display drivers and not the nvidia 197.65 driver.