Karl Kopp

I read a very interesting article over lunch today by Paul Thurrott that describes XPM - Windows XP Mode - that will be available in Windows 7 Release Candidate. In a nutshell, XPM is a virtualised copy of Windows XP Service Pack 3 that allows XP applications to be run WITHIN the Windows 7 desktop environment, without the need for a second desktop.

2 things for me really stand out:

1. This is a super cleaver way to allow legacy applications to run on Windows 7
2. This is probably the smartest thing Microsoft could have done to ensure Windows 7 adaption outpaces Vista, and more importantly, allow those still on XP to migrate in full confidence that Windows 7 will be 100% XP compliant!

From a technical stand point, this is fantastic news. This will allow Microsoft to really start to clean up and remove legacy code within Windows much more quickly and easily than it could previously, and by allowing the applications to share the desktop, it will be a seamless process for most users. The Windows Super Site already has some pictures of IE 6 running next to IE 8!

One area I thought Microsoft may have struggled with in pushing Windows 7 adoption was the uptake by many enterprises who still rely heavily on XP (or earlier) based applications to run their business. While I've read that Windows 7 adoption should be better than the uptake of Vista, many businesses seemed to still be sticking with XP, and I believe it was mainly because of application support (and probably training too, but that's is a story for another day). Now by including Windows XP Mode in Windows 7 these applications can run on a virtualised instance of Windows XP, while allowing other tools like Office 2007 and IE 8 to be run on top of Windows 7. Very smart move.

For those interested in the technical aspects, take a read of Windows XP Mode Internals - Part 1.

I've been using Windows 7 Beta (build 7000) as my main operating system on my Mac Book Pro since the Beta was released in January. And I really, really like it! Here is a few reasons why:

1. Performance: The performance of Windows 7 is much better than Windows Vista. Notably improved. The entire UI seems much more crisp and responsive, and the memory usage is down about 15% on average from my previous Vista install. And according to a recent blog post that tested the leaked 7048 build, Windows 7 performance is going to improve the closer we get to RTM.
2. New Taskbar: Some people like, some hate it. I'm in the liking it camp! And now that I've been using it for a few months, I'm moving towards the 'loving' it' camp :) Its easy to use, helps manage multiple windows more effectively, is responsive and overall I find it a very practical feature. It adds value so to speak. Some even say its better than the Macs Dock. The only negative thing is the 'needy window' flashing, which is too short for my liking now, but I've read that its being increased to 7 flashes for RC.  Side note: check out this interesting blog post on the evolution of the taskbar.
3. Jump Lists: great concept, well executed. And I now use them everyday. I can't wait for Chrome (my favourite browser, but thats another post) to support this for each tab like IE does, but even the standard behaviour is a great feature.

I do have a few gripes tho (don't we all ;)

1. Start menu performance is not great: now that search index is getting larger as I add documents etc to My Documents and they are indexed, I find that my Start Menu search performance is not good, bordering on horrible. I like to type the name of the application, like 'calc' for calculator, to launch an application, but that now takes more than 5 seconds to load.
2. Networking performance: I had TERRIBLE network performance when trying to connect to a few files servers on the Next Digital network. It ended up being that these servers had tethered NICs, and I had to disable the network auto tuning feature by running some netsh commands.

Overall though, I'm really happy with where Windows has come and very excited about where it is going. From a geeks perspective as well, the improved development processes of Windows 7 has been a interesting story.