One of the major introductions of the Windows 7 release is Windows Virtual XP Mode which aims to enhance the compatibility experience for many legacy applications and businesses who plan on moving to Windows 7. Microsoft today announced the availability of Windows Virtual XP Mode RC adding further improvements that make it easy to use, configure and integrate with Windows 7 RC and RTM releases. Just to get you up to speed, Windows Virtual XP Mode consist of two components: A 5 MB Virtual PC file and a 450 MB pre-configured copy of Windows XP Professional SP3 that is ready to be used out of the box. The update includes the following improvements:

• A new and simpler way of adding and accessing devices, like printers and USB sticks, from XP Mode. Microsoft has removed a number of the steps required to add these devices. With the RC, they’ll be able to add them by right clicking on the Windows 7 icon.
• A new way of enabling and disabling file sharing between Windows 7 and XP Mode. With the RC, Microsoft has more clearly delineated which files are where and made the process of sharing them simpler and more explicit.
• The inclusion of a virtualization tutorial, which will run while XP Mode is installing. Microsoft realized that many XP Mode users are new to virtualization and decided to embed the tutorial, starting with the RC, directly in the product to acquaint them with how it works.
• Tighter integration with Windows 7. With the RC, users will be able to add applications from their Windows 7 Jump Lists.
• Better support for shared PCs. As of the RC, XP Mode will allow different users to store their Windows apps in different locations.

 

Published application running on Windows 7 using Virtual XP Mode

Back in May I took a look and using and benefiting from Windows Virtual XP Mode. I was most impressed with the seamless ability to run legacy applications along side contemporary programs without a hitch. The ability to work with these legacy applications without the need for the operating system layer was quite impressive itself.

Microsoft has confirmed that only Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate are the only editions that will support this utility. The program requires that your computers CPU (Central Processing Unit) supports hardware based virtualization (AMD-V or Intel's VT technology). Configuring the system for this feature might be a bit technical for some persons requiring that you enter the computers BIOS to setup (which is what I had to do). Virtual Windows XP works similar to Virtual PC 2007.  The virtual system is allotted 256 MBs of RAM. One of the immediate differences though is the toolbar menu that provides options for utilizing USB devices, viewing full screen mode and enabling integration features which is used for virtualizing your applications.

You can download the Windows Virtual XP Mode Release Candidate here

Some persons are reporting issues downloading the 64 bit build, try this direct link here

Resources

Using and benefiting from Virtual Windows XP
Microsoft delivers near-final test build of Windows 7 XP Mode

For more information about the requirements and supported operating systems, see the Windows Virtual PC product page

x86 Virtualization - Wikipedia provides a page with information about which processors from Intel and AMD support virtualization here

Virtualization technologies from Intel

Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode BETA's for Windows 7 Download's now Available

More information about Windows XP Mode for Windows 7

 

To making sure your application is ready (compatible) for Windows 7, I am going to start providing additional information about the few compatibility topics we introduced in the “Is Your Application Ready for Windows 7 RTM?” post. This post focuses UAC Virtualization or more known as Data Redirection.

What Are You Talking About?

Today, many applications are still designed to write files to the Program Files, Windows directories, or system root (typically the C drive) folders. Some applications are designed to update Microsoft® Windows registry values, specifically values in HKLM/Software. But there is one problem: the files or registry values are not created or updated. You may ask, “What’s going on? My application goes through the code and does not report an error. So where are my files?”

To be specific, you may experience one or more of the following symptoms:

• Your application writes to Program Files, Windows directories, or the system root (typically the C drive) folders, but you can't find your files in these locations
• Your application writes to the Windows registry, specifically to HKLM/Software, but you can't see the registry updates
• You switch to another user account, and your application is unable to find files that were written to Program Files, Windows directories, or the system root (typically the C drive) folders, or it finds older versions of these files
• After turning User Account Control (UAC) on or off, your application is unable to find files in the Program Files or Windows directories

If this happens to your application, it is experiencing UAC Virtualization (AKA Data Redirection). The following information provides you with everything you need to know in order to detect this application compatibility problem, offers some solutions, and provides additional information about the specific nature of the compatibility problem.

The Real Issue: UAC Virtualization

Prior to Windows Vista, administrators typically ran applications. As a result, applications could freely read and write system files and registry keys. If standard users ran these applications, they would fail due to insufficient access. Windows Vista improved application compatibility for standard users by redirecting writes (and subsequent file or registry operations) to a per-user location within the user’s profile.

For example, if an application attempts to write to C:\Program Files\Contoso\Settings.ini, and the user does not have permissions to write to that directory (the Program Files), the write operation will be redirected to C:\Users\Username\AppData\Local\VirtualStore\Program Files\Contoso\settings.ini. If an application attempts to write to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\Contoso\ in the registry, it will automatically be redirected to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Classes\VirtualStore\MACHINE\Software\Contoso or HKEY_USERS\UserSID_Classes\VirtualStore\Machine\Software\Contoso.

The following figure illustrates the two components of the Windows Virtualization process: file virtualization and registry virtualization:

To learn more about UAC virtualization and new UAC technologies, see “New UAC Technologies for Windows Vista” at http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb756960.aspx.

Solution

Virtualization is intended only to assist in application compatibility with existing programs. New applications designed for Microsoft Windows 7 should NOT perform write operations to sensitive system areas, nor should they rely on virtualization to provide redress for incorrect application behavior. Always develop applications for use with standard user privileges and don’t count on the application running under administrator privileges. Test your application with standard user privileges and not administrator privileges.

If you are experiencing UAC virtualization with applications developed prior to Windows 7, re-design your applications to write files to the appropriate locations. When updating existing code to run on Windows 7, you should:

• Ensure that during run-time, applications store data only in per-user locations or in computer locations within %alluserprofile% that have properly set access control list (ACL) settings. For more information about ACLs, see Access Control Lists.
• Determine the known folder to which you want to write the data files. Generic data used by all users should be written to a global public location that is shared by all users. All other data should be written to a per-user location.
  • Generic data files can include, but are not limited to log files, settings files (INI/XML), saved state applications such as saved games, and so on
  • User documents are different; they should be saved to the Documents folder (or to a location the user specifies)
• Ensure that you do not hard-code paths once you have determined the appropriate locations. Instead, use one of the following programming models and APIs to retrieve the correct paths of specific Windows known folders:
  • C/C++ native applications: Use the SHGetKnownFolderPath function that retrieves the full path of a known folder identified by the folder's KNOWNFOLDERID, a GUID parameter indicating the known location you would like to obtain:
    • FOLDERID_ProgramData – Shared program data directory for all users
    • FOLDERID_LocalAppData – Per-user program data directory (non-roaming)
    • FOLDERID_RoamingAppData – Per-user program data directory (roaming)
  • Managed Code: Use the System.Environment.GetFolderPath function. GetFolderPath takes a parameter indicating the Known Location you would like to obtain
    • Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonApplicationData – Shared program data directory for all users
    • Environment.SpecialFolder.LocalApplicationData – Per-user program data directory (non-roaming)
    • Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData – Per-user program data directory (roaming)
  • If none of the above-mentioned options are available, use the environment variable:
    • %ALLUSERSPROFILE% – Shared program data directory for all users
    • %LOCALAPPDATA% – Per-user program data directory (non-roaming) - Windows Vista or later
    • %APPDATA% – Per-user program data directory (roaming) - Windows Vista or later

Steps to Determine the Most Appropriate Solution

So far, we have presented the symptoms associated with UAC virtualization, explained why redirection is taking place, and suggested a solution. This section contains tests and procedures you should perform in order to pinpoint the real problem and plot a way to resolve it.

Test #1:

• Launch the application with standard user privileges
• Run through the scenario that results in a write operation to any given protected folder such as the Program Files or system root (C:\) directories
• Expected results: The application “succeeds” in writing the file to the protected folder; however, you can't find the file in the expected location
• Conclusion: This suggests that UAC data virtualization is redirecting the file to a different location

Test #2:

• Using Windows Explorer, search for your files in the VirtualStore folder
  • The VirtualStore folder is a folder in your profile which stores redirected files
  • The VirtualStore folder’s name and location are subject to change in later versions of Windows
• First, attempt to find it under %localappdata%\VirtualStore
• If you are unable to find it there, try issuing dir %userprofile%\yourfile.dat /s /a at a command line (usually found C:\Users\<user name>\AppData\Local\VirtualStore)
• Expected results: You should find your file at the virtual store folder or sub folders
• Conclusion: This is proof that UAC virtualization is taking place

Test #3

• Log in as an administrator and launch your application with administrator privileges.
  • To launch the application with administrator privileges, right-click the file executable and select Run as Administrator
  • When an application runs with administrator privileges, virtualization is turned off, and the application now has sufficient privileges to write to the protected folders
• Do not rely on permanently marking your application to require administrator privileges as a way to bypass virtualization, as doing so will leave the system more vulnerable to attack, will prevent the application from running with limited or standard user privileges, and will needlessly annoy users with a UAC prompt
• Expected results: The application succeeds in writing the file to the protected folder, and you can find the file at the expected location
• Conclusion: Running the application with administrator privileges turns off virtualization and grants privileges

Test #4

• Launch Process Monitor (ProcMon)
  • To learn more about Process Monitor, visit the Windows Sysinternals Process Monitor Web site on Microsoft TechNet
  • During the hands-on lab, we will walk you through a detailed step-by-step process to use Process Monitor
• Configure filtering to show only file operations and only those operations performed by your process
  • When you launch Process Monitor, the Process Monitor Filter dialog box appears
    
• Add the following entry to the filter: "Column=Process Name, Relation=is, Value=YourApp.exe, Action=Include"
• To invoke the Process Monitor Filter dialog box again, click this toolbar button
• After clicking OK, configure Process Monitor to log only file events by enabling the following toolbar buttons as shown:
• Press CTRL-X to clear the log; press CTRL-E to toggle logging on/off
• Expected results: You will see file operations whose results are REPARSE; the next line (with result SUCCESS) will usually be the redirected operation:

 

 

• Double-click the line representing the operation with REPARSE as the result and click the Stack tab to show the call stack at the time of the operation:

• The pink K and blue U letters on the left of each stack frame show whether the stack frame is in kernel mode (K) or in user mode (U);in this case, we are interested only in user-mode stack frames
• In this example, the SaveFile function (at frame 21) in BrokenAppNative.exe is the one performing the operation which will be redirected
• You should configure symbols for a more meaningful display' for more information about configuring symbols, refer to the Debugging Tools for Windows Web site
• Conclusion: This test proves that UAC Virtualization did take place and shows you what operations in your application need to be corrected

Task #5

• Add a manifest to your application which contains a UAC directive
  • This will mark your application as UAC-aware and will disable UAC virtualization
  • A manifest is an XML document that developers embed as a resource in a DLL or .exe file, but can be a standalone file named YourApp.exe.manifest or YourDLL.dll.manifest
  • Manifests can contain a variety of information that usually pertains to application compatibility, such as the exact version of Visual C++ runtime to load, the version of Common Controls Library to load, as well as UAC settings
  • Read more about UAC settings in the manifest in the Windows Vista Developer Story: Create and Embed an Application Manifest (UAC)
• Expected results: The application now fails to write to any of the protected folders, returning an “access denied” error
  • This is a GOOD result, because the UAC data virtualization didn’t kick into action
  • As the developer, you should be able to recognize this (because you marked the application as UAC-aware in the manifest) and avoid writing to any of the protected areas
• Conclusion: Windows enables virtualization because the application isn’t marked as UAC-aware. Marking your application as UAC-aware disables virtualization. If your app tries to write to protected store while marked as UAC-aware, you will get an access denied exception

Hands On Labs and Additional Material

you can download this doc, a presentation describing UAC Virtualization, and two full hands on labs on this topic, one for managed code and one for native, from here.

Tools

In order to detect UAC virtualization we use the following tools:

• Process Monitor, a free and advanced Microsoft tool that monitors and logs file system, registry, network, and process activity
  • To learn more about Process Monitor, see the Process Monitor page at the Windows Sysinternals Web site
  • Download Process Monitor from Microsoft TechNet
• Standard User Analyzer, part of the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit, is a free tool that monitors resource (file, registry, and others) usage of a given application and reports activity that is responsible for Standard User problems
  • To learn more about Standard User Analyzer see “Standard User Analyzer” at Microsoft TechNet
  • To obtain Standard User Analyzer, download the Microsoft Application Compatibility Toolkit

Additional Resources

• Windows Vista Application Compatibility: UAC: Standard User Changes – http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb963893.aspx
• Common file and registry virtualization issues in Windows Vista – http://support.microsoft.com/kb/927387
• New UAC Technologies for Windows Vista – http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb756960.aspx
• Inside Windows Vista User Account Control – http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/2007.06.uac.aspx

A fortnight ago, detailed plans of the long anticipated Microsoft Store were revealed in all its theoretical glory when Gizmodo published over 50 slides from a Powerpoint presentation prepared by the project’s consultancy firm.

At the time, Microsoft acknowledged the plans but insists the plans are early prototypes and have not been finalized. Now it appears they’ve made up their minds on at least one thing, the logo, having just filed it last week at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

The design, which bears very strong resemblance to the Windows logo in both color and form, is registered to cover a multitude of goods and services including “retail store services and online retail services featuring computers, computer hardware, software, computer games, computer peripherals, portable music players and accessories, personal digital assistants, cell phones and accessories, video game consoles and accessories, webcams, books, clothing, back packs, messenger bags, computer bags and novelty items”.

I wonder if “novelty items” include the kitchen sink.

Back in April, we introduced the Windows XP Mode beta and after a few months of incorporating your enthusiastic feedback, today we are announcing the availability of the Windows XP Mode Release Candidate.

Download: Windows XP Mode Release Candidate

As you may know, Windows XP Mode is specially designed for small and medium-sized businesses to help ease the migration process to Windows 7 by providing additional compatibility for their older productivity applications. The newly updated Windows XP Mode now works with the RC and RTM versions of the Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise SKUs.

Before I get into what has changed from beta to RC, I’d like to take a moment to clarify what Windows XP Mode is designed for, and highlight the point that in many cases Windows XP Mode will not be necessary. Windows 7 has a strong compatibility story with Windows Vista, and many applications that currently run on Windows XP-based or Windows Vista-based PCs should just run natively on Windows 7 – allowing you to take advantage of better performance, better management and better security built into Windows 7. In most cases, we recommend running applications natively in Windows 7. Windows XP Mode provides what we like to call that “last mile” compatibility technology for those cases when a Windows XP productivity application isn’t compatible with Windows 7. Users can run and launch Windows XP productivity applications in Windows XP Mode directly from a Windows 7 desktop. I also strongly recommend that customers install anti-malware and anti-virus software in Windows XP Mode so that Windows XP Mode environment is well protected. For customers that manage several Windows PCs running Windows XP Mode and want to simplify management tasks, we offer Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) as part of the Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack.

New Features in Windows XP Mode RC

Based on feedback from the Windows XP Mode beta, we’ve made several improvements to the usability of Windows XP Mode for small and medium-sized business users:

• You can now attach USB devices to Windows XP Mode applications directly from the Windows 7 task-bar. This means your USB devices, such as printers and flash drives, are available to applications running in Windows XP Mode, without the need to go into full screen mode.
• You can now access Windows XP Mode applications with a “jump-list”. Right click on the Windows XP Mode applications from the Windows 7 task bar to select and open most recently used files.
• You now have the flexibility of customizing where Windows XP Mode differencing disk files are stored.
• You can now disable drive sharing between Windows XP Mode and Windows 7 if you do not need that feature.
• The initial setup now includes a new user tutorial about how to use Windows XP Mode.

Customer and Partner Comments on Windows XP Mode

We are very excited that our customers and our partners see the value of Windows XP Mode. We collected testimonials from some customers testing Windows XP Mode; you can view videos from some of these customers here.

Many PCs can take advantage of Windows XP Mode, thanks to hardware capable of virtualization. 

PC manufacturers are using Intel processors with Intel Virtualization Technology on virtually all of their Intel systems aimed at small- to enterprise-size businesses. All PCs using Intel Core 2 processors with Intel vPro technology include Intel Virtualization technology. You can verify that an Intel processor has Intel Virtualization Technology here.

In addition, by Windows 7 launch all AMD CPUs shipping to customers, except Sempron, will include hardware virtualization. Here is what Margaret Lewis, Director of Commercial Software and Solutions from AMD says about supporting hardware virtualization and Windows XP Mode:

With XP Mode, Microsoft has built-in client virtualization technology that makes it easy to install and run Windows XP applications directly from a Windows 7-based PC, allowing users to enjoy the benefits of Windows 7 while maintaining support for legacy applications. AMD has worked closely with Microsoft to deliver highly optimized virtualization platforms and this new operating system continues the maturation of client virtualization while making use of AMD innovations.

We are also working with OEM partners to include Windows XP Mode preinstalled on new PCs.

Michelle Pearcy, director of Global Software Marketing at Dell, discusses the importance of integrating with Microsoft for Windows XP Mode:

Our customers expect their applications to simply work, regardless of their selected operating system. Windows XP Mode provides them with the confidence to migrate to Windows 7 while maintaining access to mission critical applications. Dell worked closely with Microsoft on the development of Windows XP Mode and provided input so that our customers can easily transition to Windows 7, which is a safer, more secure and efficient operating system.

Carlos Montalvo, Vice President of Experience Marketing on the Personal Systems Group at HP, talks about how HP intends to take full advantage of Windows 7 with their products:

For more than two years HP has collaborated closely with Microsoft on the development of Windows 7, contributing important innovations. HP is working to ensure our customers can take full advantage of the latest Windows 7 technologies such as offering our small and medium business customers the flexibility to run legacy applications. Our latest high performance multi-core enabled Windows 7 PCs will take advantage of Windows XP Mode once it is released.

Peter Schrady, Vice President and General Manager of Software, Peripherals and Enterprise Products at Lenovo discusses optimizing their PCs for Windows 7 and Windows XP Mode:

We’ve optimized our Think-branded PCs for Windows 7 and Windows XP Mode so businesses can enjoy the latest computing platform while still being able to use legacy applications that are supported only in Windows XP. Giving users seamless integration in a virtual environment is another way we’re working together to support commercial customers that have limited resources to spend on IT.

At the beta, there were concerns about the licensing for anti-virus and security software under Windows XP Mode and as we progressed to RC, we worked closely with those partners. Today, Kaspersky and Symantec confirmed their software will be supported in Windows XP Mode in addition to running on Windows 7 natively. We continue to work with additional anti-virus and security vendors to ensure their software will also support Windows XP Mode.

Here’s what Alexey Kalgin, Director of Product Marketing on the Corporate Business Division at Kaspersky Lab says:

By working with Microsoft, we are confident that Kaspersky Lab will provide XP users running Windows 7 in a virtual environment with an excellent security option that is easy to manage, and protects their valuable data without slowing them down. With the continued dramatic increase in malware and web attacks, our mission is to provide the best security possible for end-users and keep them educated and aware about the evolving threats.  Our Kaspersky Lab technical prototype for Windows 7 has been installed by more than 950K people since January. Thanks to collaboration with Microsoft, we have received an exceptional amount of valuable feedback from testers that will enable us to ensure that our products are fully compatible and permit everyone to safely take advantage of the new and unique features of Windows 7.

Blake McConnell, Senior Director, Product Management, SMB Security Solutions, Symantec, discussed the importance of running security software in Windows XP Mode:

Symantec has a long history of securing, managing, and assuring the availability of millions of desktops, laptops and servers running Microsoft Windows and other Microsoft applications. Symantec security products will give customers running Windows XP Mode on Windows 7 the peace of mind that their systems are up-to-date and protected from complex security threats including malware, spam, and viruses.

Please note: Windows XP Mode RC requires RC or RTM version of Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate or Enterprise. It also requires additional 1 GB of RAM, 15 GB of available disk space, and processor capable of hardware virtualization with AMD-V or Intel VT turned on in the BIOS.

What Windows 8 Codename Midori is aimed to rebuild entirely Windows, it will be goodbye to NT kernel? This will not be programmed in C / C + + code but in mixed as C #, F #, etc
Therefore for the time being "Midori" will make reference to Windows 8 when used in many articles and of course rumors that should start appearing after Windows 7.
I think that windows 7 is the last of the x86 32 bit operatings.

My computer run windows 7 with a EP45-UD3L F3 motherboard. I had install the latest sound driver which works with Windows 7. But it is no sound in windows 7.Any help on this would be appreciated.

Today I fixed it. The set up got changed from what XP had. I didn't actually go through the set up every time I switched jacks.