Does this mean that there's not any XP compability mode in Windows Home Premium unless we install it in Virtual PC ourselves. And that we need to get Windowa Professional to get it? And what about compability mode for win 95 or win 2000?

In my Windows 7 Ultimate RC, there is no compatibility mode for 95/98/2000.

As I understand it - at least for right now - you are correct about no XP compatibility mode in Home Premium. The articles I'm reading from ZDNet say putting it on the Pro versions is to entice businesses to go ahead and upgrade to Windows 7 and still be able to run the business software that works better - or even only - in XP.

Does the majority of games that work in XP also work in Vista? Or is that something we have to try and work out for ourselves?

Many gamers will probably buy Windows 7 Professional just to be sure they can play their favorite games, I find.

Program compatibility mode settings are still present, just as they are in other versions of Windows.

Windows 7 (Premium and above) will support a new feature called XP Mode - which should not be confused with XP's Compatibility Mode Settings.

With XP Mode you will have the ability to start programs directly from the Start Menu that a run (under the covers) using Windows Virtual PC (not Virtual PC 2007 - at least so far as I can tell).

Here's a nice write up by one of Microsoft's Program Managers:
Creating virtual machines with Windows Virtual PC

Here's another that describes what they look like under Windows 7:
Multiple Seamless Applications with Windows Virtual PC

Edit -



For the most part yes, I've run into very few issues.

Hi Jenny,
As Draclvr has pointed out The " Xp Mode " that will be part windows 7 professional is aimed at business to be able to support older applications....

for games in xp mode under win 7 .. many articles have stated "Don't expect XP Mode to help. It's not designed to run games, and so won't be a viable solution for us".,..." XP Mode needs a beefier system than that required to just run Windows 7 or XP alone, including at least 2GB of memory and a

system that has chip-level virtualization from either Intel or AMD. One of the challenges is that today it is often not that easy to tell whether one's PC has such support."

.....For Most users windows 7 premium will be more than enough, there is no real benefit to go beyon Premium..... programs/Games that fail to install in win 7 will apply compatibility mode and try again ....As of yet i have not found any software that ran on vista or XP that would not run on win 7, but i know that is not the case for all .....but If i do run into any issues of software that i must use i will dual boot with xp....That way it takes full advantage of my hardware especially my video card which " xp mode" would not.

below is a link to a comparison chart of the different version of windows 7...You will notice that Home premium has everything a standard user and Gamer would ever need....Also a article from Computerworld on why xp mode is not important to most users.
,
As for 32 bit and 64 bit windows. it really comes down to increase in installed memory .Well, there more to it than that but that is what most people use one over the other. 32 bits can top out at 3gb. with 64 bit i was able to install 16 gbs on a system....I am running both 32 and 64 bit win 7 RC1 and i did not see a difference in stability they both have performed quite well...You need to make sure your hardware has 64 bit drivers. My older hardware/Software had no real issues. it does look like the industry is moving toward 64 bit...

BTW The Windows 7 discs will have both 32 and 64 bit on the same disc....So at least you can decide which one will work best for you.

Window 7 Comparison Chart http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/win7_skus_compare.asp

Five reasons you won't want Windows 7's XP Mode
http://blogs.computerworld.com/five_reasons_you_wont_want_windows_7s_xp_mode

@Dracllvr as Inlandaz stated compatibility mode is still intact....... Right clicking on install or exe files gives me the properties menu which has " Compatibility Mode" for Win 95 thru XP SP 3 which will be on all version of Win 7


Oh Draclvr i am glad to see you found the problem to TLJ not installing. Let us no how it goes.


Take Care

Since you can't currently run any game that requires a 3D video card in Virtual PC, I wouldn't expect to be able to run them in XP mode either. Most current games do require a 3D card and the current version of Virtual PC only emulates an old S3 Trio video card. However QuickTime games do not require a 3D card, and many freeware games do not require one either. So those could be run in XP mode if they didn't work in Windows 7 natively.

When articles write about "games," they are usually talking about modern FPS and RPG games from the past couple of years rather than ca. 10-year-old or minimalistic adventure games that don't require 3D acceleration.

The 5 reasons referred to in the ***article*** you referred to are mostly n.a.

Ran across this today - very nice.

Windows 7 'Family Pack'