Professional Windows 7 Development Guide

Chapter 19. Using Windows XP Mode Effectively

WHAT'S IN THIS CHAPTER?

• Defining uses for Windows XP Mode

• Analyzing an application using Windows XP Mode

• Overcoming potential problems using Windows XP Mode

Windows 7 goes a long way toward making it possible to use older applications in a more secure environment. Of course, you still have access to the compatibility mode settings that Vista supported, along with a few others. However, Microsoft went a few steps further in Windows 7. You don't get complete backward compatibility, of course, but you can tone down the User Account Control (UAC) as a starting point. The combination of various tweaks does make it possible to run a few more applications in Windows 7 that simply wouldn't run in Vista. In fact, Windows 7 users generally feel that this version of the operating system is significantly better than Vista.

The problem still occurs that some applications won't run. The majority of this book has discussed upgrade techniques you can use to make your code more compatible with Windows 7. In addition, this book has discussed a wealth of new features you can add to your application during the upgrade process. The problem is that you might not have all the source code for your application — it could rely on third-party modules for which you don't have the source code. If those modules are essential, you can't replace them, and if the modules are the source of the compatibility trouble, you may have to simply accept using Windows XP Mode (a fully ...