Windows XP Mode is a new benefit of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate. It helps small and midsize businesses upgrade to Windows 7 by providing a virtual Windows XP environment in which they can run many Windows XP-compatible business and productivity applications.

This guide from Microsoft describes how to customize and deploy Windows XP Mode in small and midsize businesses. It’s not a tutorial for Windows Virtual PC or Windows XP Mode.

Deploying Windows XP Mode involves two components, both of which are benefits of Windows 7:

• Windows Virtual PC. Windows Virtual PC is a virtualization solution from Microsoft that’s available as a Windows 7 update (.msu) file. You must install the Windows Virtual PC update to each computer on which you want to use Windows XP Mode. You can inject the update in your Windows 7 images.

• Windows XP Mode. Windows XP Mode is the virtual machine (VM) running Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3 (SP3). Microsoft provides Windows XP Mode as an executable (exe) file. You can deploy Windows XP Mode without customizing it by installing the .exe file. You can also install Windows XP Mode on a lab computer, customize it, and then deploy the VM to each computer.

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