Hi all,
Just a friendly PSA I'll be passing along since being on the phone with a fellow technician. For those in the market for a new field service laptop, beware. The Windows 7 XP virtualization mode only works on a certain set of processors that support hardware assisted virtualization.
So, how do you know if your processor does? Well, unfortunately, only by finding the model number and going to the manufacturer's website to check. Make sure you check the specific model too. For example, processors in the popular Intel Core2 Duo line support Intel VT technology, but not all. So just because a laptop has a Core2 Duo doesn't mean that it has VT.
As I just learned on the phone, there are manufacturers advertising XP mode capability for a line of laptops, when only a few specific models will support it. In addition, some of those manufacturers are also choosing to not build XP drivers for their machines, so downgrading is not an option either. For those of you shopping in a store there is a hardware test tool available from microsoft to determine if a laptop will run in XP mode at: http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc/support/configure-bios.aspx Maybe you can get the salesperson to run the program in front of you to confirm before you purchase.
Caveat Emptor
[edited by: dmclaughlin at 2:55 PM (GMT -6) on Fri, Nov 20 2009] Added detail
