Legacy Application use without XP mode

We currently use an XP legacy program that is not compatible with windows 7 or 8 period. We fell into one of those categories of companies that don't have a good resolution to an issue. Thanks Microsoft! Anyway, at one point we've been using XP mode to accomplish this take but now that XP is no longer being supported we've been forced to discontinue use of XP mode and currently are using an online citrix environment. This has been very cumbersome and difficult for users to acclimate to. Is there a way to run legacy programs in windows 7 without running XP mode. Like a free emulator of sorts? i may be barking around the wrong tree but i figured it wouldn't hurt to reach out and ask.

Thanks!

Why is that you can no longer use XP out there? Arbitrary corporate policy?
MS no longer supporting XP means NOTHING for the real, end user, existing system will continue to work as they were after the deadline. Unless you have a real technical reason to why XP mode is inadequate, I don't see anything wrong with it.

As for the alternatives. Running it natively under Win7. You say it's "incompatible", the IT departament must need to figure out exactly why is it failing, and to what extent compatibility settings might help or what additional setup needs to be done (typical uninformed responses would be "XP compatibility" and "run as administrator").
If dual booting is an option, XP there is the perfect choice. Linux + Wine, to some extent, may give good results. ReactOS is a last hope if you want a challenge.

A Guy said:

have you considered a VM?

XP mode IS a virtual machine already, regardless not being advertised as such. I don't see any difference between a VM or "XP mode".