XP Mode vs DOSBox?

DOSBox....is running DOS...which is very very old.
XP Mode is running well Windows XP which is old.

DOSBox is for when you need to run really very very old applications.

raen said:

Hello, all. I'm kind of a newbie to Windows 7 and virtualization software, so I hope this isn't too stupid. I've been Googling around, but haven't really found much that satisfactorily addresses my question.

From an end-user perspective, what's the functional difference between XP Mode and something like DOSBox?

I get the impression that it's not a matter of one being better than the other or a matter of preference, but rather a matter of being different tools for different jobs.

That said, I'm not really clear on what each one is good for. Could somebody please explain what XP Mode would be appropriate for and what something like DOSBox would be appropriate for?

Thanks,
raen

Dosbox is for running old Dos games and applications. Windows XP Mode is for running legacy Windwos XP Applications. Windows XP Mode is NOT for gaming. If you have old Dos games, go with Dosbox. If you have Windows XP applications that won't run on Windows 7, then get XP Mode.

XP Mode isn't virtualization software. It's a name for a prepackaged and licensed/activated copy of XP SP3 that you can run virtually if you have Windows 7 Pro, Enterprise or Ultimate.