Windows 7's 'XP mode' may not work on many PCs

April 30, 2009, 10:49 AM — Computerworld —
Microsoft Corp. touts that Windows 7 is nimble enough to run on underpowered netbooks. But it also admits that its enticing new XP Mode may not work on netbooks, or many other computers of recent vintage.


That people will not be able to run applications designed for XP on Windows 7 by tapping virtualization, as the XP Mode supports, is discouraging news for cash-strapped consumers and small businesses who hoped to upgrade without ditching existing hardware or upgrading their software.


Debuting on the Windows 7 Release Candidate to MSDN and TechNet subscribers today, and the general public on May 5, XP Mode has several strict requirements: 2GB of RAM; Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate editions; and most limiting, CPU hardware virtualization support.
RAM is inexpensive, and vendors such as Hewlett-Packard Co. have successfully tested netbooks running all versions of Windows 7.

more: ITworld

Like my Pentium 4 - <weep> Time to think about a new machine.

Pentium 4's en masse are excluded as are many other early Pentium versions.

Windows XP Mode (XPM) requires processor-based virtualization support

I guess I could look at software alternatives. We shall see.

As in VirtualBox ? Thanks I'll take a look at it. Am in no hurry as I multi-boot anyway.
What's the difference between these and Microsoft's Virtual PC?

Well, I don't know which processors exactly support this feature, cause I haven't done the approriate searching yet, but I see mine which is a Cure2Duo doesn't support virtualization either

I wonder how many processors really do support virtualization...

There's a complete list linked here of Intel and AMD processors that support it. You'll need Microsoft Excel or Excel Reader to see them: Windows 7 XP Mode Pre-requisite « Software Ruminations