Microsoft have released a new product, currently in beta trials, to add to the Desktop Optimisation Pack that can be purchased as a bolt-on to any Vista license that has Software Assurance.
When Windows Vista was released it was made very public that this was a new operating system from the ground up and there were inevitably going to be application compatibility problems when migrating from Windows XP to Windows Vista.
The driver model was entirely different and security was redesigned with out of the box protection for the end user in mind. Shortcuts used by application writers, taking for granted that their users would probably have administrator permissions for the entire operating system, would no longer work and the writers would need to start again.
Their first attempt at cracking the application compatibility "nut" with Windows Vista was the acquisition of the Softricity product from Softgrid in 2007. The rumours prior to the deal, which were not exactly dispelled by the various resellers for months afterwards, was that Softricity enabled applications that were incompatible with Windows Vista would run on a virtualised layer within Vista that provided access to a custom registry, file system and application resources such as dlls that just might get the app working. Added to this was the benefits of centralised management and very slick application deployment and management.
What happened? Well, elegant as it was, Softricity was not designed to cure this kind of application compatibility issue and although it could fix some minor issues, was expensive and relied on you having purchased Software Assurance.
So this time, and nice and early before Windows 7 rolls out the door, they're going the whole hog and trialling a full virtualisation add on that takes advantage of their existing (and excellent) Virtual PC product line to run legacy applications in an older OS but making this experience as seamless as possible to the end user. That last element is what makes this so interesting as Virtual PC and VMWare have had the whole running virtualised operating systems business nailed for years. This sounds much closer to the experience offered by Parallels in the Mac world.
It's something I've been waiting for for some time and if it works and is easy to deploy is going to make a big difference to Windows 7 take up.
...Ah, but wait a minute, here's the crunch point, it's part of the Desktop Optimisation Pack again, meaning your Vista can't be OEM, must be bulk purchased and must have the fairly expensive Software Assurance add on. Oh, and then you get to pay for the DOP. It might just be enough functionality to make SA worth it but if Microsoft want Windows 7 to be a full success, why introduce this limitation?
I'll write back once I've tested the beta, if you want to give it a go, download the trial (after a survey and Windows Live login) here
