Like normal people, I was never into the squeeze-every-kilobyte-out-of-my-operating-system-installs fad. It’s not a process that really yields any tangible benefit, yet people still do it — with a tool called vLite. On Tuesday, Microsoft issued a note to users, of “v-Lited” Windows Vista SP1 installs, having issues upgrading to SP2. Their advice? Reinstall Windows with genuine media. You know, the one full of carbs. Check out the support article after the quote below.

This problem occurs because system components that are required to install Windows Vista SP2 are not present on your computer. However, a common reason for this problem is that the vLite software was used to customize the Windows Vista installation and some required system components were removed.

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/968279

As mentioned in that boring overview yesterday, Windows XP Mode (XPM) utilizes some key RDP (6.1+) technologies to enable seamless virtual application use in Windows 7. More specifically, Remote Applications and Application Publishing.

For those not Terminal Services wizards, these technologies may sound new. Application Publishing enables you to “install” an application on a client machine – at least as far as the user is concerned. Shortcuts and file-type associations are set up, just as a local installation would, but when the application is invoked it’s started on a server somewhere within your infrastructure. The Remote Applications piece then kicks in and draws the client UI in a very convincing manner.

XPM eliminates the publishing step in the traditional Terminal Services model by incorporating monitoring logic within the Virtual Machine Services components installed on Windows XP for you, at first run. This component, amongst other things, monitors the (All Users) Start Menu for shortcut additions and deletions. For example, after detecting an added shortcut XPM adds the application to the Remote Applications white-list, nabs its icon, and performs some other internal house keeping tasks before passing the baton to the host operating system for addition to the Virtual Applications list in the Start Menu.

In the video below, I demonstrate just that with Internet Explorer 6.

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As shown in the video, one of the (current?) limitations with XPM (as a result of client Terminal Server licensing) is that only one user or channel can be open at any given time. This means you cannot execute Internet Explorer 6 while running maintenance tasks within the virtual machine, like installing updates from Windows Update. For the tinker tots, however, you may want to patch the Windows XP guest to allow simultaneous RDP sessions. Doing so, of course, is a violation of a few EULAs but it’s worth the gain in knowledge. It’ll be our little secret, okay?

Yesterday, Paul Thurrott and I revealed some pretty exciting news surrounding a new feature in Windows 7 called Windows XP Mode (formally Virtual XP). While Paul is working on the high level stuff – screenshots, features, etc. – I’m going to start with the more nitty gritty things the tinker tot inside us is burning to know (and play with).

But first, an overview.

To start, Windows XP Mode (XPM) is a new tight-knit solution of several already-available-today technologies. At the core of XPM are Virtual PC 7 (VPC) and the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) protocol. While VPC’s purpose is pretty clear, RDP’s may not. XPM makes heavy use of RDP features such as Remote Applications Integrated Locally (RAIL), compositing, and multi-monitor support.

Windows XP Mode will be installable on three Windows 7 SKUs: Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate. More specifically, the license policy VirtualXP-licensing-Enabled is only installed and present in these SKUs, of which XPM checks upon use. The timeline for XPM release is still under wraps, but we’ve been told to expect a beta version next week and a final release roughly around the Windows 7 RTM timeframe.

Now, what are you going to see in terms of installable components? XPM comes in two parts – The VHD package – containing a preinstalled, shrink-wrapped copy of Windows XP with SP3 — and an optional Windows update (KB958559) that deploys a variant of the upcoming Virtual PC 7 (VPC) product. After installation, your XPM installation folder will contain an expanded VHD, a text file containing the product key, and some random words in license agreement form.

In the Start Menu, you’ll see three items: A special folder containing pointers to installed virtual machines, a folder of auto-published shortcuts (more on this later) to installed applications within the virtual environment, and finally a shortcut that fires up the VPC instance of Windows XP.

As I’m currently using older bits, you’ll still see reference to Virtual Windows XP in these shots. This may change when the public beta becomes available.

After a fresh install, and first invocation of XPM by clicking the Virtual Windows XP shortcut in the Start Menu, VPC will configure the virtual machine for use. This process isn’t exactly speedy but Virtual PC provides a real time status as to what’s going on.

VPC first boots Windows XP. XPM then communicates with Windows XP and automatically (and silently) walks through the painful OOBE process, individualizing the virtual machine with details providing during install (e.g. username, computer name). Finally, XPM bootstraps the Windows XP install with various drivers and components necessary for XPM to work smoothly. For those familiar with VPC or VMware, this step is similar to installing the “integration components” or “tools” package included with the virtualization suite.

After all is said and done, you’ll be presented with a rather boring virtual machine view. It is here you’ll install your applications. Applications that install a shortcut to the All Users Start Menu will have their shortcut automatically published to the host machine within the Virtual Windows XP Applications folder (see above figure). For less well-behaved applications (or inbox applications like Internet Explorer 6), you can simply create a shortcut manually and it will (eventually) appear in the host Windows 7 environment.

Over the next few posts, I’ll be focusing on specific areas of Windows XP mode.

Rafael Rivera and Paul Thurrott reveal a new Windows 7 application compatibility feature called Windows XP Mode. Yes, it’s that "secret new feature" you’ve been hearing about…

Over a month ago, we were briefed about a secret Microsoft technology that we were told would be announced alongside the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) and would ship in final form simultaneously with the final version of Windows 7. This technology, dubbed Windows XP Mode (XPM, formerly Virtual Windows XP or Virtual XP, VXP), dramatically changes the compatibility story for Windows 7 and, we believe, has serious implications for Windows development going forward. Here’s what’s happening.

XPM is built on the next generation Microsoft Virtual PC 7 product line, which requires processor-based virtualization support (Intel and AMD) to be present and enabled on the underlying PC, much like Hyper-V, Microsoft’s server-side virtualization platform. However, XPM is not Hyper-V for the client. It is instead a host-based virtualization solution like Virtual PC; the hardware assistance requirement suggests this will be the logical conclusion of this product line from a technological standpoint. That is, we fully expect future client versions of Windows to include a Hyper-V-based hypervisor.

Figure 1 – Windows XP Mode running Microsoft Word 2003 under Windows XP and Word 2007 under Windows 7.

XP Mode consists of the Virtual PC-based virtual environment and a fully licensed copy of Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3). It will be made available, for free, to users of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions via a download from the Microsoft web site. (That is, it will not be included in the box with Windows 7, but is considered an out-of-band update, like Windows Live Essentials.) XPM works much like today’s Virtual PC products, but with one important exception: As with the enterprise-based MED-V (Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization) product, XPM does not require you to run the virtual environment as a separate Windows desktop. Instead, as you install applications inside the virtual XP environment, they are published to the host (Windows 7) OS as well. (With shortcuts placed in the Start Menu.) That way, users can run Windows XP-based applications (like IE 6) alongside Windows 7 applications under a single desktop.

Obviously, XPM has huge ramifications for Windows going forward. By removing the onus of legacy application compatibility from the OS, Microsoft can strip away deadwood technology from future versions of Windows at a speedier clip, because customers who need to run older applications can simply do so with XPM. For Windows 7 specifically, XPM is a huge convenience, especially for Microsoft’s corporate customers, who can of course control XPM behavior via standard Microsoft administration and management technologies like Active Directory (AD) and Group Policy (GP). And it significantly recasts the Windows 7 compatibility picture. Before, Microsoft could claim that Windows 7 would be at least as compatible as Windows Vista. Now, they can claim almost complete Windows XP compatibility, or almost 100 percent compatibility with all currently running Windows applications.

We’ve both been using and testing Virtual XP for over a month and we we’ve been dying to communicate what we’ve discovered, as you might imagine. So here’s what you can expect. Paul will publish a high-level screenshot gallery on the SuperSite for Windows showing off Windows XP Mode and what it’s like to run Windows XP and Windows 7 applications side-by-side. On Within Windows, Rafael will provide a deep technical dive into Windows XP Mode and explain how it works and how you can make it work the way you want. Later, Paul will add a Windows XP Mode article to his Windows 7 Feature Focus series as well. And of course we’ll be covering this feature in-depth in "Windows 7 Secrets," which will be published by Wiley & Sons later this year.

Thanks for reading!

Paul and Rafael

Long Zheng, previously a wooden puppet but now a real boy, is celebrating his birthday today. This world has had to endure 21 years of him… an amazing feat. For those unable to personally deliver a birthday wish (because he’s stealthier than Bin Laden), don’t worry! Using some left over Microsoft PDC swag and a dab of Gorilla Glue, I have put together a mechanism that will electronically deliver a birthday wish with a single click!

Simply click the cake below and let my machine take care of the rest. Please don’t click it more than once, though, as it saps bandwidth from the Internets with every click. To would-be abusers – I will hunt you down and drown your pet fishes. Don’t push me.

Update: The machine has been switched off now. Thanks for trying it out!

Happy Birthday Long Zheng!

Yesterday, Neowin writer Michael Stanclift made some noise about possible versioning changes in Windows 7 after stumbling across an example INF on MSDN (actually sourced from the Windows 7 Beta WDK). Come on, seriously? No, there’s not going to be a last minute change. To even remotely suggest such is ridiculous.

Some points:

1. The page in question is clearly marked as being preliminary, i.e. don’t be surprised if it’s wrong.
2. No other pages in the WDK state this incongruity. In fact there are plenty of tables and notes supporting the fact that Windows 7 will remain 6.1. Surprise!
3. Microsoft has already made the decision to ship Windows 7 code labeled as 6.1. There should be no shock here — it’s the same action Microsoft took for Windows XP (5.1 vice 6).
4. If Microsoft upped the number to 7.0, your precious Mavis Beacon applications may malfunction, inducing panic.

To serve as a sanity check, I pinged Microsoft for some sort of response. Here’s what I got back:

We learned a lot about using 5.1 for XP and how that helped developers with version checking for API compatibility.  We also had the lesson reinforced when we applied the version number in the Windows Vista code as Windows 6.0– that changing basic version numbers can cause application compatibility issues. 

So we decided to ship the Windows 7 code as Windows 6.1 […].

Windows 7 is a significant and evolutionary advancement of the client operating system. It is in every way a major effort in design, engineering and innovation. The only thing to read into the code versioning is that we are absolutely committed to making sure application compatibility is optimized for our customers.

With Wave 3 of Windows Live Messenger, Microsoft introduced a new feature – Photo Sharing. This feature, when an image file is dropped into an active conversation window, starts a sharing activity allowing you to share photos with family and friends. Fun right?

The feature sucks though, because…

• It’s not clear the person you’re chatting with can see the image.
• The sender already knows what the image looks like (i.e. why do I want to see again, enlarged on my screen?)
• The not-downloaded, downloading, and downloaded (gray, semi-gray, and colored respectfully) progress indicator is too subtle for Mom and Dad users.
• The feature engulfs the entire window, making image-related chat impossible.

With Paul Thurrott and I working on the Windows 7 Secrets book, sending images to each other is a common (yet nightmare) task. To mitigate the issue, we simply turned to Live Mesh (or the occasional zip file) for transfer. Fed up with this solution, I sat down late Friday evening and starting peeling back the layers of Messenger.

Using Bryant Zadegan (AeroXperience) as my guinea pig (thanks a lot!), I dragged images into the window, over and over, until I figured out where within Messenger image-detection code is executed (details below). With a simple one-byte change, my hellish nightmare was over. Whoo hoo!

For those interested in the technical details, check out the function at msnmsgr.exe+1FF651. It checks a passed in filename for an extension of .tiff, .tif, .png, .gif, .jpg, and .jpeg, and also makes a call to a function exported by uxcore.dll named ?IsValidImageFile@@YG_NPB_W@Z (which is simply the mangled form of bool __stdcall IsValidImageFile(wchar_t const *)).

… and for those interested in implementing this fix yourself, open msnmsgr.exe with a hex editor (like XVI32), go to offset 16392F, and replace the conditional jump byte 74 with unconditional jump byte EB. If the bytes differ, ensure you’re using the latest (at time of writing) build of Windows Live Messenger (14.0.8064.206).

I contacted the author of popular utility A-Patch and recommended inclusion into their application. I tried to ping the MessPatch folks but they don’t have an obvious way to contact them.

Happy chatting!

Update: It has been brought to my attention by reader ‘Cuppa’ that Messenger Plus! supports overriding this behavior too. It’s unclear if it supports files other than JPG (as documented) but if you’re a user — give it a shot. I’m not a fan of installing software for a quick tweak.

Late last month, my colleague Ed Bott stumbled across evidence hinting at the availability of Office 14 (2010) targeted for 64-bit architectures. While Ed found explicit markings indicating such, they were buried in a Windows 7 beta build – a build that isn’t representative of final product (especially visible if you’ve been keeping up with the leaked builds). With similar 64-bit claims back in Office 12 (2003 2007) days, I dismissed the evidence as mere Microsoft internal dog-fooding of some sort.

Last night, however – dum dum dummmm – Microsoft made an Office 14 add-in publicly available for download. While I’m not sure why these add-ins are showing in the Microsoft Download Center, given we can’t get the software (officially), it’s an actual binary generated from an Office 14 SDK targeting 64-bit Office.

Now to get some 64-bit Office 14 bits to play with…

Last week Tuesday, Buy.com had a What’s Shakin’ deal on a neat little Nokia BH-208 Bluetooth ear-piece and car adapter for something around 12.99USD. I plugged in my Paypal details and was done with it.

Despite choosing the cheapest (free) shipping, I received the package in about 2 days. Pretty neat. But I was shocked to see such a large box delivered. After removing the protective plastic (was a wet day), I checked, re-checked, and triple checked the box to ensure it was mine and wasn’t ticking. Everything checked out.

I got the closest knife and cut into the box, revealing the usual paper-based filling. Before I removed the paper turd, I started thinking – what the hell did I order? This earpiece will fit in my ear right? *gulp*

With the paper removed, I dove into the box and recovered a large rectangular mold of plastic. It contained the Nokia ear-piece in its original packaging as well as the bolt-on car charger. I can understand why Nokia couldn’t re-design the original packaging to fit the new accessory – they need to rid themselves of existing stock – but was a little shocked to see the amount of wasted space here. And all for a mere cord…

Thankfully, it wasn’t that impossible-to-open-without-cutting-yourself-badly plastic. In fact, it was already nearly open when I removed it from the box. The contents? The ear piece, charger, and a small folded up piece of paper with 30-different-language boiler-plate legalese written all over it.

As a result of Nokia’s laze, yielding a larger-than-necessary package for such a tiny product, it appears Buy.com upgraded to the next largest box in its arsenal – Gigantor. Despite their Go Green initiative, Buy.com has zero stock of an in-between medium-sized box. This means you either get Cute n’ Small or Ridiculously Gigantic.

Unreal.

To conclude on a happier note, however, I promise to do my part and recycle all these materials.

In a typical inaccuracy-laden FUD-like fashion, Gizmodo ran a story on March 26th regurgitating some rumblings from Damien Bain-Thouverez, a ffdshow (Tryout fork) developer, indicating that Windows 7 may block the use of third-party codecs (those small voodoo pieces of software that let you watch your illegally downloaded Bluray rips).

Damien indicated this “blocking” behavior occurs in Windows 7 build 7057. I’ve tested and confirmed the behavior still exists, in 7068, but it’s obviously broken (or working this way for a specific, temporary reason). I’m sure when Microsoft flips the non-beta switch, they will support third-party codecs as they have since… Windows 3? (Gold star to whomever can find references to earlier use)

The thought of Microsoft moving to alienate its bajillion users by blocking the use of third-party codecs in Windows 7 Windows Media Player (and its wrapper Windows Media Center) is insanely ridiculous. While Microsoft usually remains silent on issues that arise in unofficial builds, they made an exception to my inquiry (due to the inaccuracies floating around) and had this to say:

As we move toward the release of Windows 7, we have worked to add more codecs and file types to allow for a better user experience. We also allow Microsoft experiences to use codecs and other format technologies from third-party companies, just as we always have.  Third party applications can use the Microsoft codecs or their own.  Microsoft does not restrict the use of third-party codecs. – Microsoft Spokesperson