This afternoon, via ‘the blog’, Microsoft revealed the new Touch Pack for Windows 7 featuring six new touch-enabled applications (toys) to be installed on touch-supported hardware (at the OEM’s discretion of course). While all the toys are nice, the first to catch my eye was the photo-realistic fishy Microsoft Surface Lagoon screensaver. It features a photo realistic set of images put together to form a vivid 3D environment for the fishies to swim around and enjoy. Touching the display while the screensaver is going results in ripple formation – consistent with a finger being inserted in the water (i tested in my real aquarium) – and even draws the fish near while keeping your finger dry. Very nice!

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On the technical side, Lagoon is an in-house XNA-powered application that utilizes GPU shader models 2 and 3 for the eye candy goodness, depending on availability and rendering performance. (This means your EeePC is out of the question.) While it supports custom backgrounds and variable amounts of fish, it does not support the creation of rich environments, placement of 3D objects, or feeding.

About a month ago, Cullen Dudas released a neat video detailing the conceptual Windows UI he’s been working on for months, shown below for those who haven’t seen it in crap wonderful Vimeo quality. While some may not agree with certain elements of the design, you should at least appreciate his detailed analysis on the decisions he made in his new white paper. Check it out, it’s worth a read on that Kindle DX you just bought.

The folks a Seven Forums shot me a note regarding the public availability of the Windows 7 Release Candidate build. As mentioned by forum member 'Howdr', you can now sign up for your beta kit or simply leech the build directly using the links below.

x86 build
http://wb.dlservice.microsoft.com/dl/download/release/windows7/4/0/c/40c1e714-7910-4b38-9b5e-67fa522e6a44/7100.0.090421-1700_x86fre_client_en-us_retail_ultimate-grc1culfrer_en_dvd.iso

x64 build
http://wb.dlservice.microsoft.com/dl/download/release/windows7/e/b/5/eb58e76e-17fa-409b-855f-11fbe84d1c93/7100.0.090421-1700_x64fre_client_en-us_retail_ultimate-grc1culxfrer_en_dvd.iso

Back in February, I posted a list of applications that have the authority to automatically elevate without prompt in Windows 7. This list has been shortening over the months, with the Release Candidate build featuring the shortest list of now only 62 entries.

Notable missing entries (good thing) are rundll32.exe and mmc.exe.

• \Windows\ehome\Mcx2Prov.exe
• \Windows\System32\AdapterTroubleshooter.exe
• \Windows\System32\BitLockerWizardElev.exe
• \Windows\System32\bthudtask.exe
• \Windows\System32\chkntfs.exe
• \Windows\System32\cleanmgr.exe
• \Windows\System32\cliconfg.exe
• \Windows\System32\CompMgmtLauncher.exe
• \Windows\System32\ComputerDefaults.exe
• \Windows\System32\dccw.exe
• \Windows\System32\dcomcnfg.exe
• \Windows\System32\DeviceEject.exe
• \Windows\System32\DeviceProperties.exe
• \Windows\System32\dfrgui.exe
• \Windows\System32\djoin.exe
• \Windows\System32\eudcedit.exe
• \Windows\System32\eventvwr.exe
• \Windows\System32\FXSUNATD.exe
• \Windows\System32\hdwwiz.exe
• \Windows\System32\ieUnatt.exe
• \Windows\System32\iscsicli.exe
• \Windows\System32\iscsicpl.exe
• \Windows\System32\lpksetup.exe
• \Windows\System32\MdSched.exe
• \Windows\System32\msconfig.exe
• \Windows\System32\msdt.exe
• \Windows\System32\msra.exe
• \Windows\System32\MultiDigiMon.exe
• \Windows\System32\Netplwiz.exe
• \Windows\System32\newdev.exe
• \Windows\System32\ntprint.exe
• \Windows\System32\ocsetup.exe
• \Windows\System32\odbcad32.exe
• \Windows\System32\OptionalFeatures.exe
• \Windows\System32\perfmon.exe
• \Windows\System32\printui.exe
• \Windows\System32\rdpshell.exe
• \Windows\System32\recdisc.exe
• \Windows\System32\rrinstaller.exe
• \Windows\System32\rstrui.exe
• \Windows\System32\sdbinst.exe
• \Windows\System32\sdclt.exe
• \Windows\System32\shrpubw.exe
• \Windows\System32\slui.exe
• \Windows\System32\SndVol.exe
• \Windows\System32\spinstall.exe
• \Windows\System32\SystemPropertiesAdvanced.exe
• \Windows\System32\SystemPropertiesComputerName.exe
• \Windows\System32\SystemPropertiesDataExecutionPrevention.exe
• \Windows\System32\SystemPropertiesHardware.exe
• \Windows\System32\SystemPropertiesPerformance.exe
• \Windows\System32\SystemPropertiesProtection.exe
• \Windows\System32\SystemPropertiesRemote.exe
• \Windows\System32\taskmgr.exe
• \Windows\System32\tcmsetup.exe
• \Windows\System32\TpmInit.exe
• \Windows\System32\verifier.exe
• \Windows\System32\wisptis.exe
• \Windows\System32\wusa.exe
• \Windows\System32\DriverStore\FileRepository\bth.inf_x86_neutral_65c949576945c2a9\fsquirt.exe
• \Windows\System32\oobe\setupsqm.exe
• \Windows\System32\sysprep\sysprep.exe

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.