Some Hidden Facts While Moving Windows XP to Windows 7

Companies are hoping to upgrade to Windows 7 XP, instead of going via Vista, could find Microsoft has it tough and costlier for them to upgrade to the new Windows.
Under Microsoft's planned enterprise licensing rules, businesses that get PCs before 23 April, 2010, with Windows 7 preinstalled can downgrade them to Windows XP, then later upgrade them to Windows 7 when they're ready to migrate their users.
But PCs purchased on or after 23 April can only be downgraded to Vista which is of no help for XP-based firms,It looks like Microsoft hasn’t made any announcements around timing for downgrade rights from Windows 7 to Windows XP yet. But Microsoft has many times discussed the six-month limit with and characterized it to him as a public policy.

We advise clients to wait 12 to 18 months after Windows 7 ships before adopting the new OS, so they can test compatibility of their hardware and software, as well as ensure their vendors' Windows 7 support meets their needs. But Microsoft's six-month downgrade restriction for XP means that the businesses that chose not to install Vista may have to rush the migration process. Or, they can spend extra money and enroll in Microsoft's Software Assurance program, which then allow them install any OS version at the price of the extra yearly fee per PC.

Companies could buy more PCs than needed by 22 April to essentially stock up on XP-down-gradable Windows licenses, but that distorts their purchasing costs. Or they could buy PCs as needed after April 23 and either live with Vista or Windows 7 on them perhaps allocating those systems as test units instead of regular production systems or buy XP licenses from retailers that still have them in stock.
Tracking which PCs have which downgrade rights in IT asset management systems, though, will be hard, Microsoft is sending mixed signals to XP-based customers, given that it will include a license for XP as part of Windows 7 Ultimate in what is called XP mode.

In XP mode, a virtual machine can run Windows XP in parallel to Windows 7. But this approach doubles IT's workload, as it must deploy and manage two OS per PC: Windows 7 and Windows XP.

XP mode will end up being used only for XP programs that can't work under Windows 7 (whether or not they're formally supported in Windows 7 by their vendors).
This is because many web programs are tuned to Internet Explorer 6, which Microsoft has essentially orphaned. Windows 7 will come with IE8, which has a compatibility mode for IE7, but not for IE6. And if IT retains IE7 in Windows 7.
Organizations needs to work through various other issues when figuring out its Windows 7 migration strategy.

One major issue is that Microsoft has yet to make public the details of its Technology Guarantee program or even say if there will be one that covers business purchases. The Technology Guarantee program gives free upgrades to Windows 7 on PCs bought after a certain time.

The other main issues that even if programs designed for XP or Vista run on Windows 7, that's no guarantee that the software vendor will support them on Windows 7. Some of the vendors are planning to ship Windows 7-oriented upgrades that IT must buy to get continuing software support.

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