2GB of 240pin DDR2= $25 USD.

Dont go to Starbucks for a few days and youll be able to afford it.

I think this is to be expected. Windows 7, as the host operating system, will need a minimum of 1GB of RAM and then XP would need 512K - 1GB of RAM. The hardware acceleration offered by newer CPUs probably won't be required, but it would help performance. In Virtual PC 2007 you can turn the hardware support on & off, and I'm sure it's the same technology that's being used for the XP support in Win7.

There's no reason for a new computer to be shipped with less than 2GB of RAM.

if XP takes a lot i wonder how much win 7 takes (i dont know because i didnt get to try the beta because i didnt want to lose date) either way im probably still gonna get win 7

The thing is, is it going to take 2 gigs of ram to run in its entirety? That is, does XP mode need 2 gigs of ram just to run?

If so, then all of us with 3 gig systems will see a sudden crawling. 4 gig+ machines ftw.

Anybody know when we'll be able to try out XPM? Will it be in the RC or just the final product?

hmm seems liekmy future willa vhe 3 pcs , now ... 1 new win7 pc , for latest games and 3d apps , a xp machine for slightly older games that crap out on 64 bit win 7, and a even older pc for even older games that crap out on xp.

yeck i was already contemplating building a "new" oldtech machine using single core athy's and low end parts ( and digging up my old gf 4) i suppose now i may find my self either building 2 such computers or in teh least getign this "Old" comp a 1t byte hard drive so i can dual boot and still avhe all the room my older games would need , doing this i could give it dual boot to xp or win 98 , just seems to be harder being a retro gamer , and goign to every new OS release, oh adn tont tell em aobut compatibilities modes LOL try rungin Resident evil 2 or mechwarrior 3 on compatiblity mode in xp at best teh experience is buggy to say the least , hionce why i'm looking to build a low cost "old" machine for running win 98.

Well, at least most games and programs will work in Win7 in native mode.

The PCs I put together with XP, still come with 4GB because its only $40~50... so when Win7 comes out, they're ready for 64bit and an easy option to 8GB if needed.

Hopefully XPM isn't needed very much. And honestly, I don't recall any of my Win98 games having problems with XP... Any problems I've seen has more to do with Voodoo Glide mode since 3Dfx died before XP was released... A voodoo3 PCI can work on a modern computer, especially since Voodoo3 didn't really make use of AGP.

2gigs wow 30 dollars maybe... depending on type...

Either way imma get x64 and shove about 12 gigs of ram in it for my encoding and editing purposes. bah i can't edit a hasty thrown together post.

Will it run Vietcong? I havent played that game in years, found it and wont run due to vista's programming.

Damn. How does Microsoft manage to do it?

/* Annoy people who dont want to upgrade to win7 software */
char *unused = malloc(1024*1024*1024*2);

/* Load XP */
...

2GB of RAM isn't a big deal. The deal breaker is Windows 7 Home versions not having the feature. Windows home versions should have this feature granted requiring an old xp cdkey. I have yet to find any info as to home versions even offering XPM.

If compatibility is Microsoft new marketing scheme then expect some major hate for windows 7.

I have the 64-bit Win7 Beta and it runs great. It ran fine with 2GB of ram and I running 4gb now just because I can. No driver conflicts or problem all of my games runs great. I will buy Win7 as soon as it comes out.

So, basically everyone can use it? Good to know.

Virtualization takes memory, I tried to setup a Linux VM using VirtualBox on my ex-gf's Sempron 3000+ PC with 512mb RAM, the only distro I could get to run was DSL Linux(50mb live CD), every other distro would crash the VM due to memory shortages.

WHAT!!! NO! I really didnt mind the 2gb minimum but the requirement to have a modern processor in order to run XPM is GARBAGE! I was really excited to use this feature because I am currently running Win7 on a 4 year old tablet (that runs on a pentium m)

I thought this is a no duh. Anyone who uses virtualization should know that.

I guess it's good for those who don't.

I think they should tell gamers to not expect to run games on XP mode because it's not going to be only slower but virtualization doesn't support DirectX 3D.

I read a few postings here and most I agree with. For the people that think 2 GB is too much and should be less, I have 1 thing to say. Stay with XP then. How much does 2GB really cost now? About 30-40 bucks (DDR2 that is). If you think Microsoft, or any company for that matter, are going to just stay with the past with old legacy stuff, then you aren't living in today's reality.

2GB is NOTHING!

Also lets not forget, Games usually do not work in a VM really either.

This sounds like a bit of a generalisation to me... at work I often run a virtual XP guest on a P4 2.4GHz/1GB Mem XP host(using Virtualbox) without problems. Of course we're mainly running VPNs with IE & terminal sessions within these virtual machines & so I only assign them 512MB of system memory.

I should imagine it would be the WHAT you run on the virtual OS & how much memory it requires that would dictate how much memory the HOST machine would need. I think we're talking about nieche apps here that probably are no longer supported & some people can't live without...

If the virtual XP OS runs in Windows 7, is based on Microsoft Virtual PC, it does not need virtual technology to be present.
Otherwise Intel would have gone with Virtual PC instead, which only needs 384MB of ram,and 32MB of Vram allocated (and no VT) for XP.

Besides, XP is fast, but not with all those services running. So a lot will need to be disabled which will speed up and improve performance, and at the same time increase security and decrease load.

As far as running XP in a virtual environment without VT technology, the operating system will still be slower than on a system where XP is booted.

I see no benefits in running XP from a virtual environment, apart from legacy issues.
But then,many programs that run on XP run on Vista, and possibly will run on Win7 too.

Makes total sense, RAM is so cheap so it's not that bad.

see this is what i dont get - why do people still use 512mb 1gb etc when ram is STILL DIRT CHEAP - 8GB INCLUDED (DDR2 atleast)