I’m down with Windows 7. I really am. It’s going to be a good, solid OS that will take us well into the next decade. Microsoft does this kind of thing every few years – they dump out a clinker (Windows ME) then amaze us all with something great (Windows XP). They’re not the richest company in the world because they’re dumb. They know what they’re doing.

The folks at DownloadSquad, however, note that XP mode isn’t just an admission of defeat by Microsoft. It is, instead, it is a way to allow folks to run POS systems on new hardware. Fair enough. But it is a cop out. It’s a cop out on the part of IT departments, just as it should be, in that it allows them to sit on tested – but old – software while updating their junky old hardware.

But why is the author so adamant that XP mode is a good thing? Of course it is. Anything that makes an IT guy’s life easier is a good thing. But this is a general purpose OS. Making the IT guys happy is a massive priority for Microsoft, sure, but I hope they also make us regular Joes happy as well.

Incidentally, Vista will stop being supported in 2012. Sucks to be someone who likes Vista.