windows virtual pc and xp mode - publishing internet explorer 6 on windows 7

hopefully you've installed the windows 7 release candidate by now (and if you haven't download and install it) - so the next thing you'll want to take a look at is how your applications and  utilities will perform under the latest operating system.  if you have programs or utilities that don't immediately work on windows 7, one option that has been available in prior operating systems "tricks" the installation into thinking it's running on a previous operating system.  another approach that we're introducing for windows 7 is being called xp mode.  it leverages a beta of the next version of virtual pc - called windows virtual pc.  to use windows virtual pc, you'll need hardware virtualization on your computer and this will need to be enabled (check this article explaining how to set it up).  once you've got the virtualization support enabled and windows virtual pc, you'll want to setup xp mode.  this is another download and gets a windows xp sp3 virtual environment ready on your computer.  by starting this virtual machine, you can "publish" applications to windows 7, including but not limited to internet explorer 6 by adding shortcuts to the all users\start menu folder.