DUAL BOOT XP / WIN10 or WILL WIN10 BE ABLE TO RUN XP APPS?

[Windows Central Question]

DUAL BOOT XP / WIN10 or WILL WIN10 BE ABLE TO RUN XP APPS

Hello - I have a 2006 bespoke video editing system - 2.4GHz, 4GB RAM, Core 2 DUO, XP Pro, with a 6 mth old replacement 1TB SATA 111 Video HDD plus GV EDIUS, Photodex Producer, and TMPG Authoring s'ware ALL only compatible with XP.
I believe that I have three options: 1. purchase replacement s'ware for Windows 10 and upgrade PC to Windows 10 or use the PC for the old XP programs 2. Run in DUAL BOOT on C: partitioned, with XP on first partition (perhaps replace main HDD with a SSD just for programs) 3. Check if the old programs will run under Windows 10 compatibility mode?
I cannot find how I might check if the programs will run as 3.
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[gpobernardo]

Re: DUAL BOOT XP / WIN10 or WILL WIN10 BE ABLE TO RUN XP APPS

In the process of upgrading to Windows 10, i.e. from Windows 7, 8 or 8.1, the user will be prompted when certain programs are not compatible with Windows 10. However, two things:
1) In my experience, very specialized software will not be flagged as incompatible even if they are (such as my computational chemistry and physics software, which I luckily was able to update to a compatible version officially from the software publisher);
2) It seems that you can NOT directly upgrade from Windows XP to Windows 10. You need to either jump to Windows 7, 8 or 8.1 first before going to Windows 10, or go to Windows 10 directly (if you can find a valid ISO AND purchase a license key).

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