Hypervisors may be a potential solution. But if these "virtualization technologies" are the same ones in, say, Microsoft Virtual PC, then it would be extremely difficult for a perhaps less experienced Windows user to figure out how to rip .iso's, set up virtual drives, create and access virtual hard disks (which is already a huge pain to do since Microsoft offers minimal instructions on the matter), and transfer all their old programs onto this virtual computer. It would be kinda cool if multiple Windows installations ran their programs in the same desktop, as to eliminate the whole concept of having an extra desktop within a desktop just to run the older programs. But with ANY kind of virtualization, a user would have to obtain a copy of the older Windows to run the older programs. And that would mean buying an older version of Windows if they buy Windows 7 computers. So, a user going from an old laptop with Windows 98 to a state of the art laptop with Windows 7 would be required to pay anywhere from $50-200, depending on which old Windows to buy. The alternative here is to download an .iso of ReactOS, which, as I'm sure many of you know, is designed to be an open-source binary-compatible Windows clone, but ReactOS is really buggy for an operating system, and is still in its alpha stages and not intended for regular use. Hopefully there will be some kind of compatibility layer for Windows 7 to run older programs, even if Wine is not the answer.
