One of the key features of Windows 7 is that it is able to run virtualized Windows XP machines for programs that need Windows XP in order to operate. The catch some notebook owners are finding with the Windows 7 OS launch getting closer is that many notebooks have virtualization disabled.

That means that the machines won’t be able to use XP mode in Windows 7. The latest notebook to have a problem supporting XP mode is the Sony Vaio line. Sony has announced that it plans to disable virtualization mode needed to run XP mode.

Sony is blaming the disablement of virtualization on the need for security. Sony’s senior manager of product marketing, Xavier Lauwaert, said in a statement, "Our engineers and QA people were very concerned that enabling VT would expose our systems to malicious code that could go very deep in the Operating System structure of the PC and completely disable the latter."