September 16, 2009 4:00 PM PDT

New Acronis backup app supports Win 7 migration

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True Image 2010 offers a more streamlined interface and a few additional options.

(Credit: Screenshot by Dong Ngo/CNET)

Excited about Windows 7 but not sure if your current XP computer can handle it? Maybe it's a good idea to make sure you can go back to the operating system you used prior to the upgrade. This is where system backup software such as that made by Acronis comes into play.

The company announced Tuesday the latest version of its backup software for home users, the Acronis True Image Home 2010, which supports Windows 7 as well as previous versions of the OS.

Like previous iterations, the True Image Home 2010 features Acronis' patented disk-imaging technology. It creates a full image of the whole system, which, once restored, brings the system back to the state when the image was created.

I personally have lots of experience with Acronis backup software and find it among the best for backing up the whole system. The software allows for creating full, incremental, or differential backups.

Apart from backing the full system, you can also choose to back up particular folders or files. The software also enables you to create bootable media to back up or recover the system using a CD or a thumb drive. If you just want to recover a few files from a backup, you can also mount the backup file into a virtual drive and copy data from it using Windows Explorer.

The new version of the software adds a few new features, including online backup that costs $4.95 per month for 25GB or $8.90 per month for 50GB, and Nonstop backup that automatically backs up any changes every five minutes.

I tried out the new version and really like its new, more streamlined interface and was glad to find out that it supports backups made by previous versions of the software.

According to Acronis, the new version will also support virtual environments so users can create a virtual machine from the backup image and run the original Windows operating environment within Windows 7 using software from Microsoft, VMware, or Parallels.

Acronis True Image Home 2010 is available now and costs $50.

Dong Ngo is a CNET editor who covers networking and network storage, and writes about anything else he finds interesting. You can also listen to his podcast at insidecnetlabs.cnet.com. E-mail Dong.