Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 Available For Free

Daily Tech ^ | February 20, 2007 | Brandon Hill

[Echo Talon]

Microsoft releases the latest edition of Virtual PC

Microsoft has released Virtual PC 2007 1.0 to customers. The program allows Windows users to run multiple operating systems at once from a single physical computer. Users can also easily switch back and forth between operating systems with the click of a mouse.

New features included with the latest release of Microsoft Virtual PC include:

• 64-bit host operating systems
  
• Hardware-assisted virtualization
  
• Network-based installation of a guest operating system
  
• Running virtual machines on multiple monitors
  

The following operating systems are officially supported on host machines:

• Windows Server 2003
  
• Windows Vista Business
  
• Windows Vista Enterprise
  
• Windows Vista Ultimate
  
• Windows XP Professional
  
• Windows XP Professional x64
  
• Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
  

The following operating systems are officially supported as guests:

• Windows 98 Second Edition
  
• Windows 2000 Professional
  
• Windows XP Home, Professional, Tablet PC Edition
  
• Windows Vista Enterprise, Business, Ultimate
  
• OS/2 Warp Version 4 Fix Pack 15, OS/2 Warp Convenience Pack 1, OS/2 Warp Convenience Pack 2
  

There is also unofficial support for MS DOS 6.22, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows ME and Windows NT 4.0 Workstation.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 is available as a free download in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. You can view the release notes for the software application here.

[Central Scrutiniser]

I installled Open Suse 10.2 on my machine, but I lack the Linux knowledge to get it to work right, it crashes my display when trying to go to the drivers for my Nvidia card.

A minor fix, to be sure, but I lack the knowledge of operating Linux in command line mode, hooking to the Nvida driver site, and downloading and running it.

But, truth to tell, I haven't spent a great deal of time on it.

[Echo Talon]

you can get trial windows server 2003 R2 like I have for FREE from here

Use, FREE Windows Virtual Machine like i did... and BAM... ;)

[Echo Talon]

I can run, VMWare Ubuntu I posted pics of it... but i can;t get the MS Virtual Machine to work right now... I need to spend more time on it... at the moment, im working on Server 2003 R2... its working fantastically alongside Vista Ultimate 32bit..

[Echo Talon]

Oh yea... who's the man ;) I got Royale noir running on Server 2003 R2 inside of a MS VM on Vista... oh yes I am a nerd. ;) hehe... (and using evaluation copies of both softwares i might add... ) LOL

[Echo Talon]

here ya go... PCLinuxOS 2007 emmulated on Vista with Microsoft Virtual PC...

I used the Default Vista setting to make the VM, then ran the disk wizard to make the virtual hard drive(i made it set to about 8GB), Then i ran G-parted from a disk and formatted it ... plopped in the live cd... and it works... I'm having a hell of time getting the sound to work though... its SB16 emmulation and i can;t get it to work in Win Server either... I found a website that looked promising and helpful but still not dice... kinda weird... **scratches head...*** oh well...

Here it is

[Echo Talon]

no need to run g-parted first... ALL you need to do is used the VESA driver... for linux live CD's... thats what i have found... ;)

The PCLOS utility worked fine for formatting the the VM(Hard Drive) **keeping my fingers crossed its still installing... it's hauling ar*e i have it running straight from an ISO! LOL forget running it from a CD... LOL

[Echo Talon]

ok, all is good... runnning pclos 2007 from MS VM 2007 no problems, just use the VESA drivers(add "VESA" without quotes to the line when you boot or add it to your grub) ;)

[Spiff]

Dude you shouldn't be sending people to hacker sites like that, I only went there because I have tons of protection but that thing comes up with skull and crossbones right across the top, looks like a good place to pick up a real nasty.

Hackaday is not a "hacker site". As a frequent visitor to quite a few "hacker sites" I've never had a problem. You've got more of a chance getting something nasty on your PC just going to a MySpace page or letting an email open in your Outlook preview pane then you do going to a "hacker site." So-called "hackers" tend to police themselves pretty well and if an actual "hacker site" was doing something nasty, other "hackers" would notice and do something about it.

The most frightening hackers don't use "leet" speak, they don't use skulls & crossbones, etc. If they want to own your box, they'll do it in ways that you'll never suspect and likely never see. In fact, your box may already be owned right now and you would never know it.

[Spiff]

VMware actually started giving their virtualization technology away for free first, did they not?

Yes. And I just noticed that they started giving away a basic version of VMWare Converter a couple of weeks ago. Woot! What VMWare Converter does is let you take an "image" of a PC and turn it into a virtual machine. I've been trying to do this for over a year using Ghost and other things, but couldn't and could not afford to buy their enterprise version. I'm going to get a lot of use out of this free version if it works as advertised.

[Echo Talon]

In fact, your box may already be owned right now and you would never know it.

All you box are belong to me! ;)

[aruanan]

Bill and Steve's 12 flavors of Windows?

And after the rain there's a rainbow
And all of the colors are black.

[Golden Eagle]

The most frightening hackers don't use "leet" speak, they don't use skulls & crossbones, etc.

I never said they did, but it doesn't take one of "the most frightening hackers" to compromise your system.

In fact, your box may already be owned right now and you would never know it.

I doubt it, since I've got 5 total firewalls and trace every packet both in and out. Nor do I trust hackers or frequent many hacker sites.

[Golden Eagle]

I just noticed that they started giving away a basic version of VMWare Converter a couple of weeks ago.

That is a neat tool although I haven't tried it yet, but can eat up disk space in quite a hurry if used on the same box. There's better tools out there, not free of course, like Acronis, BackTrack and Symantec Live State that let you restore image backups of Windows into VM's even on dissimilar hardware. One day we'll have an O/S that as part of your "upgrade" keeps the old O/S running virtually in the background to help compatibility problems. It's what I like to do now, and this VMware tool will probably work in many circumstances.

[antiRepublicrat]

Microsoft Corp.'s new Windows Vista operating system will give a bigger boost to technology spending than many people now expect

Let's see, the upgrade of the 90+% marketshare OS requires vastly more hardware power, and completely new hardware to run DRMd HD*, that people will have to spend a lot more just to run it. I thought the technology spending boost was just common sense. The more Vista hogs, the more people will have to buy.

BTW, research recently showed the memory "sweet spot" for Vista is about 4 GB.

* Well, you hope, since most "HD Ready" products out there don't really support the DRM.

[antiRepublicrat]

You could pick it up, easiest server O/S there is.

While it's definitely a decent server and fairly easy to configure, I think the "easiest" crown has to go to OS X Server.

[zeugma]

VMware actually started giving their virtualization technology away for free first, did they not?

I have no idea. Why don't you scurry off and find out? 

[antiRepublicrat]

Nor do I trust hackers or frequent many hacker sites.

The best security gurus I've known were constant visitors to hacker sites and IRC. It's good to know up front what's brewing instead of finding out when you get hit.

[antiRepublicrat]

I have no idea. Why don't you scurry off and find out?

I remember it the same. VMWare server went free in early 2006, and Microsoft Virtual Server and Virtual PC followed over a period of some months afterwards.

[zeugma]

I kinda wish that VMware would lower the price to their Workstation product. I like server for some things, but workstation is better for others.

[Golden Eagle]

I think the "easiest" crown has to go to OS X Server.

I actually hear lots of OSX desktop users complain that OSX server is confusing and not the same as the desktop version. Still easier than other versions of Unix and Linux I'm sure.