Microsoft on Thursday released a beta version of Virtual PC 2007, the latest version of the company’s virtual machine software that is capable of running Windows Vista as both a host and guest operating system. The update takes advantage of new hardware virtualization technology from both Intel and AMD. Virtual PC 2007 Beta is available for download from Microsoft’s Connect beta site.
I used this a few months ago and it’s actually pretty good. It’s free, it’s highly compatible with MANY OS’s, it’s easy to use. what’s not to like? It’s a little slow.
VMWare is already FREE – it’s FREE – FREE FREE FREE!
And it WORKS on Win/Lin and will soon work on Mac!
Not to mention it runs more x86 operating systems than you can shake a stick at!
MS must be grabbing at a lot of straws right now just to get some market share back in the virtualization arena.
I can’t recall which turned free first, but Virtual PC 2004, and Virtual Server have been free for some time already.
What exactly is your point?
Wrong. VMWare is not “free”. You don’t have to pay for it, that’s all. But where is the source? Please, show it to me!
What part of the original comment didn’t you understand? You don’t have to pay for it, so the author correctly used one of the many definitions of the English word “free”.
And the major reason my company has moved on to VMWare is the lack of USB support in Virtual PC. I wonder why this wasn’t a priority for 2007.
Virtual PC may be an easy way to try Vista, but MS recently revealed that only the more expensive versions of Vista are allowed to run in VPC/VMware/Parallels.
This is not true. The license states that you cannot use the same copy of Vista you have installed on your computer in a VM. In short, with the exception of Ultimate which allows you to run a single instance in a VM using the same copy you have installed on your computer, you need a seperate licensed copy of the OS to run in a VM. You are not barred from running Home Basic or Home Premium in a VM. You just need an additional license specifically for the copy you intend to use in the VM. If you are buying any edition of Windows Vista solely to use in a VM, you may do so.
I’d love to know where you’ve read that VMware is free? Yes, there is the VMware Player, but it only lets your run prebuilt “appliances” (with out a little geek magic that is
. VMware Server is also free, but it lacks sound and just as the name says its meant for a server and its not particularly tuned for use on some geeks laptop that he carries from airport to airport.
As much as I want one there is no free consumer-grade VM except Virtual PC 2004 (and hopefully VPC2k7).
Yes there is Qemu and Bochs, but they are hardly consumer friendly…
As much as I want one there is no free consumer-grade VM except Virtual PC 2004 (and hopefully VPC2k7).
VPC 2k7 will definitely be free.
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/virtualpc/default.mspx
Whether Microsoft virtualization technology is an important component of your existing infrastructure or you’re just a Virtual PC enthusiast, you can now download Virtual PC 2004 absolutely free. Microsoft will also offer the free download of Virtual PC 2007, with support for Windows Vista, available in 2007.
And it will support Intel VT and AMD SVM…nice…i would say pretty f good
“VMware Player runs any virtual machine created by VMware Workstation, GSX Server or ESX Server.”
That’s an actual quote from their website, so I don’t know what you’re trying to justify when you say “without a little geek magic.”
But to expect the source code? Come on…that’s a little unrealistic.
http://www.vmware.com/products/free_virtualization.html
I’ve been running it for some time now.
I’m not sure where some of you have been, but they released the server – free to use – in July of this year:
http://www.vmware.com/news/releases/server.html
It was even spotlighted here and on /.
=:P