Running Virtual PC 2007 on Windows Vista

Anyone who has tried Virtual PC 2004 on Windows Vista knows that the experience can leave something to be desired.  But today, from the hard working folks on the Virtual PC Team, we have Virtual PC 2007.

Virtual PC 2007 was optimized for using Windows Vista as the host operating system, allowing you to run multiple operating systems on a single PC and have an excellent experience doing so.  Virtual PC 2007 has also been optimized for Windows Vista running as the guest operating system as well.  Here it is running on one of my Windows Vista boxes:

virtualpc

Virtual PC 2007 can be a huge asset to business users.  Many businesses have custom applications that are designed to run in a specific environment, and upgrading a PC to Windows Vista may break those custom applications.  With VPC2007, business users can enjoy the upgrade to Windows Vista without to having to give up access to those custom or proprietary applications.  Instead, custom apps are accessible in their native (albeit virtual) environment, exactly as you remember them.

For developers building applications on Windows Vista, VPC2007 can aid in backwards-compatibility testing of those applications by providing access to multiple OS platforms.  For instance, there is a Virtual PC image available for Internet Explorer 6 for Web site developers needing to test on IE6 -- virtually -- while also testing on IE7, all on a single Windows Vista machine.

Companies that are part of Microsoft’s Software Assurance Program and are migrating to Windows Vista Enterprise can take advantage of VPC2007 by using the four additional Windows Licenses they're entitled to, to create multiple virtual machines, each with its own operating system, on a single Windows Vista machine.

You can download the 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Virtual PC 2007 here.  There is no cost for the download or use of VPC2007.

More information on building and using virtual machines can be found at the VPC2007 Web site, and in this white paper:  Using Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 for Application Compatibility.

You should also check out Virtual PC Guy's blog for continuing news on the VPC and Virtual Server fronts.  "Virtual PC Guy" is Ben Armstrong, Program Manager on the Virtual Machines Team here at MS.

Tags: , , ,

Comments

  1. Zoltan
    Posted on: May 30, 2007 at 3:28AM  

    I've always used Virtual PC on my previous windows versions, but as you said, when I've installed virtual PC 2004 on Vista there was some problems appeared. I haven't jet obtained virtual PC 2007 but it seems very useful, so I'm going to download right now.

  2. Bryan-0
    Posted on: June 01, 2007 at 3:29AM  

    Everybody needs to realize that intellectual property law doesn't come from an implicit divine right to having a monopoly over things based on your own ideas.  Instead, it is a social device used to encourage innovation and progress. The justification goes like this: "If the writers of books could not be paid for the fruits of their efforts, there would be no writers of books."

    So, in an effort to see that the innovators, inventors, and tinkerers get rewarded for their efforts, the governments of several countries have agreed to sanctioning each of them a monopoly. Often we must succumb to one evil in order to overcome another. That is what is going on here. Which of the two is the greater evil, shall be determined by us, the general populace of the world.

    From the looks of this thread, I think the general populace is beginning to question the wisdom of granting monopolies for the sake of "encouraging innovation."

  3. Gustav2020
    Posted on: July 11, 2007 at 12:26AM  

    I am not quite sure if any of you guys tried to install a W2K pro as a guest onto a Vista Business as host. I always got "Invalid Product Key" error at stage to enter those 25 characters.  I know the key is valid, it's a legal copy and I could install it onto an XP pro as host. There is no problem to install XP as guest, but for W2K, it simply not working. Any suggestion?

  4. Nick White
    Posted on: July 12, 2007 at 12:26AM  

    Hey Gustav2020:  technical questions of this type are best directed to the Microsoft public newsgroups, as that's the best place for you to seek product support outside of calling our Support team directly:  http://msdn.microsoft.com/newsgroups.

  5. hrdn
    Posted on: July 24, 2007 at 12:04AM  

    I use VPC for development purposes primarily however, also I use it at home for the purpose stated below. What did 2007 break in this regards?

    -----------

    http://www.dl4all.com

  6. Nick White
    Posted on: August 01, 2007 at 7:01PM  

    Hey hrdn:  I'm thinking you'll want to check out the white paper located here for details:  http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/appcompat.mspx.

  7. fizzicist
    Posted on: August 27, 2007 at 5:45PM  

    My apologies in advance if this is not the place to post this question. I would greatly appreciate a redirect if that's the case.

    I'm a VirtualPC 7.0.1 for Mac user (Windows 2000 Professional), running on a PowerMac G5 DP 2.5GHz (OS X 10.4.10). As far as I have been able to tell, VirtualPC for Mac does not support Vista, so there is no upgrade path to Vista within VirtualPC for Mac. Additionally, it appears that I'm locked out of an upgrade path on my MacBook Pro (Intel Core 2 Duo) because Virtual PC for Mac is not supported on that hardware.

    My question is this: Is there any other upgrade path from my install of Windows 2000 Professional to Vista if I run alternative virtualization software...say, Parallels Desktop (or VMware Fusion on a MacBook Pro w/Intel processor, which I also own)?

    Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

    Vito

  8. Nick White
    Posted on: August 27, 2007 at 8:54PM  

    Hey fizzicist:  you might check out Apple's Boot Camp, which will allow you to actually install Windows Vista on Macs with Intel processors, thus getting around the need for any virtualization software.

  9. juca
    Posted on: October 01, 2007 at 6:53PM  

    Hi,

    I have installed Windows Vista Home Premium Edition. I want to run Windows XP on it using Virtual PC 2007. Do I have to install full pack of XP, or update version could do the job?

    Thanks

  10. cfc106
    Posted on: December 15, 2007 at 5:46PM  

    Hi,

    I tried to run 98 and XP in virtual PC and they keep coming up with the same error:

    first it loads saying:

    client MAC ADDR: [numbers] GUID: [more numbers]

    DHCP..-

    then after a while it comes up with a boot error message:

    Reboot and Select proper Boot device

    or Insert Boot Media in selected Boot device_

    do you have any solutions?

Trackbacks

  1. Posted by: The Wow on February 21, 2007 at 3:42AM

    Microsoft this week has released a series of downloads designed to help deploy and manage Windows Vista

  2. Posted by: JMPInline on March 30, 2007 at 5:04AM

    Virtual PC 2007 added a new sound system specifically for using Vista as a guest and host OS . But when

  3. Posted by: Running Windows On Macbook ♦ Apple MacBook and MacBook Pro News on July 27, 2008 at 7:10PM

    [...] an interesting post was made today on this site [...]...

Recent Posts

Tags

View more
© Copyright 2009 Microsoft Corporation. All Rights Reserved.   |   Privacy Statement