Windows Vista Team Blog : Virtual PC 2007

TechEd 2007 Day Two: Take a Virtual Test Drive of Windows Vista

Dave Kim — Tue, 05 Jun 2007 22:14:00 GMT

Hi guys I'm here at Day 2 of Tech-Ed and there is some pretty exciting stuff around me. This is my first post so allow me to introduce myself. My name is David Kim and I am currently an associate product manager in Windows Client and lately I have been doing some interesting work around desktop virtualization. It's an intriguing space to be in especially with the amount of cool things that Microsoft has been coming out with! Check out www.microsoft.com/virtualization for more information on what we have been doing around this space.

So here's the big news...Recently we released two images in virtual formats of Windows Vista which will give you a 30 days hands-on experience to play with both a Windows Vista 30-Day Enterprise Edition and Windows Vista with Visual Studio 2005 . Using the power of virtual machines, you can download these Virtual Hard Disks (VHDs) and play with Windows Vista and other apps right away. This means you have minimal set up with no additional hardware required. Once the VHD is downloaded you can test drive right away. All you need is a tool like Virtual PC 2007 which is a new, free product from Microsoft used to set up virtual machines quickly on your desktop. The VHDs are located at www.microsoft.com/vhd. Also stay tuned for more images with both MS products and partner apps.

Check it out and see what you can do with it! Also, to get your hands further into test driving Windows Vista check out Virtual Labs and Windows Vista Test Drive. Both use similar virtualization technologies but work within an online environment. Stay posted for more TechEd 2007 news!

Running Virtual PC 2007 on Windows Vista

Nick White — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 00:38:00 GMT

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:

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.

Virtual PC 2007 Beta: Free and Available Now

Nick White — Wed, 11 Oct 2006 21:15:00 GMT

Alex Heaton has some news to share with Virtual PC 2007 beta that was released today. In his own words....

Virtual PC 2007 Beta is now available as a free download from connect.microsoft.com. Virtual PC 2007 is optimized to work well for Windows Vista as both the host and guest OS. This version works with both 32-bit Vista and 64-bit Vista as the host operating system as well as Windows XP and has improved performance including support for hardware virtualization technologies from AMD and Intel. So now you have an easy way to try out Windows Vista, even if you are reluctant to replace the OS on one your existing PCs; or if you have already taken the plunge you can spin up a legacy operating system in a virtual machine on your Windows Vista machine.

To install Windows Vista in a virtual machine

Dig out your Windows Vista RC DVDs or downloaded ISOs and I’ll show you how to get them up on running using Virtual PC (VPC) 2007.

1. Download VPC 2007 and install it. Start Virtual PC and select New to start the New Virtual Machine Wizard. As you go through the wizard: select Create a virtual machine, specify where you want to store the virtual machine file, select Windows Vista as the operating system, you can keep the default memory, select new virtual hard disk, specify where you want to save the virtual hard disk (you can keep the defaults), and click Finish.

2. In the Virtual PC Console, select the virtual machine you just created, and click Start. Now you are basically booting up a PC with no OS installed, and you need to install Windows Vista onto this virtual image. You should see the follow prompt in your Virtual PC window:

What you do next depends on what type of Windows Vista media you have.

· If you have a DVD, put it into your drive now and press ENTER.

· If you downloaded an ISO, go to the CD menu and choose Capture ISO image. Now browse to and open the Windows Vista ISO.

Now follow the on-screen instructions to complete the installation and you’ll have Windows Vista running on Windows XP!

Note: VPC is a great way to experiment with some of the functionality of Windows Vista. But it should not be used to judge the full experience of Windows Vista as some features virtualize better than others. For example, performance of any operating system will typically not be as high in a virtual environment as it would be when running natively. Also note that while you can try out many of the great new features such as user account control, integrated search, the sidebar etc. virtualization technology is not yet suitable for use with 3D graphics so Aero Glass is not available and save the DirectX 10 gaming to your physical PC.

To install Windows XP in a virtual machine

For those not familiar with Virtual PC, it also works the other way around—you can run Windows XP or an earlier OS on Windows Vista. This can be helpful if you have an older application that does not work well in Windows Vista. Follow a similar process to that described above except choose the operating system you want to install, capture the ISO or insert the DVD and you are off and running.

Keep in mind that while Virtual PC 2007 is a completely free program Windows is not. You will need to have a license for any Windows OS that you run in a virtual environment. This is not an issue if you are using beta versions of Windows Vista but in a production environment you need a license. If you use virtual machines a lot and you are an enterprise customer you may consider obtaining Windows Vista Enterprise, which also includes rights to run up to 4 additional copies of Windows in a virtual machine using a technology such as Virtual PC for a single license price.

You can learn more about Virtual PC http://www.microsoft.com/virtualpc and Virtual PC Guy's Weblog.

- Alex Heaton