Microsoft virtual pc 2007 windows virtual pc

Review of Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 SP1

Virtual PC 2007 is an intuitive program, which saves you the bother of buying new hardware.  I find it particularly useful for testing new operating systems such as Windows 7.

If you are a newbie trust me; this is an easy and rewarding program, what’s more its free.  And if you are an old hand who has been disappointed with previous versions of Microsoft Virtual PCs, please give the 2007 edition a chance, it is much faster.

Review of Virtual PC 2007 SP1

• A Reminder of the 3 Key Concepts
• Stage 1 Install Virtual PC 2007
• Stage 2 Create the New Virtual Machine
• Stage 3 Installing the Guest Operating System
• Windows 8 Install
• Tips and Tricks for Virtual PC 2007

A Reminder of the 3 Key Concepts

1. The Host – Windows Server 2003, Vista or even XP. 
   Addendum, Microsoft has a new product called Windows Virtual PC, this is designed to run on Windows 7, in other words this is where Windows 7 is the host and XP the guest.
2. The core program – Virtual PC 2007.
3. What you run in the Virtual PC – The guest operating system, for example Windows 7.

For experienced techies, who are geniuses at computing, all you need to do is absorb these key concepts:

• Download, and then install a free copy of Virtual PC 2007.
• Create a new Virtual Machine, this will host the guest operating system.
• Obtain a 32-bit version of your guest operating system, either on DVD or as an image.
• Capture the DVD drive or the image of the Windows 7 (guest) in the Virtual Machine.
• Have patience and faith that your Windows 7 install will work.

For ordinary mortals, I will provide step-by-step instructions to help you install a Windows 7 guest operating system in Virtual PC 2007.

Mission to Install the Guest Operating System

I chose Windows 7 as my guest system.  However, let us start this tutorial with the host, the operating system where Virtual PC 2007 is installed.  Windows Server 2003 is a good host, and Vista not bad, however, I choose Windows Server 2008, Microsoft did their best to dissuade me on the ground that Windows Server 2008 is not a supported host.  Therefore, it’s all to the credit of Virtual PC 2007 that it worked so well in less than ideal conditions.

Update: Windows Server 2008 R2 now supports VHD.  The benefit is that you do not have to enable Hyper-V to mount virtual hard disks. You can mount virtual hard disks directly on your Windows 7 / Windows.

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It’s easy to install and to configure this virtual machine monitor, all you need the host server’s IP address or hostname and the logon info. Give this virtual machine monitor a try – it’s free.

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Stage 1 Install Virtual PC 2007 SP1

This is a free program, you can download Virtual PC 2007 from Microsoft’s site.  It’s worth getting Virtual PC 2007 SP1 (or later) because it has better support for Windows 7, Vista, and Windows Server 2008 guests.  While Virtual PC 2007 is much better than previous editions, it still does not support 64-bit guest operating systems.  Just to be clear, the Virtual PC 2007 program installs on 64-bit operating systems, but then you cannot install a 64-bit guest operating system, only x86 (32-bit) versions of Windows 7 or Vista.

Actually installing Virtual PC SP1 was straightforward, it even has the product key hard coded so that you don’t need to search for one.  The only important decision during install is where to store the virtual machines, I went with the default ‘My Virtual Machines’ folder.  Later I regretted this decision, and moved the Virtual Machines to a different physical disk from the operating system.

Stage 2 Create the New Virtual Machine

To get a feel of what’s possible, my advice is to take a cavalier attitude and just follow the wizard – you can do no harm.  Then run the wizard for a second time, but this time pausing at each screen and make more thoughtful decisions.  You can delete that first virtual machine to claw-back disk space and to save cluttering up the interface.

To keep the new virtual machine setup as simple as possible, just follow the defaults, the one exception is increase the 512 Ram memory for your guest OS to 1GB.  By all means adjust the settings once you have created the machine and installed the operating system.

1. Launch the Virtual PC Console, from the the file menu and select New Virtual Machine Wizard
   Or open the Virtual PC Console then click New…
2. Create a virtual machine.
3. Choose a location with at least 16 GB of free space.
4. Operating System, Other or Vista it doesn’t matter.
5. Adjusting the Ram – 512 MB Ram is recommended, I choose 1,050 MB.
6. A new virtual hard disk.
7. Name and Location.  Previously, I created a special partition for VM images.
8. Finish.

Stage 3 Installing the Guest Operating System

Once you and the wizard have created the new Virtual Machine, then click on Start.

Now pretend that you are at the console of a new piece of hardware, (remember to click ‘Start’).  The knack is to access the DVD or the image containing your guest operating system.

• Click on the CD menu
• Select Capture ISO Image
• Browse to the location of where you downloaded the image of your guest OS.

An alternative from using ISO images is to access the physical DVD drive.

Once your Virtual Machine is connected to the ISO image or an actual DVD then the installation proceeds just like any other Windows installation.

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This freeware monitor is great for checking whether your network’s load-balancing is performing as expected, for example, are two interfaces are getting about equal traffic?

It’s easy to install and straightforward to configure. You will soon be running tests to see how much network bandwidth your applications consume.

The GUI has a lovely balance between immediate network traffic data in the middle, combined with buttons to seek related data and configuration settings. Give this monitor a try, it’s free! 

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Installing Windows 7 in the Virtual Machine

The first few menus were straightforward, the only slight hiccup was obtaining the correct product Key.  Once I clicked on Microsoft’s licence agreement, the install continued by expanding the cabinets, copying files and installing Windows Server 2008’s default features.  I returned 50 minutes later and found that the Windows Install had completed successfully.

At the end of this simple install, Windows 7 reboots with a GUI.  At this point you should configure initial settings, starting with the Administrator’s password.  Another bonus was that Windows 7 recognised the United Kingdom keyboard layout that I specified at the beginning of the install.

In terms of efficiency and intelligence, Windows 7 has Microsoft’s best install technology to date.  For example, Windows Server 2003 installs are a pain, in that they halt after about 10 minutes and ask you to input networking information. 

Tips and Tricks for Virtual PC 2007

No review of Virtual PC 2007 would be complete without tips and tricks to get the most from your guest machines.

Get SP1 (or later)

If you have the original Virtual PC 2007, it’s straight forward to apply SP1.

Disk Drives

Because of the heavy disk activity you will get performance gains if you move the Virtual Machines to a different physical disk.

Mouse Trapped in Your Virtual Machine?

One neat improvements with Virtual PC 2007 is the way that the mouse seems to move more seamlessly from the host to the guest operating system.  Any problem and just press the Right Alt key.  (In England this key is labelled ‘Alt Gr’).

Trapped in Full Screen Mode?

If you are stuck in ‘Full Screen Mode’ remember the right Alt key – and then press ‘Enter’, thus it’s Right Alt + Enter (Hold down both keys together). 

Lateral Thinking – Try Remote Desktop

Instead of grappling with the Right Alt key, try a different approach and use Remote Desktop to access the guest operating system in your virtual machine.  To prepare for Remote Desktop, go to the Control Panel, System and Security and then ‘Allow Remote Access’.  Move the radio button down to ‘Allow access from computers..’  Take 10 seconds to read the options.

Virtual Machine Additions

Install Virtual Machine Additions with their extra drivers allow the guest operating systems to run at least twice as fast as if you don’t bother to run this setup routine. 

One problem when you click on ‘Install or Update Virtual Machine Additions’, is that nothing happens.  The solution is to navigate to the virtual CD, Windows folder, and then double-click ‘Setup’.  You know the job has completed successfully when a menu appears inviting you reboot the virtual machine.

Avoid Sleep!

Sleep settings on either the host or the guest operating system can disturb equilibrium.  If all else fails reboot the host rather than just restarting the guest.  For similar reasons avoid using Laptops to host virtual machines.

Hosts: Virtual PC 2007 SP1 supports more hosts, most modern operating systems can act as home for the virtual software.  Examples, Window Server 2003 and XP.

Guest Operating Systems:  If you remember, these are the operating systems that you are testing.  As with the host, most modern Windows operating systems can persuaded to work in Virtual PC, including Windows 7, Vista and Windows Server 2008.  However, keep in mind the guests must be the 32-bit (x86) versions of the software.

It’s always beneficial to try the latest service pack.  SP1 made all the difference in getting Virtual Server 2007 to run on Windows Server 2008.  Incidentally, the reason I wanted to do this is that my hardware did not support Server 2008’s own virtualization technology.

Virtual PC 2007 File Types

The whole point of understanding these files types is that you can look out for existing images (.vhd) with a view to downloading them and adding to your virtual machines.  These single .vhd files contain structures representing the hard disk, and the all the usual files associated with the (guest) operating system.

Another trick is to copy an existing .vhd file and work with that guest operating system, while preserving the original.  For example comparing Vista SP1 (original) with Vista SP2 (copied + SP2 applied). The benefit is saving you time installing the operating system from scratch.

Virtual Machine Hard Drive Image (.vhd) [Big file]

Virtual Machine Settings File (.vmc) [Small inf file]

The only possible confusion is with Virtual PC 2007’s own files which are stored separately in the Program Files –> Microsoft Virtual PC folder.

Creating your own VHD Files

Microsoft has a command line tool called WIM2VHD which allows you to create Sysprep images using Windows 7 as the source.   The result is an image file that works with Virtual PC 2007 and Microsoft’s Hyper-V.

Previous Versions of Virtual PC

Virtual PC 2004 was one of my favourite versions of the this ‘pretend’ software.  I never took to Virtual PC 2005, hence was so pleased when Microsoft released Virtual PC 2007.

»

Summary of Installing Windows 7 on Virtual PC 2007

After a quick review the concepts of Virtual Machine, Host and Guest Operating systems, obtain your copy of Virtual PC 2007 SP1 from Microsoft.  Installing the software is easy, then call for the wizard to assist creating your actual Virtual Machine with it’s guest operating system.  Finally, do remember to install the Virtual Machine Additions. 

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Microsoft Windows 7 Upgrade, Migrate, Install

Windows Virtual PC (formerly Virtual PC by Connectix and Microsoft Virtual PC) is a virtualization program for Microsoft Windows operating systems, and an emulation program for Mac OS X on PowerPC-based systems. The software was originally written by Connectix, and was subsequently acquired by Microsoft. In July 2006 Microsoft released the Windows-hosted version as a free product. In August 2006 Microsoft announced the Macintosh-hosted version would not be ported to Intel-based Macintosh computers, effectively discontinuing the product as PowerPC-based Macintosh computers are no longer manufactured. The newest release, Windows Virtual PC is available only for Windows 7 hosts.

Virtual PC virtualizes a standard PC and its associated hardware. Supported Windows operating systems can run inside Virtual PC. However, other operating systems like Linux may run, but are not officially supported.

Windows Virtual PC[]

The successor to Virtual PC 2007, Windows Virtual PC, entered public beta testing on April 30, 2009, and is intended for release alongside Windows 7. Unlike its predecessors, this version supports only Windows 7 host operating systems and requires hardware virtualization support (see requirements).

Windows Virtual PC includes the following new features:

• USB support and redirection – connect peripherals such as flash drives and digital cameras, and print from the guest to host OS printers
• Seamless application publishing and launching – run Windows XP Mode applications directly from the Windows 7 desktop
• Support for multithreading – run multiple virtual machines concurrently, each in its own thread for improved stability and performance
• Smart card redirection – use smart cards connected to the host
• Integration with Windows Explorer – manage all VMs from a single Explorer folder (%USER%\Virtual Machines)

System requirements[]

System requirements for Windows Virtual PC:

• 1+ GHz processor (32- or 64-bit)
  • AMD-VTM or Intel VT hardware virtualization must be supported and enabled
• 1.25 GB memory required (2 GB recommended)
• Additional 15 GB of hard disk space per virtual Windows environment recommended

Availability[]

• Windows Virtual PC (currently the RC version) is available free of charge to users of Windows 7 Home Premium, Professional, Ultimate, and Enterprise editions, either pre-installed by OEMs or via download from the Microsoft website [1].
• Windows XP Mode, which enables guest applications to be integrated into the host Windows 7 desktop, will be available free of charge to users of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions, either pre-installed by OEMs or via download from the Microsoft website.

Windows XP Mode[]

Windows XP Mode (XPM) is a virtual machine package for Windows Virtual PC containing a pre-installed, licensed copy of Windows XP SP3 as its guest OS. Pre-installed integration components allow applications running within the virtualized environment to appear as if running directly on the host, sharing the native desktop and Start Menu of Windows 7 as well as participating in file type associations. XP Mode applications run in a Terminal Services session in the virtualized Windows XP, and are accessed via Remote Desktop Protocol by a client running on the Windows 7 host.

Applications running in Windows XP mode do not have compatibility issues as they are actually running inside a Windows XP virtual machine and redirected using RDP to the Windows 7 host.

Emulated environment[]

Virtual PC emulates the following environment:

• Intel Pentium III (32-bit) processor (but virtualizes the host processor on Windows versions) with an Intel 440BX chipset.
• Standard SVGA VESA graphics card (S3 Trio 32 PCI with 4 MB video RAM, adjustable in later versions up to 16 MB).
• System BIOS from American Megatrends (AMI).
• Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 ISA PnP. (When Vista is installed as both the host (main) and guest (virtual) operating systems, settings are synchronized with the host and audio configuration is not required.)
• DEC 21041 (DEC 21140 in newer versions) Ethernet network card.
• Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 and earlier do not support USB, although standard peripherals (e.g., keyboards and mice) connected to the host OS via USB are recognized . Programs using undocumented features of hardware, exotic timings, or unsupported opcodes may not work.

Implementation:

• The Macintosh version of Virtual PC uses dynamic recompilation to translate the x86 code used by PCs into equivalent PowerPC code for Macs.
• The Windows version of Virtual PC also uses dynamic recompilation, but only to translate x86 kernel mode and real mode code into x86 user mode code; original user mode and virtual 8086 mode code run natively.
• Guest call traps are used, especially for guest extensions, to accelerate emulation or offer additional features, such as integration with the host environment.
• Virtual PC and Virtual Server encapsulate virtual hard disks in the Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) file format, for which Microsoft has made all documentation available under the Open Specification Promise.

Earlier versions of Virtual PC supported the following features: (now removed in Microsoft Virtual PC 2004, 2007, and Windows Virtual PC):

• Older versions of Virtual PC (v5.0 or earlier) may have the hard disk formatted after creating the Virtual Hard Disk file. Newer versions must partition and format the Virtual Hard Disk file manually.
• A Virtual Switch available in Virtual PC version 4.1 or earlier allows adding multiple network adapters.
• Older operating systems are supported with Virtual Machine additions.
• Older versions of Virtual PC for Macintosh can run on Mac OS 9.2.2 or earlier. Support of Apple System 7.5 was dropped in version 3.

Virtual Machine Integration Components[]

To facilitate the exchange and sharing of files, folders and data between the host and guest operating systems, Virtual PC provides an optional set of Virtual Machine Additions. These can be installed in the guest OS to provide the following functionality across the host and guest:

• Better performance of the guest
• Integrated use of the mouse
• Optimized video drivers
• Dynamic screen resolution (resizing the virtual machine window sets the guest to any screen resolution)
• Time synchronization with the host
• Clipboard sharing
• Drag-and-drop capabilities
• Access to designated host OS folders from within the guest
• Support for USB devices beginning with Windows Virtual PC although isochronous USB support is absent

Virtual PC Additions are called Virtual PC Integration Components beginning with Windows Virtual PC.

Supported host and guest operating systems[]

Virtual PC allows multiple guest operating systems to run virtualized on a single physical host. Although a number of popular host and guest operating systems lack official Microsoft support, there are sometimes few, if any, technical obstacles impeding installation. Instead, a configuration may be unsupported due to Microsoft’s own licensing restrictions, or a decision to focus testing and support resources elsewhere, especially when production use of a legacy product fades.

A program manager on Microsoft’s core virtualization team explains what official support entails:

With each release of Virtual PC we spend a significant amount of time trying to decide which guest operating system should be officially supported. While Virtual PC is capable of running many operating systems, official support for an operating system means that we will test it thoroughly, not ship Virtual PC if an issue exists with that operating system, and provide full support for customers who encounter problems while running these operating systems under virtual PC.

—Ben Armstrong, Virtual PC Guy

As a product positioned for desktop use, Virtual PC provides official support for a different set of operating systems than its server-oriented counterpart, Microsoft Virtual Server and the more advanced Hyper-V. While the latter products support a range of server operating systems,^[1] Virtual PC 2007 supports only one variety as host and another as guest; its successor, Windows Virtual PC, supports none. And, whereas Virtual Server and Hyper-V have supported select Linux guests since 2006 and 2008, respectively, as of 2009, no Microsoft release of Virtual PC has officially supported Linux. Nonetheless, a number of Linux distributions do run successfully in Virtual PC 2007, and can be used with the Virtual Machine Additions from Virtual Server (see below). Lastly, while 64-bit host support was introduced with Virtual PC 2007, no release has been able to virtualize a 64-bit guest; Microsoft has thus far reserved this functionality for Hyper-V, which runs only on 64-bit (x64) editions of Windows Server 2008.^[1]

Table of supported operating systems[]

In the following table and notes, «support» refers to official Microsoft support, as described above.

Notes – Details of Microsoft support

1. ^{1 2} Supported editions: OS/2 Warp Version 4 Fix Pack 15, OS/2 Warp Convenience Pack 1, and OS/2 Warp Convenience Pack 2.
2. ¹ Support added in Virtual PC 2004 Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition as a host.
3. ^{1 2 3 4 5} For Virtual PC 2007, Microsoft designated the following legacy operating systems «compatible», but discontinued official support: MS-DOS 6.22, Windows NT 4.0 Workstation, Windows 95, Windows 98 (original release), and Windows Me.
4. ^{1 2 3 4} For Windows Vista guests in Virtual PC 2007, the Windows Aero graphical user interface is disabled due to limitations of the emulated S3 Trio graphics card; the interface falls back to the Vista Home Basic theme. However, Aero effects can be rendered by connecting to the guest via Remote Desktop Connection from an Aero-enabled host.
5. ¹ Support added in Virtual PC 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Server 2008 Standard as a guest.
6. ^{1 2} Microsoft’s January 2008 EULA supplement^[6] for Windows Vista lifted restrictions barring installation of Vista Home Basic and Home Premium as guest operating systems.
7. ^{1 2 3} Microsoft’s January 2008 EULA supplement for Windows Vista lifted restrictions barring use of BitLocker and Microsoft-DRM-protected content within virtualized environments.
8. ^{1 2 3 4 5 6} Support added in a Virtual PC 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) hotfix rollup, dated February 20, 2009, for Windows XP Home as both host and guest, and for all Home editions of Windows Vista as hosts.
9. ^{1 2 3 4} The pre-configured XP Mode of Windows Virtual PC is restricted to Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate hosts. However, an equivalent environment can be configured manually by installing Windows XP SP3 as a guest (requires an XP license and installation media or files) and applying an integration components update (available for download from Microsoft) to enable seamless mode and other Windows 7 integration features.
10. ^{^} The integration components enabling seamless mode and other features of Windows Virtual PC support only the following guests: Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (SP3); Windows Vista Business SP1, Enterprise SP1, and Ultimate SP1; and Windows 7/7.1 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate.

Notes Unsupported installations

1. ¹ Virtual PC 2007 does not include Virtual Machine Additions for MS-DOS, but the DOS additions from Virtual PC 2004 can be used without problem.
2. ¹ The Virtual Machine Additions included with Virtual PC 2007 will not install on Windows 95 guests, but the additions from Virtual PC 2004 can be used.
3. ¹ In informal testing, Microsoft virtualization manager Ben Armstrong found XP Media Center 2004 «distorted and unusable» under Virtual PC 2004, but Media Center 2005 worked «beautifully», sans TV features.
4. ^{1 2 3} MSDN blogs report that pre-release versions of Windows 7, similar to the forthcoming Ultimate edition,Template:Update after run successfully as both host and guest operating systems on Virtual PC 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1). Integration features provided by Virtual Machine Additions function normally, but Virtual PC 2007 must be SP1 or later. See «Windows 7 on Virtual PC on Windows 7» for more caveats.
5. ^{1 2} Although Windows NT 3.1 and 3.5 refuse to install on newer processors (Windows 3.51 fixes this), it is possible to modify files on the install CD to allow install; the patch can be downloaded here.

Linux guests[]

Installing a Linux-based guest environment in Virtual PC is possible but not seamless. As of Windows Virtual PC, Linux guests are not officially supported. Linux additions are supported in Microsoft Virtual Server, and these additions should also work in Virtual PC.

Some Linux distributions must be installed in text mode, as Microsoft Virtual PC only emulates graphics at 16-bit or 32-bit color depth, not 24-bit; thus, in order to run an X Window user interface, a 16-bit color depth must be specified in the guest operating system’s xorg.conf configuration file. Ubuntu 8.10 (Intrepid Ibex) must be installed in SafeMode, but does not require other changes.

Some websites specialize in listing operating systems that run successfully as Virtual PC guests, to help users avoid issues when installing Linux distributions or other operating systems lacking official Microsoft support.^[7]

Intel-based Mac support[]

Microsoft announced on August 7, 2006, that Virtual PC for Mac would not be ported to the Intel Mac platform. Microsoft stated, «Alternative solutions offered by Apple and other vendors, combined with a fully packaged retail copy of Windows, will satisfy this need.» Similar products available at the time were Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion.

Previous versions[]

Virtual PC by Connectix[]

Virtual PC was originally developed for the Macintosh and released by Connectix in June 1997. The first version of Virtual PC designed for Windows-based systems, version 4.0, was released in June 2001. Connectix sold versions of Virtual PC bundled with a variety of guest operating systems, including Windows, OS/2, and Red Hat Linux. As virtualization’s importance to enterprise users became clear, Microsoft took interest in the sector and acquired Virtual PC and Virtual Server (unreleased at the time) from Connectix in February 2003.

Earlier versions of Virtual PC supported the following features: (now removed in Microsoft Virtual PC 2004, 2007, and Windows Virtual PC):

• Older versions of Virtual PC (v5.0 or earlier) may have the hard disk formatted after creating the Virtual Hard Disk file. Newer versions must partition and format the Virtual Hard Disk file manually.
• A Virtual Switch available in Virtual PC version 4.1 or earlier allows adding multiple network adapters.
• Older operating systems are supported with Virtual Machine additions.
• Older versions of Virtual PC for Macintosh can run on Mac OS 9.2.2 or earlier. Support of Apple System 7.5 are dropped in version 3.

Guest extensions[]

Under agreement with Connectix, Innotek GmbH (makers of VirtualBox and now part of Sun Microsystems) ported version 5.0 to run on an OS/2 host. This version also included guest extensions (VM additions) for OS/2 guests, which could run on Windows, OS/2 or Mac OS X hosts using Virtual PC versions 5, 6 or 7. A new version of the guest extensions was later included with Microsoft’s Virtual PC 2004.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 / Virtual PC 2007[]

On July 12, 2006, Microsoft released Virtual PC 2004 for Windows as a free product, but the Mac version was not made free. The Windows version may be downloaded here. The equivalent version for Mac, version 7, was the final version of Virtual PC for Mac.

Virtual PC 2007 was released only for the Windows platform, with public beta testing beginning October 11, 2006, and production release on February 19, 2007. It added support for hardware virtualization, viewing virtual machines on multiple monitors and support for Windows Vista as both host and guest. (The Windows Aero interface is disabled on Windows Vista guests due to limitations of the emulated video hardware however, Aero effects can be rendered by connecting to the guest via Remote Desktop Connection from an Aero-enabled Vista host.)

On May 15, 2008, Microsoft released Virtual PC 2007 Service Pack 1, which added support for both Windows XP SP3 and Vista SP1 as guest and host OSes, as well as Windows Server 2008 Standard as a guest OS. A hotfix rollup for Virtual PC 2007 SP1, released February 20, 2009, solved networking issues and enhanced the maximum screen resolution to 2048×1920 (32-bit), enabling 16:9 resolutions such as 1920×1080.

References[]

See also[]

• x86 virtualization
• Comparison of platform virtual machines
• Microsoft Virtual Server
• Virtual machine
• Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) format

External links[]

• Download Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 SP1 for Windows
• Download Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 SP1 for Windows
• Download Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 SP1 for Windows hotfix rollup KB958162
• Microsoft Virtual Server 2005
• Use Microsoft’s Virtual PC to Test Software Before Deploying It
• Brian Randell interview regarding Microsoft Virtual PC architecture
• Software Review — Microsoft Virtual PC
• Virtual PC Blog on Microsoft MSDN
• ArsTechnica comparison of Virtual PC and VMware
• Running DOS games and Linux in a Virtual PC
• Vista Running on Virtual PC 2007 Beta Vista on Vista Virtualization using Virtual PC 2007
• Virtual machines for Virtual PC 2007
• Windows Virtual PC at Wikipedia

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 — это один из самых популярных проектов, позволяющих пользователю работать с виртуальными машинами на операционных системах. Стоит отметить, что таких приложений действительно огромное количество, однако данная программа выделяется на их фоне.

В первую очередь, это связано с разработчиком. Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 был официально разработан компанией microsoft, которая не только создала операционную систему windows, но и множество других важных программ. К тому же, данный эмулятор может работать с несколькими виртуальными машинами одновременно. Но стоит учитывать, что Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 создана исключительно для работы с несколькими виртуальными машинами сразу, используя всего один персональный компьютер или ноутбук. При отсутствии такой необходимости, лучше найти другой вариант эмулятора. 

Возможности

• Основной возможностью Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 является работа со средой Windows Xp Mode. Суть работы заключается в создании виртуальной машины для тестирования;
• Программа умеет работать с образами дисков. Эта особенность также является важной, ведь образы можно использоваться вместо реальных CD дисков, а также флоппи приводов;
• Пользователь может самостоятельно указать параметры при создании виртуальной машины. Такими параметрами является количество оперативной памяти используемой для работы, а также объем виртуального диска;
• Запускает гостевую операционную систему, которой может быть не только linux, но ещё и Solaris, а также Netware.

Преимущества

• Почти нет системных требований;
• Работает со всеми версиями windows, начиная от vista;
• Интерфейс прост, благодаря чему работать с Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 очень легко;
• Есть возможность изменить конфигурацию созданной виртуальной машины;
• Есть материалы для обучения новичков на сайте разработчика.

Недостатки

• Программа работает на английском языке;
• На данный момент, утилита не может работать с windows 10;
• Нет эмуляции Mac os;
• Разработчик прекратил поддержку этого ПО.