Virtual PC lets you create separate virtual machines on your Windows desktop, each of which virtualizes the hardware of a complete physical computer. Use virtual machines to run operating systems such as MS-DOS, Windows, and OS/2. You can run multiple operating systems at once on a single physical computer and switch between them as easily as switching applications—instantly, with a mouse click. Virtual PC is perfect for any scenario in which you need to support multiple operating systems, whether you use it for tech support, legacy application support, training, or just for consolidating physical computers.
Virtual PC emulates a standard PC and its associated hardware. Thus, it can be used to run nearly all operating systems available for the PC. However, issues can arise when trying to install uncommon operating systems that have not been specifically targeted in the development of Virtual PC. It is a godsend for developers who need to test their applications on a wide variety of operating systems.
Virtual PC emulates a 32-bit Intel Pentium 4 processor (but virtualizes the host processor on Windows versions) with an Intel 440BX chipset, a standard SVGA VESA graphics card(S3 Trio 64 PCI with 4 MByte Video RAM adjustable up to 16 MByte), a system BIOS from American Megatrends (AMI), a Creative Labs Sound Blaster 16 PnP (native Vista audio when Vista acts as host and guest), and a DEC 21140 Ethernet Network card.
Virtual PC 2007 hosts can also run on 64-bit versions of Windows (i.e., Windows Vista). It was released on February 19, 2007. This version supports Microsoft Windows Vista (All Editions) and is available for free.
Not all programs are guaranteed to work because they can use undocumented features of hardware, exotic timings, or unsupported opcodes, although overall compatibility can be considered satisfactory.
The download came in the form of a zip file (size vary between 30-60 Mb based on your language selection. It's approximately 30.5 Mb for English version), and it is installed quickly and easily on my PC without requiring any reboots (except if you have Connectix Virtual PC installed - it's a precursor of current Virtual PC that being developed by Connectix before it was acquired by Microsoft). When run, the application presents a small window that contains the user's various virtual operating system images. As there were no images installed, you should install new operating system as it is a fresh new PC with blank hard-disk-drive.Virtual PC uses your existing CD-ROM drives as devices in the VM, so it is easy to install a new operating system on a blank virtual hard drive by simply putting the CD in and waiting for it to autoboot. A Sound Blaster sound card and a generic network adapter are also provided as virtual devices. In several system, you should set the network settings to Shared Networking (NAT) before your new installed operating system would recognize and configure the network adapter. The virtual hard drive is auto-resizing, so it starts out as zero bytes and only grows as much as it needs to. The Linux distro installed without incident, although it did take long hours to complete the process.
Supported Operating Systems: Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition (32-bit x86); Windows Server 2003, Standard x64 Edition; Windows Vista Business; Windows Vista Business 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Enterprise; Windows Vista Enterprise 64-bit edition; Windows Vista Ultimate; Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit edition; Windows XP Professional Edition ; Windows XP Professional x64 Edition ; Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Download Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 from Microsoft Website (available in 32-bit and 64-bit Windows version).
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