Virtual PC

(Redirected from Kidaro)

Virtual PC is a discontinued x86 emulator for PowerPC Mac hosts and Microsoft Windows hosts. It was created by Connectix in 1997 and acquired by Microsoft in 2003. The Mac version was discontinued in 2006 following the Mac transition to Intel, while the Windows version was discontinued in 2011 in favour of Hyper-V.[1]

Up until version 4, Virtual PC only supported Classic Mac OS hosts. In 2000, version 4 was released for both Mac OS and Windows, and version 5 (2001) added support for Mac OS X hosts. After Microsoft acquired Virtual PC from Connectix in 2003, the program was renamed Microsoft Virtual PC. In July 2006, Microsoft released the Windows version free of charge.[2] In August 2006, Microsoft announced the Mac version would not be ported to Intel-based Macs, effectively discontinuing the product as PowerPC-based Macs would no longer be manufactured.

In 2009, Microsoft released Windows Virtual PC, which is only compatible with Windows 7 hosts, and is the technical foundation for the latter's Windows XP Mode. Windows Virtual PC does not officially support MS-DOS or operating systems older than Windows XP Professional SP3 as guests.[3]

History

edit

Connectix Virtual PC, Microsoft Virtual PC 2004, Microsoft Virtual PC 2007, and Windows Virtual PC are successive versions of the same software. Versions of Virtual PC by Microsoft runs on several versions of Windows as low as Windows 2000 in Virtual PC 2004 and Windows XP in Virtual PC 2007 onwards. These older versions were still available and support operating systems older than Windows XP. Windows Virtual PC only runs on Windows 7 and only supports versions of Windows beginning with Windows XP. Starting in Windows 8, Microsoft replaced Virtual PC with Hyper-V.

Virtual PC by Connectix

edit
 
Connectix Virtual PC version 3 in Mac OS 9, running a Brazilian Portuguese edition of Windows 95

Virtual PC was originally developed as a Macintosh application for System 7.5 and released by Connectix in June 1997.[4] The first version of Virtual PC designed for Windows-based systems, version 4.0, was released in June 2001. Virtual PC 4 was the first version with expandable drive images.

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.

Under agreement with Connectix, Innotek GmbH (makers of VirtualBox, now part of Oracle) ported version 5.0 to run on an OS/2 host.[5] 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

edit
 
Virtual PC 6.1 for Macintosh
 
Virtual PC 2007 running the Live CD OS Knoppix

On July 12, 2006, Microsoft released Virtual PC 2004 SP1 for Windows free of charge, however the Mac version remained a paid software. The equivalent version for Mac, version 7, was the final version of Virtual PC for Mac. It ran on Mac OS X 10.2.8 or later for PowerPC and was a proprietary commercial software product.[6]

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, "undo disks", transfer statistic monitor for disk and network, and 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 Services from an Aero-enabled Windows Vista host, provided that the guest is running Windows Vista Business or a higher edition.[7][8][9] It initially did not support home editions of Windows as host OSes such as Windows XP Home Edition,[10] Windows Vista Home Basic and Home Premium, however a hotfix for Virtual PC 2007 SP1 issued on February 20, 2009 (see below) rectified this. Windows XP Starter, Windows XP Media Center Edition and Windows Vista Starter is not supported on Virtual PC 2007, however the former and the latter are still supported as a guest OS. Support for Windows 2000 Professional as a host OS was dropped in Virtual PC 2007 and will refuse to work on Windows 2000 hosts, however it is still supported as a guest OS.

"Undo disks" make it possible to revert virtual machines' state to an earlier point by storing changes into a separate .vud file since the last save to the main .vhd file, which can be used for experimenting. The VHD file acts as a snapshot. The undo disk file (.vud) incrementally stores changes made by the virtual machine compared to the main Virtual hard disk drive (VHD) image, which can be applied or discarded by the user. If deactivated, changes are directly written to the VHD file.[11]

On May 15, 2008, Microsoft released Virtual PC 2007 Service Pack 1, which added support for both Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista SP1 and Windows 7 as guest and host OSes, as well as Windows Server 2008 Standard as a guest OS.[12][13] 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),[14] enabling 16:9 resolutions such as 1920×1080. It also added official support for Windows XP Home Edition, Windows Vista Home Basic and Home Premium as both guest and host OSes. A security update was released on July 14, 2009 to address an elevation of privilege vulnerability in guest operating systems.[15]

Microsoft Virtual PC (2004 and 2007) does not work at all on Windows 10 64-bit,[16] and even on 32-bit platforms lack internet connectivity due to the lack of the VPC driver. This also impacts Windows Mobile emulators.

Release dates of Microsoft Virtual PC 2007
Date Version Description
2006-10-11 6.0.122 Beta
2007-01-02 6.0.142 Release Candidate 1
2007-02-22 6.0.156 Release to Manufacturing
2008-05-15 6.0.192 Service Pack 1[17]
2009-02-20 6.0.210 Update[18]
2009-07-14 Security Update MS09-33[19]

Windows Virtual PC

edit
Windows Virtual PC
Developer(s)Microsoft
Initial releaseSeptember 19, 2009; 15 years ago (2009-09-19)[20]
Final release
6.1.7600.16393 / February 14, 2011; 13 years ago (2011-02-14)[20]
Operating systemWindows 7 (all editions except Starter)[3]
SuccessorHyper-V
Size32-bit: 9.1 MB
64-bit: 16.3 MB[20]
TypeVirtual machine
LicenseFreeware[20]
Websitewww.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=3702  

Windows Virtual PC entered public beta testing on April 30, 2009,[21] and was released alongside Windows 7 on July 22, 2009.[22] Windows Virtual PC is available free of charge for certain editions of Windows 7,[3] either pre-installed by OEMs or via download from the Microsoft website.[20] Unlike its predecessors, it supports only Windows 7 host operating systems.[3] It originally required hardware virtualization support but on March 19, 2010, Microsoft released an update to Microsoft Virtual PC which allows it to run on PCs without hardware support.[20]

New features

edit

New features include:[23]

  • USB support and redirection – connect peripherals such as flash drives and digital cameras, and print from the guest to host OS printers. However, USB isochronous transfer mode is not supported[24] Other methods involve simply just treating an active drive letter from a USB flash drive as a virtual hard drive.
  • 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 (%USERPROFILE%\Virtual Machines)

Removed features

edit
  • The Virtual Machine console is replaced by an integrated Virtual Machines shell folder. Several options from the console have been removed such as Restore at start, CPU time performance settings, muting sound in inactive virtual machines, full-screen resolution related options, configuring the host key, mouse capture options and settings for requiring administrator permissions.[25][unreliable source?][unreliable source?]
  • Official guest support for operating systems earlier than Windows XP Professional
  • Drag-and-drop file sharing between the guest and the host[26][unreliable source?]
  • Direct sharing of folders between host and guest operating system (Only volumes may be shared between operating systems)[27]
  • Ability to commit changes in undo disks upon turning off virtual machines (Doing so is now only possible through virtual machine Settings dialog box)[28]
  • Ability to use physical and virtual Parallel ports[29]
  • User interface controls for using virtual floppy disks (Virtual floppy disk functionality, however, is still supported and may be accessed using a script)[30]
  • Virtual PC additions for guest operating systems no longer supported have been removed. However, installing Virtual Machine Additions from an older Microsoft virtualization product works for some guest OSes.[31][32][33]
  • Properties of the virtual machine, like guest OS, processor, processor features, video mode, video RAM, code cache, IDE controller reads and writes, Ethernet reads and writes, video frame rate and command line options can no longer be viewed.[citation needed]

System requirements

edit

System requirements for Windows Virtual PC:[34][35]

  • Computer running Windows 7 (all editions except Starter)
  • 15 GB of hard disk space per virtual Windows environment
  • Optional: if the processor supports hardware-assisted virtualization technology such as AMD-V or Intel-VT, it will be used. Before March 19, 2010, such a processor was mandatory.

Windows XP Mode

edit
 
Internet Explorer versions 6, 7, and 8 running concurrently on a Windows 7 Release Candidate desktop using Windows XP Mode.

Windows XP Mode (XPM)[36][37] is a virtual machine package for Windows Virtual PC containing a pre-installed, licensed copy of Windows XP Professional with Service Pack 3 as its guest OS. Previously, both the CPU and motherboard of the host had to support hardware virtualization,[38] but an update in early 2010 eliminated this requirement.[39] Pre-installed integration components allow applications running within the virtualized environment to appear as if running directly on the host,[22][40] sharing the native desktop and start menu of Windows 7 as well as participating in file type associations. Windows 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.[41]

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. Windows XP Mode may be used to run 16-bit applications; it includes NTVDM, however it is impossible to run 16-bit applications that require hardware acceleration, as Windows Virtual PC does not have hardware acceleration for such applications.

Windows XP Mode is available free of charge to users of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate.[35] Users of other editions of Windows 7 are not eligible to download and use it.[39][42] This restriction does not apply to Windows Virtual PC itself.

Windows XP Mode can also be run with VMware Player and VMware Workstation. However, like with Windows Virtual PC itself, VMware products only import Windows XP Mode on Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate versions in order to adhere with Microsoft licensing requirements.[43]

Emulated environment

edit

Virtual PC emulates the following environments:[44]

Implementation:

Virtual PC 4 requires Mac OS 8.5 or later on a G3 or G4 processor, but running Windows Me, Windows 2000 or Red Hat Linux requires Mac OS 9.0 or later. Virtual PC 5 requires Mac OS 9.1 or newer or Mac OS X 10.1 or later. For USB support, Mac OS X is recommended. To run Virtual PC 5 in Mac OS X, a 400 MHz or faster processor is required.

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 for System 7.5 was dropped in version 3.

Virtual machine integration components

edit

Windows Virtual PC may enable guest operating systems running inside virtual machines to interact with their host operating system beyond what is feasible between two physical computers, such as sharing physical hardware components or exchanging data. To do so however, integration components must be installed on the guest operating systems. When no integration component is installed, the only mean of communicating between two machines (either virtual or physical) is through a virtual network interface. Even the mouse cursor can only be controlled by one operating system (either real or virtual) at any given time. However, once the Integration Components are installed on the guest operating systems, the following features are automatically activated:[45]

  • Mouse cursor sharing: Mouse cursor can be moved freely between the machines.
  • Host-initiated shutdown: Virtual machine can be shut down, restarted or put into standby or hibernation via a set of API functions.
  • Time synchronization: The virtual machine's clock will be automatically synchronized with the host operating system's clock.
  • Process responsiveness monitoring: Host operating system will be able to detect whether the software on the guest operating system is responsive or hung.
  • Dynamic screen resolution: The screen resolution of the guest operating system can be changed by simply resizing the window in which it is running. However, the VM can be configured to allow only standard resolutions.

In addition to features described above, guest operating systems may also take advantage of the following integration features but only when the administrator activates them:[45]

  • Audio sharing: Audio played on the guest operating system may be brought to the host operating system and played on it.
  • Clipboard sharing: Contents such as text, picture or everything that is cut or copied to Windows Clipboard maybe pasted in other machines.
  • Printer sharing: Guest operating systems may print on the host operating system's printer. This feature should not be confused with File and Printer Sharing over an emulated network connection.
  • Smart card sharing: Smart cards connected to host operating system may be accessed on guest operating systems.
  • File sharing: Windows Virtual PC can also share disk partitions and disk drives of the host operating system with guest operating systems.[26][27] This includes USB mass storage devices that are connected later.[46]

In Windows Virtual PC, enabling integration features automatically makes the virtual machine user account accessible using Remote Desktop Connection.[45]

Supported host and guest operating systems

edit

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,[47][48] or a decision to focus testing and support resources elsewhere, especially when production use of a legacy product fades.[49][50]

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.[49]

— 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.[51][52] While the latter products support a range of server operating systems,[53][54] Virtual PC 2007 supports only one variety as host and another as guest;[55] its successor, Windows Virtual PC, supports none.[56] And, whereas Virtual Server and Hyper-V have officially supported select Linux guests since 2006[57] and 2008,[58] respectively, as of 2009, no Microsoft release of Virtual PC has officially supported Linux. Nonetheless, a number of Linux distributions[58] do run successfully in Virtual PC 2007, and can be used with the Virtual Machine Additions from Virtual Server (see below).[59][60] Lastly, while 64-bit host support was introduced with Virtual PC 2007, no release has been able to virtualize a 64-bit guest;[61][62][63] Microsoft has thus far reserved this functionality for Hyper-V, which runs only on 64-bit (x64) editions of Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2012, Windows Server 2012 R2, Windows Server 2016, Windows 8/8.1 Pro and Enterprise, and Windows 10 Pro, Enterprise, and Education.

Table of supported operating systems

edit

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.[55][64][68]
  2. 1 Support added in Virtual PC 2004 Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Server 2003, Standard Edition as a host.[65]
  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, the original release of Windows 98 and Windows Me.[55][68]
  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[73] 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.[7][74]
  5. 1 Support added in Virtual PC 2007 Service Pack 1 (SP1) for Windows Server 2008 Standard as a guest.[55]
  6. 1 2 Microsoft's January 2008 EULA supplement[48][75] for Windows Vista lifted restrictions[76][77] barring installation of Vista Home Basic and Home Premium as guest operating systems.[47][78][79][80]
  7. 1 2 3 January 2008 EULA supplement[48][75] for Windows Vista lifted restrictions[77] barring use of BitLocker[81][82][83] and Microsoft-DRM-protected content within virtualized environments.[47][80][84]
  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.[69]
  9. 1 2 3 4 The pre-configured XP Mode of Windows Virtual PC is restricted to Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate hosts.[70] 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[85] from Microsoft) to enable seamless mode and other Windows 7 integration features.[86]
  10. ^ The integration components enabling seamless mode and other features[86] of Windows Virtual PC support only the following guests: Windows XP Pro Service Pack 3 (SP3);[85] Windows Vista Business SP1, Enterprise SP1, and Ultimate SP1;[87] and Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate.[56][70]

Notes – not supported installations

  1. 1 Virtual PC 2007 does not include Virtual Machine Additions for MS-DOS as a self installing disk image (installed using a batch file), however the files are included in the Virtual Machine Additions ISO image file (typically found in the 'Program Files' folder where Virtual PC was installed) and can be extracted by various means (a number of file compression software packages support extracting files from ISO image files) for manual installation, also the DOS additions from Virtual PC 2004 can be used without problem as can the DOS additions from Virtual Server 2005.[50]
  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.[49]
  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.[88]
  4. 1 2 3 MSDN blogs reported that pre-release versions of Windows 7, similar to the released Ultimate edition,[89] 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.[90][91][92] See "Windows 7 on Virtual PC on Windows 7"[90] for more caveats.
  5. 1 2 Although Windows NT 3.1 and NT 3.5 refuse to install on newer processors (NT 3.51 fixes this), it is possible to modify files on the install CD to allow install.

Linux guests

edit

Installing a Linux-based guest environment in Virtual PC is possible. RedHat and SuSe Linux guests are supported. Linux additions are supported in Microsoft Virtual Server, and these additions should also work in Virtual PC.[59]

Some Linux distributions must be installed in text mode, as they do not support Microsoft Virtual PC's emulated graphics chip. 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.[93][unreliable source?]

Intel-based Mac support

edit

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."[94] Similar products available or announced at the time were Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion.

See also

edit
About Microsoft virtualization technology
About virtualization

References

edit
  1. ^ a b "Windows Virtual PC – FAQ". Microsoft.com. Archived from the original on March 16, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  2. ^ "Virtual PC is free!". July 12, 2006. Archived from the original on January 27, 2010. Retrieved October 14, 2009.
  3. ^ a b c d "Description of Virtual PC for Windows 7". Microsoft support. Microsoft. April 1, 2010. Archived from the original on March 28, 2014. Retrieved June 5, 2010.
  4. ^ "PC in a Mac". Yale Engineering Home newsgroup. Yale University. April 8, 1997. Archived from the original on October 18, 2015. Retrieved March 21, 2015. [...]Connectix Virtual PC is designed to run on Power PC systems running System 7.5 or later. Pricing will be announced when the product becomes generally available for the retail channel in June 1997.
  5. ^ Innotek/Connectix Virtual PC
  6. ^ "Virtual PC 7 for Mac". Microsoft for Mac – Australian website. Microsoft corporation. Archived from the original on July 29, 2010. Retrieved June 10, 2010.
  7. ^ a b Savill, John (June 2007). "Running the Aero UI When Using Virtual PC 2007" (Fee required). Windows IT Pro. Penton Media. Archived from the original on March 31, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  8. ^ Conner, Matt (March 6, 2007). "Virtual PC 2007 User Interface". ZDNet. Archived from the original on September 20, 2015. Retrieved November 2, 2021. Shows basic Input/Output activity through the network and storage interfaces.
  9. ^ "Viewing online file analysis results for 'PXE_Diag.exe'". www.hybrid-analysis.com. July 30, 2019. Retrieved November 2, 2021. IDE controller, Ethernet controller, Reads, Writes
  10. ^ "Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 on Windows XP Home Edition". Digital Inspiration. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  11. ^ "Microsoft Windows Virtual PC and Undo Disks". dabcc.com. August 19, 2009. Archived from the original on August 4, 2017.
  12. ^ Protalinski, Emil (May 15, 2008). "Microsoft releases Virtual PC 2007 SP1". Ars Technica. Condé Nast. Archived from the original on December 7, 2008. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  13. ^ "Virtual PC 2007 SP1 Release Notes". Microsoft. May 15, 2008. Archived from the original on June 27, 2009. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
  14. ^ "Description of the hotfix rollup package for Virtual PC 2007 Service Pack 1: February 20, 2009 (revision 2.0)". Support. Microsoft. October 8, 2011. Archived from the original on March 3, 2015. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  15. ^ "Microsoft Security Bulletin MS09-033 - Important: Vulnerability in Virtual PC and Virtual Server Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (969856)". Microsoft. March 9, 2010. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved October 19, 2016.
  16. ^ "View topic - Couldn't get sound to work on Whistler server Build 2493 - BetaArchive". Archived from the original on August 28, 2018. Retrieved August 28, 2018.
  17. ^ "Download details: Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 SP1". Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft Corporation. May 5, 2005. Archived from the original on April 3, 2011. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  18. ^ "Description of the hotfix rollup package for Virtual PC 2007 Service Pack 1: February 20, 2009 (Revision: 1.2)". Microsoft Support. Microsoft Corporation. February 20, 2009. Archived from the original on March 3, 2015. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  19. ^ "Vulnerability in Virtual PC and Virtual Server Could Allow Elevation of Privilege (969856)". Microsoft TechNet. Microsoft Corporation. July 14, 2009. Archived from the original on April 8, 2011. Retrieved April 1, 2011.
  20. ^ a b c d e f "Windows Virtual PC". Download Center. Microsoft. February 14, 2011. Archived from the original on March 25, 2014. Retrieved April 1, 2014.
  21. ^ Hachman, Mark (April 30, 2009). "Microsoft Posts Windows Virtual PC Beta". PC Magazine. Ziff-Davis. Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved June 28, 2009.
  22. ^ a b "Windows Virtual PC". Microsoft.com. Archived from the original on May 28, 2009. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
  23. ^ "Compare some of the many features of Virtual PC 2007 to Windows Virtual PC". Microsoft Corporation. Archived from the original on May 4, 2009. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
  24. ^ Faden, Michael (May 13, 2009). "Selling Windows 7 to Enterprise" (PDF). acommit.ch. Acommit AG. Archived (PDF) from the original on July 6, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  25. ^ "Are Windows Virtual PC "Options" Still available ?". TechNet Forums. Microsoft. January 3, 2011. Archived from the original on July 14, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  26. ^ a b "Windows Virtual PC". Windows Virtual PC blog. Microsoft corporation. August 4, 2009. Archived from the original on April 10, 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2010. @EnricoG: Drag and Drop is not a supported feature in WVPC. Clipboard sharing (for cut, copy and paste) and drive/folder sharing are supported.
  27. ^ a b "Folder Sharing between Windows 7 and VM". Windows Virtual PC blog. Microsoft corporation. December 21, 2009. Archived from the original on June 17, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  28. ^ Armstrong, Ben (September 18, 2009). "Windows Virtual PC and Undo Disks". Virtual PC Guy's Blog. Microsoft corporation. Archived from the original on February 8, 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  29. ^ Armstrong, Ben (June 26, 2009). "Creating Virtual Hard Disks with Windows Virtual PC". Virtual PC Guy's Blog. Microsoft corporation. Archived from the original on February 1, 2010. Retrieved June 9, 2010. Windows Virtual PC does not support parallel ports. As Tom mentions, you will have to use a USB adapter if you want this functionality.
  30. ^ Armstrong, Ben (October 1, 2009). "Using Floppy Disks with Windows Virtual PC". Virtual PC Guy's Blog. Microsoft corporation. Archived from the original on October 4, 2009. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
  31. ^ "Installing DOS additions under VPC 2007". Ben Armstrong's Virtualization Blog. Microsoft. October 31, 2007. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  32. ^ "Installing Windows 98 on Windows Virtual PC". Blogs.msdn.com. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  33. ^ "Using Virtual PC 2004 Additions to Enhance the Windows 2000 Guest Experience on Windows Virtual PC". The App Compat Guy. Microsoft. July 19, 2010. Archived from the original on July 24, 2010. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  34. ^ "Download Windows Virtual PC from Official Microsoft Download Center". Microsoft.com. Archived from the original on July 20, 2017. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  35. ^ a b "Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 brochure" (PDF). Microsoft corporation. 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 25, 2016. Retrieved July 19, 2017.
  36. ^ "Download Windows XP Mode". Official Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft Corporation. Archived from the original on July 23, 2014. Retrieved January 2, 2016.
  37. ^ "Windows XP Mode in Windows 7 and Virtual PC – Part 1: Maintaining Application Compatibility". Archived from the original on June 1, 2009. Retrieved June 16, 2009.
  38. ^ Heng, Christopher. "Free PC/Intel x86 Emulators and Virtual Machines". thefreecountry.com. TheFreeCountry. Archived from the original on January 5, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  39. ^ a b "Windows Virtual PC: FAQ". Windows Virtual PC website. Microsoft Corporation. Archived from the original on March 16, 2013. Retrieved November 22, 2010.
  40. ^ Rivera, Rafael; Thurrott, Paul (April 24, 2009). "Secret No More: Revealing Windows XP Mode for Windows 7". Within Windows. Archived from the original on June 30, 2013. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  41. ^ Rafael Rivera. "Windows XP Mode Internals – Part 2 (Application Publishing Magic)". WithinWindows.com. Archived from the original on May 11, 2015. Retrieved April 30, 2009.
  42. ^ "Download Windows XP Mode". Windows Virtual PC website. Microsoft Corporation. Archived from the original on June 28, 2012. Retrieved November 22, 2010. (After selecting an inappropriate edition of Windows 7) You are not eligible to download Windows XP Mode. You must have Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, or Ultimate to run Windows XP Mode.
  43. ^ "Run XP Mode in VMware Workstation or Player with Activation Intact". My Digital Life. May 13, 2010. Archived from the original on May 29, 2014. Retrieved May 28, 2014.
  44. ^ "Overview of the technical specifications of virtual machines in Virtual PC 2004". Microsoft.com. October 27, 2004. Archived from the original on March 28, 2010. Retrieved May 23, 2010.
  45. ^ a b c Tulloch, Mitch (2010). Understanding Microsoft Virtualization Solutions, From the Desktop to the Datacenter (PDF) (2nd ed.). Redmond, WA: Microsoft Press. pp. 133–136. Archived (PDF) from the original on November 6, 2010. Retrieved November 27, 2010.
  46. ^ "USB Architecture in Windows Virtual PC". Windows Virtual PC blog. Microsoft corporation. December 13, 2009. Archived from the original on June 17, 2011. Retrieved August 20, 2010.
  47. ^ a b c Bergstein, Brian (February 28, 2007). "Microsoft puts up roadblocks on Vista for Mac owners". The New York Times. New York. Associated Press. Archived from the original on May 21, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2009. Microsoft says the blockade is necessary for security reasons … Cherry says that what is really going on is that Microsoft wanted to create more differences between the multiple editions of Vista, presumably giving people more reason to buy the most expensive versions.
  48. ^ a b c "Microsoft Software License Terms" (PDF). Microsoft Use Terms. Microsoft. p. 13. Archived (PDF) from the original on March 31, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2009. If you [install the software within a virtual system], you may not play or access content or use applications protected by any Microsoft digital, information or enterprise rights management technology or other Microsoft rights management services or use BitLocker. (The later Vista SP1 EULA Archived June 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine adopted the amended terms of the January 2008 Supplement.)
  49. ^ a b c Armstrong, Ben (January 3, 2007). "Why won't the Virtual PC 2007 Virtual Machine Additions load on Windows 95?". Virtual PC Guy's Weblog. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on January 25, 2010. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  50. ^ a b Armstrong, Ben (October 30, 2007). "Installing DOS additions under VPC 2007". Virtual PC Guy's WebLog. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on February 12, 2010. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  51. ^ "Microsoft Virtualization Technologies". Infrastructure Planning and Design. Microsoft TechNet. February 25, 2008. Archived from the original on March 1, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  52. ^ a b Davis, Megan (May 24, 2005). Blade, Tina (ed.). "Virtual PC vs. Virtual Server: Comparison of Features and Uses". Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft.com. Archived from the original (Microsoft Word) on February 26, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2009. See also download details Archived January 24, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  53. ^ "Virtual Server 2005 Frequently Asked Questions". Microsoft Virtual Server. Microsoft.com. May 14, 2008. Archived from the original on July 3, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  54. ^ "Virtualization with Hyper-V: Supported Guest Operating Systems". Windows Server 2008 – Product Information. Microsoft.com. Archived from the original on August 25, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  55. ^ a b c d e "Virtual PC 2007 SP1 Release Notes". Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft.com. May 15, 2008. Archived from the original on December 28, 2014. Retrieved July 10, 2009. See also download details Archived August 30, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  56. ^ a b c "Windows Virtual PC Tips" (PDF). Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft. May 18, 2009. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 26, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2009. See also download details Archived July 31, 2009, at the Wayback Machine. (Contains a more precise and complete list of supported operating systems than the Requirements page Archived March 19, 2013, at the Wayback Machine on Microsoft.com.)
  57. ^ Armstrong, Ben (April 3, 2006). "Linux is now supported under Virtual Server". Virtual PC Guy's Weblog. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on August 26, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  58. ^ a b Earp, Sean (June 29, 2008). "Linux on Hyper-V". The Sean Blog. Microsoft TechNet. Archived from the original on March 14, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009. (Also links to individual posts on installing various Linux distributions in Virtual PC 2007.)
  59. ^ a b Armstrong, Ben (October 23, 2007). "Updated Virtual Machine Additions for Linux available". Virtual PC Guy's WebLog. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on June 11, 2009. Retrieved June 28, 2009. As always – this is only supported on Virtual Server – but should work just fine on Virtual PC.
  60. ^ "Virtual Machine Additions for Linux". Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft.com. October 24, 2007. Archived from the original on July 6, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  61. ^ Cummings, Joanne (November 1, 2006). "Microsoft Virtual PC: Good Enough – for the Price". Redmondmag.com. 1105 Media. Archived from the original on July 27, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  62. ^ Woolsey, Jeff (July 10, 2007). "Microsoft Virtualization and Virtual PC 2007". Microsoft Virtualization Team Blog. Microsoft TechNet. Archived from the original on February 23, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  63. ^ Savill, John (May 7, 2009). "Does Windows Virtual PC in Windows 7 support 64-bit guest OSs?". Windows IT Pro. Penton Media. Archived from the original on March 31, 2021. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  64. ^ a b "Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 – Product Details". Product Information Center. Microsoft.com. Archived from the original on February 18, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  65. ^ a b "Readme for Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 Service Pack 1". Download Center. Microsoft. October 12, 2004. Archived from the original on October 26, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  66. ^ "Demo: Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 Features" (Executable installer for Windows Media). Event Review: Microsoft Virtual PC Overview – Session TNT1-103. Microsoft TechNet. Archived from the original on April 6, 2012. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  67. ^ "Download Details: Virtual PC 2004 SP1". Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft.com. August 30, 2006. Archived from the original on August 31, 2010. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  68. ^ a b c "Virtual PC 2007 Release Notes". Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft.com. February 19, 2007. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved July 10, 2009. See also download details Archived January 24, 2010, at the Wayback Machine.
  69. ^ a b "Description of the hotfix rollup package for Virtual PC 2007 Service Pack 1: February 20, 2009". Microsoft Help and Support. Microsoft.com. February 20, 2009. Archived from the original on March 3, 2015. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  70. ^ a b c "Windows Virtual PC – Requirements". Microsoft.com. Archived from the original on March 19, 2013. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  71. ^ "Windows Virtual PC Beta". Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft.com. May 4, 2009. Archived from the original on July 4, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  72. ^ Armstrong, Ben (October 26, 2004). "Windows 3.11 on Virtual PC". Virtual PC Guy's WebLog. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on January 30, 2010. Retrieved July 10, 2009. (Microsoft manager Ben Armstrong reports that Windows 3.11 installs without a problem in Virtual PC 2004.)
  73. ^ Armstrong, Ben (January 26, 2005). "Why we emulated the devices that we do?". Virtual PC Guy's WebLog. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on June 6, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  74. ^ Schweigert, Marc (March 14, 2007). "Get the Windows Vista Aero theme in a Guest OS using Virtual PC 2007". Microsoft Public Sector Developer and Platform Evangelism Team Blog. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on June 19, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  75. ^ a b "Microsoft Software Supplemental License Terms" (PDF). Microsoft Use Terms. Microsoft. January 2008. Archived (PDF) from the original on January 26, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  76. ^ Armstrong, Ben (January 22, 2008). "Virtualization Announcements". Virtual PC Guy's WebLog. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on March 27, 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  77. ^ a b Oiaga, Marius (January 22, 2008). "The Windows Vista Virtualization Doors Are Wide Opened". Softpedia News. Softpedia. Archived from the original on February 13, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  78. ^ Microsoft Partner Program (March 2008). Licensing Reseller Handbook for Microsoft Partners (PDF). Microsoft. p. 58. Archived (PDF) from the original on June 5, 2011. Retrieved July 10, 2009. Windows Vista Home Basic and Windows Vista Home Premium cannot be used within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system.
  79. ^ Albro, Edward N.; Dahl, Eric (February 20, 2007). "The Most Annoying Things About Windows Vista". PC World. International Data Group. Archived from the original on June 4, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009. Well, this is only a licensing provision, so nothing in the software will prevent you from running either Home version in a virtual machine. But that would be wrong.
  80. ^ a b Lai, Eric (June 22, 2007). "Analysis: DRM may be why Microsoft flip-flopped on Vista virtualization". Computerworld. International Data Group. Archived from the original on September 25, 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2009. (Microsoft originally planned to rescind the restrictions in June 2007.)
  81. ^ Armstrong, Ben (January 23, 2008). "Using BitLocker under Virtual PC / Virtual Server". Virtual PC Guy's WebLog. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on June 16, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009. (Instructions were reposted the day after Microsoft released its Vista EULA Supplement in January 2008.)
  82. ^ Armstrong, Ben (April 30, 2007). "Using Vista BitLocker under Virtual PC / Virtual Server". Virtual PC Guy's WebLog. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on August 29, 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2009. (Instructions provided in the post were deleted to comply with Microsoft's original Vista EULA).
  83. ^ Malach, Eyal (February 19, 2008). "Encrypting Vista with BitLocker in Virtual PC or Virtual Machine". Eyal Malach Blog. Microsoft Blogs – Israel. Archived from the original on October 25, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  84. ^ Oiaga, Marius (June 2, 2007). "Install Windows Vista Ultimate in Windows Vista – Vista Virtualization Guidelines". Softpedia News. Softpedia. Archived from the original on February 10, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  85. ^ a b "RAIL QFE Beta Windows XP SP3". Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft.com. May 4, 2009. Archived from the original on July 4, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  86. ^ a b "Windows Virtual PC Evaluation Guide". Windows 7 Technical Library. Microsoft TechNet. May 4, 2009. Archived from the original on July 6, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009. Also available for download Archived July 3, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.
  87. ^ "RAIL QFE Beta for Vista SP1". Microsoft Download Center. Microsoft.com. May 4, 2009. Archived from the original on July 4, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  88. ^ Armstrong, Ben (November 6, 2004). "Windows Media Center 2005 under Virtual PC". Virtual PC Guy's WebLog. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on November 2, 2005. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  89. ^ "Windows 7 Release Candidate: FAQ". Microsoft.com. 2009. Archived from the original on June 5, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  90. ^ a b Armstrong, Ben (January 13, 2009). "Windows 7 on Virtual PC on Windows 7". Virtual PC Guy's WebLog. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on February 12, 2010. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  91. ^ Krishnamoorthy, Ajoy (January 19, 2009). "Installing Virtual PC 2007 SP1 in Windows 7". Ajoyk – Patterns and Practices, VSTS, Process. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on September 27, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  92. ^ Manning, James (January 10, 2009). "Upgrading to SP1 fixes VM Additions for Win7 Beta!". James Manning's Blog. MSDN Blogs. Archived from the original on June 25, 2009. Retrieved July 10, 2009.
  93. ^ Maltz, Jonathan. "What Works and What Doesn't in Microsoft Virtual PC 2004". visualwin.com. Self published. Archived from the original on October 31, 2007. Retrieved June 16, 2013.
  94. ^ Cohen, Peter (August 7, 2006). "WWDC: Microsoft kills Virtual PC for Mac". MacWorld. Archived from the original on October 14, 2007. Retrieved October 8, 2007.
edit