Analysts expect Apple to play a big role in the virtualization market too
While no official announcement was official made, Microsoft now says its Virtual PC 2004 virtualization application is now free for download. There’s no trial out period and no crippled demo. Users who were interested in testing out various operating systems on their Windows PC can now do so free of charge.
The software giant says “whether Microsoft virtualization technology is an important component of your existing infrastructure or you’re just a Virtual PC enthusiast, you can now download Virtual PC 2004 Service Pack 1 absolutely free.” Microsoft also mentions that the upcoming Virtual PC 2007, set to be released along with Windows Vista, will also remain fully free.
Microsoft purchased Virtual PC from Connectix in early 2003 and took on the development process for the application. Virtualization has become a big topic in the enterprise space as many companies strive to consolidate hardware and IT management. Companies such as VMWare play a big role in this market.
Since the release of Boot Camp several months ago, Apple has stepped into the virtualization and dual-boot market as well. Parallels released its virtualization platform for Apple’s Intel-based Macs which utilizes Intel’s VT Technology – this feature gave guest OSes running in Parallels’ Desktop for OS X the ability to directly access CPU ops. Many were impressed with the performance of platform.
Since then, there has been speculation that Apple will build virtualization technology directly into its next major release of OS X, codenamed Leopard. Apple is expected to release its server and workstation machines based on Intel’s Woodcrest Xeon processors later this year. Considering the ability of Intel Macs to dual-boot OS X and Windows XP while also being able to run high-performance virtualization, analysts are expecting virtualization to become a key component to Apple’s Intel-based enterprise machines.
i am also Vmware fan as well.
running 7 operating system on my current rig. i love Intel systems (HT) and now dual core for that reason. dont play much games but crazy about my setup.
running win2003 ent with AD, Exchnage ( and 2 servers on VMware + 3 XP systems Vmware + 1 linux system on VMware)
so result - 7 OS running at same time.
all can communicate each other and i can even do packet capture..
very powerful LAN working on single machine…
Avi
Vmware is better coz it has started its wrk long back compared to apple and others but big companies like apple have the resources to make things happen faster
WMWare is owned by EMC… one of the oldest and biggest names in computing.
BTW, MS VPC was “created” by connectix, a company bought out by MS a couple of years ago. The original VPC was created pretty much at the same time as VMware’s stuff, though for a different platform.
Hi… a question abt virtual PC… would i have to get an antivirus as well if i get virtual pc on mac??? i mean i know i dont have to worry abt viruses on a mac but can viruses effect virtual pc???
^^ Yes they can. If that guest os has direct internet access ( i.e. open ports forwarded on host o.s.) or u access infected material directly on the guest o.s.
And yes u can install antiviral software on the guest o.s.
If you use VMWare workstation you will not want to use Virtual PC after that. Trust me. The UI of Virtual PC looks like a beginner’s GUI. The VMWare UI is much better.
I understand that simple is better in a UI, but VPC’s UI is too simple to be of much use.
