Virtual PC
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Virtual PC is an virtualization suite for Apple Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows operating systems, originally created by Connectix, subsequently acquired by Microsoft.
Virtual PC virtualizes 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. Virtual PC virtualizes a Pentium II with standard SVGA Vesa graphics card (S3 Trio 64 PCI with 4 MByte Video RAM), a system BIOS from American Megatrends (AMI), a Creative Labs Soundblaster 16 and a DEC 21041 Ethernet network card. Not all programs are guaranteed to work because they can use undocumented features of hardware or exotic timings, although compatibility is excellent. The Macintosh version of Virtual PC uses dynamic recompilation to translate the x86 code used by a standard PC into equivalent PowerPC code used by a Mac.
The first version of Virtual PC was originally developed for the Macintosh and was released in June 1997. Four years later in June 2001, the first version of Virtual PC for Windows, version 4.0, was released. Connectix sold versions of Virtual PC bundled with a variety of operating systems, including many versions of Windows, OS/2, and RedHat Linux. As it became clear that virtualization was important to the enterprise, Microsoft became interested in the sector and chose to acquire Virtual PC and an (at the time) unreleased product called Virtual Server from Connectix in February 2003.
Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 is the current version for the Windows operating system. Its equivalent on the Macintosh platform is Virtual PC for Mac version 7.
A similar product is VMware (x86 only).
See also
External links
- Microsoft Virtual PC for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/virtualpc/)
- Microsoft Virtual Server 2005 (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsserversystem/virtualserver/default.mspx)
- Microsoft Virtual PC for Mac (http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/virtualpc/virtualpc.aspx)
- Connectix Virtual Server before Acquisition (http://web.archive.org/web/20030201080705/http://connectix.com/index_win.html) Virtual PC 6 for Mac (http://web.archive.org/web/20030207074742/http://www.connectix.com/index_mac.html)
- Use Microsoft's Virtual PC to Test Software Before Deploying It (http://www.windowsecurity.com/articles/Microsoft-Virtual-PC.html)
- Brian Randell interview regarding Microsoft Virtual PC architecture (http://www.dotnetrocks.com/default.aspx?showID=115)de:Microsoft Virtual PC