Last night, we had some free time and installed Windows Vista beta (December CTP) on Vmware 5.5 ). VMware supports Windows Vista beta, which recommends 16 GB hard disk space. However, after the installation, the hard disk partition cannot be used. The introduction to Windows Vista beta in VMware 5.5's online help was outdated and, in fact, found an updated introduction on Vmware: http://www.vmware.com/support/guestnotes/doc/guestos_winvista.html
The main content is as follows, with emphasis on steps 1 to 2.
1. Insert the Windows Vista Cd in the CD-ROM drive.
2. Power on the Virtual Machine to start installing Windows Vista.
3.If using a blank Hard Disk:When the Windows Vista installer menu appears, choose the first option,Install now.
If installing over an existing guest operating system:Skip to Step 9.
4. Press Shift-F10 to open a command prompt.
5. Start the disk partitioning utility.
Diskpart
6. Enter the following commands to partition the hard disk:
Select disk 0
Create partition primary
7. When the partitioning process is complete, clickResetButton to reboot the virtual machine.
8. As the virtual machine begins to reboot, while the VMware logo appears on the screen, click inside the Virtual Machine window, then press ESC to get to the BIOS boot menu. ChooseCD-ROM driveAs the boot device, then continue installing Windows Vista beta.
9. In certain Windows Vista builds, the installer chooses an incorrect default in the screen titled choose your installation destination. It shows a partition with 0 MB free and makes that partition the default destination.
At that screen, you must change the choice to the disk (instead of the partition), then clickContinue.
10. Follow the remaining installation steps as you wowould for a physical machine.
After this operation, you can continue the installation. The installation takes a long time, and there is no progress prompt. After some time, the installation is completed, and the entire process is automatic, you don't need to wait before the machine. Only the installation process is performed in 16-color mode, which is ugly. After installing VMware Tools, everything is normal. The interface is really good. I will try my software in a few days.
If you already have an XP Virtual Machine, you can upgrade it on it, so that there is no such step.