Material: How to install Windows Vista system with virtual machines _ Application Tips

If you plan to upgrade your system after Windows Vista is available, it is essential that you test Windows Vista thoroughly before you upgrade, not only to help you understand the new features, new features that Windows Vista brings, Helps you get a grip on Windows Vista's operational skills, while also helping you to understand the compatibility of the prerequisite software in Windows Vista, ensuring that you can balance transitions in future upgrades.

In general, when we install a tested Windows Vista system, it is often not possible to prepare a separate PC for it, only to install it on the working machine that is currently in use. To ensure that currently used systems such as Windows XP are not affected, we do a lot of Windows Vista by splitting out a separate small partition such as 20G around the partition, so that through the multiple boot option, when the system starts to choose to enter the day-to-day use of the system such as Windows XP or test Windows Vista. Another benefit of this is that once you have finished testing, or more than the 30-day trial period allowed by Windows Vista RTM, simply uninstall it without disrupting the normal use of the original operating system.

In addition, there is another option, that is, through virtual Machine. Virtual machine or virtualization technology, refers to the use of tool software in the computer to simulate multiple running different operating systems of the logical computer, each operating system is like running on a separate entity PC's unique OS. This way, by using a virtual machine, you can run multiple operating systems (virtual) at the same time in your PC without interfering with each other.

Of course, the installation of multiple operating systems in the same host PC has certain requirements for hardware conditions, after all, many virtual machines share the resources of the Master System, if the CPU's computer capacity or memory size is insufficient, performance will be greatly affected. -Of course, this is not always important except when we want to compare the specific performance of Windows Vista.

Now there are many kinds of virtual mechanics in the market, and here's a brief introduction to the two free software that supports Windows Vista: VMware and Microsoft Virtual PC 2007.

VMware Server and VMware Player

VMware is a virtual machine market veteran vendors, depending on the use, function, the virtual machine system has many types of many versions, most of the fees. However, there is no problem with installing Windows Vista with its free version.

Installing Windows Vista with VMware requires downloading its VMware server and VMware Player, first using VMware Server to create a Windows Vista client as a virtual object, This process is similar to installing Windows Vista on your PC, and second, installing VMware Player in your current Windows system or other operating systems, such as Linux, to run Windows Vista virtual machines.

The biggest advantage of VMware, compared to the Microsoft Virtual PC described below, is that it can create a 64-bit virtual machine that installs 64-bit Windows Vista systems on virtual machines that are created, plus a virtual machine that perfectly supports multiple core CPUs. To maximize the computing advantage of multiple core CPUs.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2007

Microsoft in 2003 through the acquisition of Connectix into the virtual machine market, its Virtual PC also take a free strategy.

The previous version of Virtual PC 2004 does not support Windows Vista well, although many people have successfully used it to install Windows Vista. Currently, Virtual PC 2007 Beta has been released, and from Microsoft's instructions, Virtual PC 2007 is optimized for Windows Vista to support Windows Vista as host system or Customer system installation.

However, it should be noted that virtual PC 2007 can support 32-bit and 64-bit Windows Vista when using Windows Vista as the host system, but if you install Windows Vista in a virtual machine, you can only use Windows Vista's 32-bit version.

At the same time, Virtual PC 2007 supports the virtualization of CPU computing technology--I believe friends are aware that both Intel and AMD are emphasizing the virtualization of the CPU?—— through the hardware level of virtualization support, to a large extent, to improve the efficiency of the virtual machine.

The downside of Virtual PCs is that, just like Microsoft's other products, it only supports using your own windows as a hosting system, so if you plan to install Windows Vista through a virtual machine on a Linux system, consider VMware.

Limitations of using virtual machines to install Windows Vista

At present, one problem with these virtual machine software is that virtual systems do not support the 3D acceleration feature of graphics well, so visual effects such as Aero Galss are not experienced in virtual machines, and other 3D-related applications such as games cannot be installed in virtual machines.