Features

Running a virtual machine involves a host and a guest. The host is a real, physical computer (in our case, a PC running Windows); the guest is a virtual, software PC. In effect, the guest's operating system (Ubuntu, in our case) runs inside the host's, just like an application. As a result, you can start and stop the guest on the fly without having to reboot the host, and if the guest crashes, it doesn't affect the host.

Several free virtual machine applications are available, but we decided to use Microsoft's Virtual PC 2007. This emulates a Pentium III processor, S3 Trio64 graphics card and Sound Blaster 16 sound card, among other hardware. It makes no difference if the host has a Core 2 Quad processor, Radeon HD 3870 graphics and X-Fi Elite Pro sound, as they are completely invisible to the guest. That's one reason why guests are not suited to such tasks as gaming.

Officially, Virtual PC supports the following host operating systems:

Windows XP Professional (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows XP Tablet PC Edition
Windows Vista Business (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows Vista Enterprise (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows Vista Ultimate (32-bit and 64-bit)
Windows Server 2003 Standard Edition (32-bit and 64-bit)

If you're hoping to use XP Home Edition, Vista Home Premium or Vista Home Basic, don't worry. During the Virtual PC setup, you'll receive the message, "You are not running on a supported operating system". Just click OK and, bizarrely but thankfully, the installation will continue.