(We tried it and were successful, though.) You can use any computer running on the Intel (x86) platform as a guest on Virtual PC (that is, DOS, Windows 3.11/95/98/Me/NT/2000, and any flavor of Linux that works on an Intel Pentium PC), but Connectix does not plan to offer support for the Mac OS.Įach VM you build isn't an island.

Finally, you'll have to run Virtual PC on Windows Me, NT, or 2000 Connectix doesn't support Windows 98. (For a full workup of VPC's complex system requirements, check out the chart at the bottom of this Connectix page.) Each additional VM you create takes more disk space, and if you plan to run two at the same time, more memory. To run a Windows 98 virtual machine (VM) on a Windows 2000 PC, for instance, you'll need an extra 500MB of disk space for the Windows 98 OS and a total of 196MB of memory to run both simultaneously. To get VPC ready for action, you may have to struggle to figure out whether it will work on your computer. Unfortunately, Virtual PC for PC isn't worry-free. Virtual PC for Windows is the safest and most practical way to test-drive operating systems on your Windows machine, but it's a pricey insurance policy. Running Windows 2000, for instance, you can install Windows 95 and apps that run only under that OS.

(Familiar with Connectix's Virtual PC for the Mac OS? This is essentially the same program built to run OSs on other PC OSs.) In essence, VPC encapsulates faux PCs within windows on your real desktop, then gives each a pseudo hard drive that you can populate with your choice of operating systems, applications, and document files. Let's get one thing straight: Virtual PC (VPC) uses software to emulate, or imitate, a PC's hardware-the processor, the hard drive, and the video card-not Windows. If you work at a support desk that needs to handle questions about multiple operating systems, or you can't live without your ancient DOS software, consider this easy solution. Even better, once you've given any Windows OS (or some Linux distributions, for that matter) a test run, you can revert to your old setup simply by dragging one file to the Recycle Bin. It makes managing multiple operating systems a breeze-without the rigmarole of partitioning and formatting your hard disk. Virtual PC for Windows lets you create multiple 'virtual machines' on one real PC, then install a different operating system on each. Bring on the Rogaine: if you've torn out your hair managing one flavor of Windows on your PC, imagine how quickly you could go bald with up to four versions.

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