Virtual PC 2004 SP1 now is completely free and VPC 2007 will also be free. Also, VMware released VMWare Server 1.0, a free virtualization solution for servers. Update: Here you are, one more for free.
Virtualizers Now Go Free
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Eugenia Loli
Ex-programmer, ex-editor in chief at OSNews.com, now a visual artist/filmmaker.
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Hey, Microsoft, how about some nice emulation for new Intel Macs?
I’d hate to see all your money go to Parallel’s Desktop for Mac!
What’s the point? Virtual PC doesn’t even hold a candle to Parallels.
Will VMware follow Microsoft’s lead and make its Workstation free?
VMware’s workstation software is already free. Well, mostly free, so long as you already have your VMware images.
Vmware workstation is not free.
Vmware Player is, however you can’t create images with it.
Only Vmware Server, formally known as GSX is free.
You can create images…if you want to make them by hand. All you need is vi–the HDD files are available online also.
Ah, VMware Player, I couldn’t remember the exact name.
if you go for the vmware player, you can use qemu to create the disk image; the format is the same.
then create a .vmx file by hand and you’re done.
What are the main differences between Server and Workstation?
On the workstation you will only be able to run one instance of an OS.
On the server you will be able to run and add on the fly machines etc … Plus you have more tools to administer you virtual server room on the server version, which would be useless on the workstation edition.
ludo
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http://perso.hirlimann.net/~ludo/blog/
What’s wrong Microsoft? don’t want to offer the Mac version for free? Afraid it will make Windows even less relevant?
How would Mac users running Windows through virtualization make Windows less relevant ?
Windows less relevant? According to a CNN report (http://money.cnn.com/2006/04/05/technology/apple_windows/index.htm) “Apple’s share of the computer market is “currently about 2.3 percent worldwide and 4 percent in the United States” Windows runs on 90%, therefore, the definition of relevant must be Windows. I like MacOS X as much as the next guy, but come on, lets be realistic
This is amazing. This item has nothing to do with Macs and we have 4 out 5 comments already from Mac users. Has it just occured to me that OSNEWS has been invaded by Mac users or is this a coincidence?? This explains everything. Now I know why technical posts on OSNEWS sometimes have 1 or 2 comments…and others have 100+ with “why everyone should use mac instead” comments.
I definately won’t read comments anymore on this site – don’t bother replying to this – I aint read’n em.
You’ll read em.
I bet youre reading this right now.
Mabe its the fact that the primary users of Virtual PC for a very long time were Mac users? Its simply much more well known in that community then any other, so a news item about Virtual PC is bound to draw in large numbers of Mac users. Calm down man!
Yeah, I switched, but mostly because I’m an OS junkie. I just like running all of the fun *nix emualtors with a good UI, for the most part. (You could flame this either way, but I’d just rather not go there.)
OS X has been nice enough for me, but there’s no way I’d recommend it to every one.
I don’t think virtualization/emulation will ever cut it in the real world. You’d need to natively port the APIs, then you’d have something that people wouldn’t have to argue about.
Virtualization has been cutting in the real world for decades, back to the first timesharing mainframes. What it means to be virtualization and to be an OS has changed over the years, but the general theory is the same. One of IBM’s key strategic initiatives is simply, “virtualize everything.” The demand for virtualization solutions is strong and diverse, spanning virtually (no pun intended) all sectors of the computing market.
People want to run more tasks at the same time, and tasks are easier to program if they think they have unfettered access to the hardware. This can work to your advantage on many levels. Hardware can run multiple OSs, an OS can run other OSs, which in turn could run multiple instances of itself, each of which can run multiple tasks, which finally can spawn threads. The many levels of abstraction have many compelling advantages, too many to list here.
I wouldn’t rule out the possibility that in 10 years, application software might be customarily delivered as a virtual machine.
Because we can run multiple OSes easily? I could make this comment from any browser from any of the mainstream OSes and likely most of the niche ones too if I wanted to.
Actually Virtual PC was a Mac ONLY product once, back in the early Connectix days. It has a history on the Mac. It’s not so crazy that Mac users would comment on this story.
… for how long? I thought VPC was already released as free since like June. What I would be interested is that is this an introductory rate or a planned business model. What about the support standards and protocols?
I believe MS had announced that Virtual PC Server was free, matching VMWare’s move. Virtual PC was not until now.
Since VPC24K actively supports OS/2 I can relive my youth (my Dad was an OS/2 evangelist, so that’s what I grew up with at home) and play some of the games of my youth like Sauron’s Eye (a kick-ass Breakout clone) and the ORIGINAL Galactic Civilization 2 (complete with the Shipyard addon)