Virtual PC - Definition and Overview

Virtual PC is an emulation suite for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS operating systems, originally created by Connectix, subsequently acquired by Microsoft.

Virtual PC emulates a standard PC and its associated hardware. Thus, it can be used to run nearly all operating systems available for the PC, however issues can arise when trying to install uncommon operating systems that have not been specifically targeted in the development of Virtual PC. Subsequently emulated hardware may not be fully functional, or certain operating systems may not run altogether. The Macintosh version of Virtual PC uses dynamic recompilation to translate the x86 code used by a standard PC into equivalent PowerPC code used by a Mac.

The first version of Virtual PC was originally developed for the Macintosh and was released in June 1997. Four years later in June 2001, the first version of Virtual PC for Windows, version 4.0, was released. Connectix sold versions of Virtual PC bundled with a variety of operating systems, including many versions of Windows, OS/2, and RedHat Linux. As it became clear that virtualization was important to the enterprise, Microsoft became interested in the sector and chose to acquire Virtual PC and an at the time unreleased product called Virtual Server from Connectix in February 2003. Even although they already had VM software, but they didn't want VirtualPC to be shipped with a tiny version of RedHat Linux.

Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 is the current version for the Windows operating system. Its equivalent on the Macintosh platform is Virtual PC for Mac version 7.

Similar products include VMware (x86 only) and Bochs (open source).

External links

• Microsoft Virtual PC for Windows (http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/virtualpc/)
• Microsoft Virtual PC for Mac (http://www.microsoft.com/mac/products/virtualpc/virtualpc.aspx)