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Virtual Computing

Do you want 2 computers for the price of one?  Virtual computing is a new technology development that will allow you to achieve this.

A virtual computer allows you to run a 2nd computer inside your current computer. The virtual software 'pretends' to be a real, physical computer which can have an 'operating system' like Windows XP, Windows 7 or Macintosh OS running on it.

A virtual computer is also known as a virtual machine or virtual PC.

How does it work?

The virtual computer software will run the virtual computer(s) inside a window on your main computer. You can switch between that window and your PC freely and choose to work on either or both at the same time.

You can share files, printers, CD's and DVD's between the computers just like they were both 'real' computers, and you'll only need one screen, one keyboard, one mouse and one internet connection.

Once you install the virtual software, you must tell it to create a virtual machine. The virtual machine will be just like a blank computer. That means you need to put in a CD with an 'operating system' like Windows or Mac OS or Linux Ubuntu or Redhat, and install the operating system from the CD.

Like a real computer, some operating systems will require a license which you need to purchase to use it. In general, you cannot use your existing operating system license to run a virtual PC as well. Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate do have special deal around this.

Why would I want a virtual computer?

This is very useful if:
•    You purchased a new computer but your old software won't work on it. This is especially important for business running older accounting or booking software.
•    You are a business with a server and need a 2nd server but want to avoid the hardware costs.
•    You are a business needing excellent disaster recovery assistance.
•    You have a Windows based computer, and have some Macintosh or Linux software you need to run.
•    You have a Macintosh or Linux based computer and need to run some Windows software.

Where can I get this software?

Microsoft makes Virtual PC 2007 available free from www.microsoft.com so you can try it out.

They also have a professional product, Windows Virtual PC available from www.microsoft.com/windows/virtual-pc which is also free, but only works if you have installed Windows 7.

VMWare is an excellent virtual PC product for Macintosh, available from www.vmware.com

For more information on virtual computing, check out the Wikipedia article at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_machine