Microsoft Virtual PC 2004

Microsoft Virtual PC presents exciting new features: New Security Architecture Re-architected to ensure that it meets Microsoft's most stringent security standards Support for up to 4 GB of memory More memory makes it possible to run more operating systems simultaneously and improves the performance of operating systems that have larger memory requirements. You can allocate up to 3.6 GB of RAM per operating system and up to 4 GB in total for all operating systems, including the host, as long as the physical memory exists on the computer.Support for up to four network adapters Virtual PC can emulate up to four network adapters for each virtual machine, all through the graphical user interface. New file-based configuration of virtual machines Configuration settings for a virtual machine are stored in an XML file, making it easier to copy a virtual machine to another computer. OS/2 Integration Features
Virtual Machine Additions for IBM OS/2 are integrated into Virtual PC, in order to make life easier for customers migrating from OS/2.

Virtual Machine Additions These are installed on the guest operating system and are particular to the system. They provide a high level of integration between host and guest operating system. Features include integrated mouse, time synchronization, cut and paste, drag and drop, folder sharing, and arbitrary screen resolutions. Highly portable VHDs simplify deployment of complex desktop configurations and enable fast, economical, disaster recovery capabilities across heterogeneous deployment environments.Differencing disks allow multiple users and multiple virtual machines to use the same baseline virtual disk at the same time. Virtual PC stores any changes to the baseline virtual disk in a separate differencing file. For example, you can store a baseline virtual disk on the network to share it with many users, and then Virtual PC stores any changes that they make in local differencing files. The performance of network-based differencing disks is not significantly worse than local virtual disks. Undo disks allow users to discard any changes they make to the baseline virtual disk. Virtual PC stores these changes in a separate temporary file; and then at the end of the session, users can commit the changes or discard them. Undo disks allow users to start with the exact same virtual disk every time. For example, you can use an undo disks to test a deployment disk image in a safe environment. The computer starts with mini-setup wizard every time you start the virtual machine linked to that disk.

Virtual Disk Support Virtual PC supports virtual disks in a number of powerful and flexible ways. Users can associate several virtual disks with each virtual machine, providing storage limited only by the free disk space on the physical computer. Virtual PC supports physical hard disks, physical disk partitions, and dynamic virtual disks.Users can install any of the following Microsoft operating systems in their virtual machines: Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows Me, Windows NT, Windows 2000, Windows XP, and MS-DOS. They can also install numerous third-party operating systems, including OS/2, Red Hat Linux, Novell NetWare, and others, although OS/2 Warp Version 4 Fix Pack 15, OS/2 Warp Convenience Pack 1, and OS/2 Warp Convenience Pack 2 are the only supported non-Microsoft guest operating systems. And customers can install Windows Server operating systems.