Windows Vista Virtualization: What You Need To Know To Get Started: Page 4 of 6

1. With VMware Server, you can choose the Linux version and run a "free" operating system on the hardware system. Microsoft does not offer a Linux version of its virtualization products.
2. If you use XenServer Express, then you just need to load it onto a hardware platform. From then on you can create any instance of Windows Vista. Of course, each instance of Vista will require a license.

Whichever solution you choose, you'll gain lots of advantages by running Vista in a virtual machine. First, if you run it from a server, you can provide central backup and control of each machine. Second, because a virtual machine is really nothing but a series of files in a folder, it becomes really easy to create multiple machines; just copy the files and you have a new machine. Third, it becomes so much easier to protect machines because each machine is contained within itself. For example, if a virus attacks a virtual machine and corrupts it, just throw the virtual machine away and restore it from a backup. Voila! You're back to a working machine in no time. And finally, because the resources required to run the virtual machine are on the server or host machine, you don't need powerful resources at the endpoint to run Vista.

There is no doubt that machine, or rather desktop, virtualization is an attractive solution for a Vista migration. It might even be an attractive solution for the home user since you can use it to "sandbox" each Vista session and therefore protect all others. However, this is only really viable for the experienced home user.

You'll also need to keep in mind that the license for Windows Vista Home and Home Premium does not allow home users to run them in virtual machines. If you intend to use Vista in a virtual machine, it must be one of Business, Ultimate, or Enterprise and obviously, the latter wouldn't be available to home users.