Virtual PC [microsoft.com] was bought out by Microsoft several years ago, and is now free.

VMware [vmware.com] is arguably the market leader. I've used their paid option since before there was a free option.

Essentially what these programs do is allow you to run an entire PC OS like a program. You can set it so that every time you open the program/OS it reverts to the clean install version. It's perfect for testing as it mimics hardware, and you can abuse it without having to worry about the consequences. Got a virus? Who cares? Next time you open the package it's gone. If Safari acts up and contracts a virus, no problem. Just close the program and open it again...problem solved.

With browser testing, particularly with something that is so integrated with the OS as IE, it is imperative to have a dedicated install. Multiple installs of IE rely some of the same core OS files and arguably won't give you a true representation of a native install.

I had visited the VMware site awhile ago, and wasn't sure how to install or how to run this. And I have heard of virtual pc, and that it is free, however, I thought that it was only going to be free for a limited amount of time?

The next thing is, how do you work the virtual pc thing?

In regards to the side by side runs of IE. I read somewhere that there is something you install for IE6 that allows you to use conditional statements so that you can use them when testing your pages.

[edited by: tedster at 12:26 pm (utc) on June 22, 2008]

The virtual environment with these programs is like a container or sandbox in which you can experiment. A virtual machine is like a blank PC. You have to install an operating system into it and configure it just like a PC. Then setup whatever software you want. This virtual machine will run in a program window on your machine. It's like having a PC within your PC.

Hmm, have a question but not sure how to word it. When running the virtual pc, what access do you have to your real windows system. If you need to go back to your normal environment, does it close out what you were working on with the virtual pc? Or can it be minimized so you can work on both the virtual and normal pc?

Sorry for the questions, but anything new like this tends to boggle me a bit before I get it into my head :(

The virtual PC window runs like any other window you have open, like your browser window for example. Minimize it, close it... whatever. Can't really describe it any other way.

If you're still confused after this, let me know. I'll sticky you a screen shot of my desktop, with a window open with the desktop of the virtual machine in it.

When you setup the virtual machine you can choose how much to share with it in terms of resources and access to your network. You have virtual hardware, so you can setup as much RAM, HDD space, and LAN access you want. You could even run the virtual machine as a member of your LAN with full access to everything your PC has access to.

For testing purposes I tend to limit what my virtual machines can do and access.

:( @Trace, Oh, believe me, I'm totally confused! sigh.

The market leaders both have free versions available. Why not download it and give it a try?

I'll do a search on them and download one to try.

I'm sure it is easy to do, just a concept to grasp how to do it without messing something up on my computer.

I have been using VMWare for at least 5-6 years, and it is a GREAT tool once you get used to it. I use it for many purposes, but having separate machines on a single one is just great.

I usually run 3 virtual machines on my main Windows XP Server,a Debian file/proxy server, an old Windows 98 SE that is running a custom program, and a BSD based router (which takes care of turning my 3 internet connections into one).

Then, on my own computer I also have a few virtual machines ready for use whenever I need them. I have a clean Windows XP installation for any testing purposes, anytime I need to test something and I do not want to put it on my main computer, I just "clone" that virtual machine (just make a copy of the full folder) and test it there. Need to try some new program that might modify drivers, install crapware, or modify your main OS on any way you do not know/want? Try it on a virtual machine first, and once you are satisfied with the results, deploy it on your main OS if you want.

You need some programs that you want to have always up and working without the hassle of reinstalling if you reinstall your main OS? I have a VM dedicated to ebay, on it I have Turbo Lister, all my accounts memorized, and all the tools I use for ebay selling - ftp client, my accounts memorized, image manipulator, image watermark, etc. If I ever need to reinstall my main OS, I can copy that Vm to another computer with VMWARE, and keep working with no downtime.

We mainly deal with web here. You need to have different OS to see how your web page will look on different browsers, different operating systems, different computers, different resolutions...? You could also use VMWARE for that, running different VMs with at the same time so you can check a web site with all kind of different setups easily.

Another question is, do you need another OS of Windows to run the virtual pc's?

@ MindTwist

Thanks for the information you provided. I appreciate your post as it is very informative!

do you need another OS of Windows to run the virtual pc's?

Yes. You'll need a licence for each OS install. This can be a complicated issue. The people at VMware have an interesting article on the topic of MS licencing [vmware.com].

I have an MSDN subscription, so I get copies of just about every MS OS available in every language. However, that might be overkill for most. That's where free XP licences like the one linked to in this thread [webmasterworld.com] are attractive options.

Hi Bill,
thanks for the links.

Can anyone tell me if the image is still good? I see it was supposed to expire in 2007.

I hope to attempt this sometime today. (crosses fingers :) )

The need of a license is, as you stated, a complication.

4css,

Virtual PC enables you to create multiple low level machine environments.

I’ve only had experience with Microsoft’s version, so this may not apply to the VMware.

Each virtual machine (VM) is ready for you to install an operating system and software in to it. (it will be boot up and ask for a disc) Once you have created your virtual PC, its easy to copy the virtual machine in to two machines and so forth, as the whole virtual disc is hosted inside one single file.

Each virtual machine wont be aware its a virtual machine and will access the hardware as if its own. Each machine can have its own IP address, and the network would actually think you have multiple machines attached to the network. So the really clever thing about virtual machines is how it manages to shares out the hardware resources.

On the downside, you do need a licensed copy of an operating system for each machine. ( A virtual machine that is not running doesnt count), and has some CPU overhead to maintain. So you need a really good spec machine to successfully run a number of virtual machines at once.

The best thing about VM is you can experiment with different operating systems builds and software,, as its really easy to back to an older copy of a machine when things go wrong.

Hi Seb7,

Thanks for your post, it has a ton of information within it.

I would most likely go with the MS version.

I have downloaded 3 from their site. They are for xp versions.

So, if I were to install the ones from MS I would still need to purchase a copy of xp for each one? (I apologize if I am "not getting" it yet, but this is confusing.)

Is there a virtualpc that runs on windows but acts as a Mac? So that I can test how my sites look/work on Macs (without actually having to use a Mac).

You can install OS X on a PC, and you can install OS X on a VMWARE machine. I can not tell you about the legal issues on doing that, since you do need to do some modifying to OS X in order to do so.

I actually tried OS X on a VMWARE machine maybe a couple of years ago when Apple started selling their computers with Intel CPUs and their operating system was adapted. You needed some special hardware on your PC (since OS X would not recognise all integrated peripherals like sound cards and network adapters on all motherboards, and of course you will not find OS X drivers around), but I did get it to run on my computer, from what I can remember the only part I did not get working was sound.

I do think it might be a lot of a hassle just for seeing how a web page will look on a Mac (it would be just easier to install Safari on Windows), but you might want to google information on the osx86project, they have tons of info on their wiki.

So, if I were to install the ones from MS I would still need to purchase a copy of xp for each one?

The virtual PC test machines for IE are provided by MS with special limited licences. The last time I checked the licences timed out after a few months.

If you install other copies of Windows you need a license. The same goes for any additional OS you want to install.

OS X on a PC

I see a few tutorials out there on how to install this. I haven't tried it myself. Where are they getting the ISO images to install the Mac OS? It still looks a bit complicated compared to a Windows or Linux install on VMware.

Hi Bill,
Thanks for your help. I'm a bit nervous about installing. But I think I'll give the IE7 one a go and see how it turns out.

I downloaded the windows XP since that is what I already have on my system.

Thanks to everyone else who has also put information in here as well. I greatly appreciate it.