June, 2009

If you have read about Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP mode, you may mistakenly think that Windows Virtual PC can only be used for running applications in Windows XP mode.  While this is one of the major features, Windows Virtual PC allows you...

Existing Virtual PC 2007 users who start using Windows Virtual PC may be startled by the lack of an obvious “Virtual Hard Disk wizard”.  But do not fear, the virtual hard disk wizard is still there – it is just hidden.  Or more accurately –...

We have spent a lot of time telling people how Windows Virtual PC and Virtual XP mode will allow them to run incompatible legacy applications on Windows 7.  Unfortunately a number of people have come away with the impression that you can only do...

I have had some people ask me whether you can use Windows Virtual PC – with its integrated Windows XP Mode – to run older 16-bit Windows programs on a 64-bit platform.  The answer is “Yes!”.  Here you can see a screen shot of SkiFree running...

If you use Windows Virtual PC you will see “integration features” being mentioned.  These are enabled once you have the latest integration components installed, and can be enabled or disabled at will – but what are they? When the integration features...

With the release candidate version of Windows Server 2008 R2 and Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 we have added a new feature called “Processor Compatibility”.  The purpose behind this feature is to allow you to live migrate virtual machines between...

In Windows Server 2008 R2 we have made some surgical changes to the way virtual machine snapshots work and how they are exposed in the system in order to address some key customer pain points.  Changes include: You can now export a single snapshot...

Earlier this week I talked about integrated mode in Windows Virtual PC .  And there I mentioned that there are times that you may want to disable integrated mode.  You can do this on a running virtual machine by using the tools menu: You can...

Soumya has published a great series of posts over on the virtualization team blog talking about a number of the changes that have gone into import / export in Windows Server 2008 R2.  Here is a quick set of links to gather them all together: Import...

We recently published KB2000048 which outlines that if you try to run a Windows Server 2008 virtual machine, with beta integration components, on a Windows Server 2008 SP2 system – the virtual machine will fail to boot. Ordinarily this would not be a...

The Windows Server Hyper-V Management Pack for System Center Operations Manager 2007 is now available for download here: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=502e7a26-2fea-4052-89fd-8f75142de4f2 This management pack allows System Center...

Thanks to Dugie for bringing this to my attention.  We have just published a document that outlines approaches and best practices for running Windows Essential Business Server in a virtual machine.  You can grab it here: http://www.microsoft...

This is a bit old – but if you have not seen this already go check out: http://www.microsoft.com/Mediaroom/PR/VirtualizationPR.aspx The summary is that we have launched Microsoft Mediaroom with virtualization to enable IPTV providers to reduce their costs...

Just over a month ago, my third child was born. I have enjoyed having some time off to look after the family – but now I am back at work, and back to blogging. In my time away from work there have been a plethora of releases on the Microsoft virtualization...