XP and Vista question

[Ken Ray]

On Fri, 2 Mar 2007 14:09:48 -0500, Roger.E.Eller at sealedair.com wrote:

> On 03/02/2007 at 1:28 PM, Ken Ray <kray at sonsothunder.com> wrote:
>> Actually it's kind of worse than that. Microsoft does not allow any of 
>> the Basic or Home versions to be used in virtualilzed environments. You 
>> need to purchase the Business or Ultimate version to allow for that 
>> (BTW, they're getting a lot of heat for that, which they *should* IMHO).
> 
> I love running virtual machines too, but how is this any different than 
> what Apple is doing? I have discussed virtialization of OS X with 
> representatives of Parallels. Their response is that they have the 
> technology to do it but Apple just won't let them. If Apple can make a 
> business decision to control virtialization of their OS, why can MS not do 
> the same?

Well, IMHO, it's because of precedent. Apple has NEVER allowed 
virtualization of their OS, or even "approved" emulation (you always 
needed a ROM from a purchased machine). Microsoft, on the other hand, 
has never said anything about virtualization or emulation of their OS 
until Vista (AFAIK), and from the articles I've read there's no real 
reason Microsoft should allow one form of Vista and not another, 
although they state:

"For production machines and everyday usage, virtualization is a fairly 
new technology, and one which we think is not mature enough for broad 
consumer adoption. Today, customers using this technology are primarily 
business customers addressing application compatibility needs or 
technology enthusiasts. For everyday usage, Windows Vista Home and Home 
Premium cannot be installed in any virtual machine technology, but 
Business and Ultimate versions can. Each virtual installation of 
Windows requires a new license just as it did for Windows XP."

For more on this, take a look at these articles:

http://weblog.infoworld.com/virtualization/archives/2006/10/the_truth_about.html
http://www.virtualizationdaily.com/archives/39_the-truth-about-vista-virtualization-licensing.html.