Tech tips -
While I was writing last weeks column about remote desktop connections, I began thinking about the whole virtual desktop environment; about how far it has advanced and how widely accepted it has become.
What if you could play on the Internet all day, downloading and installing every thing you could find? Then, what if when you were finished playing, you could just reset your computer back to the same state it was in before you began downloading. Wipe the slate clean and start over. Well, you can - kind of - and virtual desktop is one of the ways you can do it.
There are many ways to run multiple operating systems on the same computer. You can do dual or multiple boots; you can install some OS as an application (like running Ubuntu on Windows via Wubi); or even run some directly from a CD or thumb drive. One more way to do it is to run some type of virtual desktop software.
Now there are many versions of virtual desktop software, several of which are completely free. Basically, you just have to download install the virtual software on your computer and it will allow you to create a virtual machine that will run on your computer and interact with your hardware. It is just as if you had gone out and purchased another box.
Ok, so you still are not getting what I am trying to say here. Maybe and example will help. Say you bought a new computer and it came with Vista. Say that some of the stuff you used to have on your old XP computer is just not running right on this new box and you wish you still had XP. No problem.
Download and install Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 (VPC). Yes, from Microsoft and free! Now, run the VPC wizard and create a new computer, choosing how much of your ram and hard drive to give it. Tell it you will be installing XP. This virtual machine will boot just like a regular computer and you can pop your XP CD in the drive and go ahead and install it just as if you were doing the install on a second computer.
It so cool! In 30 minutes (or more depending on how fast your hardware is), you will have an XP box running on Vista. You will need an XP license however if you install this way and you want it to run for more than 30 days. (If you have your old XP key, then you can activate with it and you are good to go).
I mentioned earlier that one of the cool features off virtual desktops is you ability to undo any changes you have made to the virtual machine. For VPC 2007 for example, you just need to turn on the undo disk feature. With this turned on, you can shutdown your virtual machine and choose wither to commit your changes or not. Pretty cool hey, start over new each time. Or not, you choose.
Like I said, there are several free virtual PC software packages available from different vendors (not just Microsoft). I won't name them in this column, but I will try and talk about some of them later; try a Google or Bing search. And, yes, there is virtual software that will run on Mac and Linux. Go ahead, be naughty, and install XP on your Mac. Remember though, as always before you play, backup your stuff.
toddmusseau@gmail.com
.jpg)
.jpg)
