New virtual-PC software outshines Microsoft's

Reader George Waller isn't at all happy with the latest virtual-machine offering from Microsoft:

"I use Virtual PC 2007 on Windows XP for a variety of training and simulation purposes. I have virtual machines emulating all Windows OSes from Windows 3.1 through Windows Server 2008 and hosting various other servers, such as SQL Server and Exchange Server.

"Naturally, OSes before Windows 2000 don't get a lot of use, except to remind me how far Microsoft has come. However, I do have one legacy application that will run on Win98 SE but not on later OSes.

"I wasn't surprised to learn that a new version of Microsoft Virtual PC has been released to support Windows 7, and it includes a number of features — such as USB support — that promise to be very useful. However, I was surprised to learn that the only supported guest OSes are Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7.

"Is Microsoft just trying a heavy-handed approach to force a migration to the newer OSes, or have they again managed to step on their own crank and provided yet another reason for not upgrading from Windows XP? Meanwhile, I'll be researching the capabilities of VMware."

Like, George, I also found VPC 2007 wanting; and the "XP Mode" in Win7 likewise too limited for my needs.

But unlike George, I don't think VMware is worth much attention. Why, and what *does* work (for free!) is the topic of my column this week at WindowsSecrets.Com.

Other topics in my column this week:

• Make windows open to--- and stay at--- your preferred size
• Why can't I delete my desktop shortcuts?
• What's best for long-term data storage?

That's my portion of this week's newsletter, but as usual, I'm only one of the contributors. Other items from other authors this week include:

• Obscure Win7 tools can save you time and trouble
• Inexpensive alternatives to a secure flash drive
• Apple partners with … Tom Cruise?
• Do you really need a quad-core processor?
• XP users will soon need SP3, but be wary of IE 8

Access to all the above content is almost free: You pay only what you think the WindowsSecrets newsletter is worth (there's no set fee--- you decide); whatever you pay that once gets you access to all the paid content, including my columns, for an entire year.

Want to have a question answered in that column? Use the "contact" info at the end of the column to send in questions you might like me to try answering. And you can also rate the content to let me know how I'm doing.

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Posted via email from Fred's posterous