SuperSite Blog : Virtualization

Windows Virtual PC, Windows XP Mode Now Available on MSDN, TechNet

pthurrott — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 19:13:17 GMT

The final, shipping versions of Windows Virtual PC (in separate 32-bit and 64-bit downloads) and Windows XP Mode are available a few weeks early from both MSDN Subscriber Downloads and TechNet Plus. Both require the RTM version of Windows 7, and Windows Virtual PC also requires a CPU with hardware virtualization capabilities. Enjoy!

Thanks to David S. for the tip.

Final Release of Windows XP Mode

pthurrott — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 18:04:30 GMT

Microsoft announced today via its Windows Blog that it has released Windows XP Mode (and presumably, Windows Virtual PC--these guys never explain anything correctly) to manufacturing. The final version will be delivered to customers on October 22, the day of the Windows 7 launch.

We're happy to announce that Windows XP Mode has RTM’d today. We expect to make the final release of Windows XP Mode available via the Microsoft Download Center on October 22nd. OEMs will be able to offer Windows XP Mode on their PCs based on their manufacturing schedules.

Windows XP Mode is designed to provide small business and mid-sized businesses running Windows 7 Professional (or higher) the ability to run Windows XP productivity applications that may not be natively compatible with Windows 7. We expect many Windows XP applications to be compatible Windows 7 however Windows XP Mode is meant to serve as an added safety net so small and mid-sized businesses can migrate and run Windows 7 without any road blocks. Windows 7 Professional is designed to meet the needs of small and mid-sized businesses.

Notice there isn't a single mention of Windows Virtual PC in there. Microsoft? [knock, knock] Anyone home?

Microsoft delivers Hyper-V Server 2008 R2

pthurrott — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:52:46 GMT

Microsoft shipped the free version of its second-generation hypervisor virtualization platform, Hyper-V Server 2008 R2, and if you look over the docs, you’ll see that this thing is vastly improved compared to the first version. In fact, it appears to pick up the most important capabilities and functionality of its Hyper-V cousin (the version in Windows Server 2008 R2). So it features Live Migration (where the original didn’t even support quick migration), as well as some pretty heady hardware support (up to 8 physical processors, up from 4; up to 64 processor cores in virtual machines, up from 24; up to 1 TB of RAM; up from 32 GB; and so on). Pretty amazing. Did I mention it was free?

Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 is a stand-alone product that provides a reliable and optimized virtualization solution enabling organizations to improve server utilization and reduce costs. With the addition of new features such as live migration and expanded processor and memory support for host systems, it allows organizations to consolidate workloads onto a single physical server and is a good solution for organizations who are consolidating servers as well as for development and test environments.

By having the ability to plug into existing IT infrastructures Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 enables companies to reduce costs, improve utilization and provision new servers. It allows IT professionals to leverage existing patching, provisioning, management and support tools and processes. IT Professionals can continue to leverage their individual skills and the collective knowledge of Microsoft tools, minimizing the learning curve to manage Microsoft Hyper-V Server 2008 R2. In addition, with Microsoft providing comprehensive support for Microsoft applications and heterogeneous guest operating systems support, customers can virtualize with confidence and peace of mind.

I'm sure the release of this on the eve of VMWare's VMWorld show is coincidental. :)

Microsoft finalizes System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2

pthurrott — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:59:24 GMT

... and really needs to work on simplifying their product names. :)

Here's some info from Microsoft:

Today, Microsoft announced the release to manufacturing (RTM) of System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 (SCVMM08 R2). General availability through volume licensing will be October 1.

Please know that an additional feature of SCVMM08 R2 is the ability to manage VMs running on VMware vSphere 4.0. The functionality will be the same customers experience using SCVMM08 to manage VMware ESX.

Overall, early adopter customers like Lionbridge Technologies, Continental Airlines, Indiana University Auxiliary IT, MaximumASP and Sporton have been really pleased with their experience running SCVMM 2008 R2 and find it especially complimentary when deployed alongside Windows Hyper-V 2.0.

I hadn't heard about vSphere 4.0 support. I believe that is new.

More information about today's news can be found on the System Center blog:

System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 has RTM’d and GA via volume licensing is set for October 1. This is great news for all and I’d like to especially thank our VMM 2008 R2 Development, Product Management, and Test teams. Lots of hard work fueled by their passion in virtualization and management has resulted in a very good software release.

A 180-day evaluation version is now available, too, on the Microsoft Download site. You can access it here.

Please experience for yourself what the 10,000+ people who have previously downloaded our ‘Release Candidate’ plus organizations such as Continental Airlines, Lionbridge Technologies, and Indiana University have seen with VMM 2008 R2!

I encourage everyone to explore the new System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2 and its new features such as quick storage migration, live migration, and many others. We even offer support for vSphere 4.

To learn more on the new features and capabilities of VMM2008 R2, please try to attend our upcoming TechNet session ‘Technical Overview of System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2008 R2’. Presented by our Technical Product Manager Kenon Owens, it will be chocked full of new and cool VMM 2008 R2 items. Go here to register for this Wednesday, September 09, 2009 (10:00 AM Pacific) event.

Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode RC

pthurrott — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 06:30:09 GMT

Microsoft has updated its virtualization solution for Windows 7 to the release candidate (RC) milestone:

Windows Virtual PC provides the capability to run multiple Windows environments such as Windows XP Mode from your Windows 7 desktop. To download Windows Virtual PC and the Windows XP Mode environment, please follow the steps below. For information on how to set up Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode, check out Running Windows Virtual PC with Windows XP Mode in the Documentation section.

Windows XP Mode will only run on Windows 7 Professional and Windows 7 Ultimate editions and requires a virtualization engine, such as Windows Virtual PC.

Note: Beta to RC upgrade is not supported. You need to uninstall the Beta version of Windows Virtual PC and Windows XP Mode before installing the RC bits.

Update: Neowin notes that the RC version supports Jump List integration and other new features, which is pretty cool. Thanks to Halil M. for the link.

Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC Public Beta now available

pthurrott — Tue, 05 May 2009 19:25:20 GMT

Microsoft:

Brief Description

Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 makes it easy to install and run many of your Windows XP productivity applications directly from a Windows 7-based PC.

Overview

Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 makes it easy to install and run many of your Windows XP productivity applications directly from a Windows 7-based PC. It utilizes virtualization technology such as Windows Virtual PC to provide a Virtual Windows XP environment for Windows 7.

Windows XP Mode provides a 32-bit Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (SP3) environment pre-loaded on a virtual hard disk. Client virtualization software, like Windows Virtual PC is a pre-requisite to use Windows XP Mode.

Have fun!

XP Mode requires hardware-assisted virtualization. Which processors work?

pthurrott — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:25:00 GMT

Ed Bott does a nice job of furthering the XP Mode/Windows Virtual PC discussion with a look at which processors actually support this new Windows 7 feature. And that's important, because if your processor doesn't support it, you can't use it.

A heavily hyped new Windows 7 feature, XP Mode, won’t work on some Intel-based products? The problem is caused by the Byzantine way Intel packages its CPU technology—adding, removing, and tweaking features like bus speed and cache size to hit the widest variety of price points for PC makers.

The new Windows Virtual PC (now available as a beta release for the Windows 7 Release Candidate) requires hardware-assisted virtualization. For your PC to run XP Mode in Windows 7, the CPU has to support Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT) or AMD Virtualization (AMD-V), and this support has to be enabled in the BIOS.

In the case of Intel’s phenomenally confusing product matrix, VT support is added and removed from CPU models for reasons that have more to do with marketing than technology. You can’t necessarily tell from the model number whether VT support is present or not.

Tables ensue. Useful tables. :) Please refer to the original post for more information.

XP Mode Beta now available and MSDN and TechNet

pthurrott — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:20:45 GMT

And speaking of the Windows 7 RC, you can also download XP Mode Beta (Windows Virtual PC) on MSDN and TechNet now.

Have fun!

This guide describes how to install Windows Virtual PC and set up a virtual environment, such as Windows XP mode or a custom virtual machine. It also shows you how to try out some of the key features of Windows Virtual PC.

Microsoft finally discusses XP Mode in detail

pthurrott — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 13:53:33 GMT

After allowing Rafael and I to pretty much own the XP Mode discussion for the better part of a week for some reason, Microsoft has finally published some detailed information about this important new Windows 7 feature. I don't normally just republish entire articles like this, but this one is a big deal, so here we go. I am underlining the bits I think are most relevant...

Helping Small Businesses With Windows 7 Professional and Windows XP Mode

Q&A: Scott Woodgate discusses how Windows XP Mode helps customers maximize productivity and manage their technology infrastructure, while migrating to Windows 7. Woodgate also shares how Windows Virtual PC works with Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V).

As part of the upcoming Windows 7 Release Candidate milestone, Microsoft will release a beta version of Windows XP Mode, which allows users of Windows 7 Professional and above to launch many older Windows XP productivity applications directly from their Windows 7 desktop. The Windows XP Mode stand-alone feature is specifically designed to help small businesses that are using Windows XP applications move to Windows 7. For larger businesses, Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V) MED-V 2.0 builds on top of Windows Virtual PC and provides centralized management of Windows XP Mode. MED-V 2.0 will be available in beta within 90 days of general availability of Windows 7.

PressPass spoke with Scott Woodgate, director of Desktop Virtualization and Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) at Microsoft, to find out how this new advancement is helping ensure a smooth transition for customers planning to migrate to Windows 7.

PressPass: What are you announcing today?

Woodgate: We are announcing the beta release of Windows XP Mode for Windows 7. Small businesses told us they wanted help upgrading to Windows 7. Windows XP Mode, an optional feature of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise and Ultimate editions, helps small businesses upgrade to Windows 7 by providing a virtual Windows XP environment capable of running many Windows XP-compatible business and productivity applications. Customers can run many older Windows XP business and productivity applications within Windows XP Mode and launch them from the Windows 7 desktop with just a single click. A beta of Windows XP Mode will be made available on April 30.

PressPass: How does Windows XP Mode work?

Windows XP Mode is the combination of two features. The first part is a pre-packaged virtual Windows XP environment. The second is Windows Virtual PC, which is used to run the virtual Windows XP environment. Customers can install their applications into Windows XP Mode using typical installation processes such as downloading from the Web or using the product CD. Once installed, the applications are automatically available on the Windows 7 Start Menu and can be launched just like any Windows 7 program. Optionally, these Windows XP applications can be pinned to the Windows 7 Task Bar and launched using just a single click from the Windows 7 desktop.

PressPass: What types of applications are suited for Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC stand-alone?

Woodgate: Windows XP Mode is best suited for older business and productivity applications such as accounting, inventory and similar applications. Windows XP Mode is not aimed at consumers because many consumer applications require extensive use of hardware interfaces such as 3-D graphics, audio, and TV tuners that do not work well under virtualization today. The sweet spot for applications that run in Windows Virtual PC is business and productivity applications that tend to conform to the basic Windows API (Application Programming Interface.) Small businesses operate under constrained resources and are highly sensitive to the time and expense required to upgrade their PC. Windows XP Mode provides small businesses with the ability to run many Windows XP applications, saving time and expense, but Windows XP Mode does not have 100 percent compatibility with all Windows XP applications. We encourage ISVs (Independent Software Vendors) and customers to install their applications in Windows XP Mode during the beta timeframe and provide us with feedback on their experiences.

PressPass: Does Windows XP Mode offer any benefits for larger businesses? How does this announcement relate to Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization (MED-V)?

Woodgate: Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC as stand-alone features are specifically designed for small businesses and provide an unmanaged IT experience. For larger businesses looking to reduce the cost of ownership of deploying Windows Virtual PCs across hundreds of users, Microsoft provides MED-V. MED-V is one of the six components in Microsoft Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP), a dynamic desktop solution designed for better management and control of enterprise desktop environments. MED-V is the management tool for Windows Virtual PC; it builds on top of Windows Virtual PC to run two operating systems on one device. Basically, by adding virtual image delivery and policy-based provisioning, it facilitates centralized management. This is a great tool for IT pros who want to reduce the cost of managing and deploying Windows Virtual PC.

Key features that MED-V provides include centralized management, policy-based provisioning and virtual image delivery. MED-V v1 is available today for Windows Vista and provides management for Microsoft Virtual PC 2007. MED-V 2.0 will be available in beta within 90 days of the general availability of Windows 7 and will be extended to manage Windows Virtual PC on 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7.

PressPass: How do small businesses handle these management tasks?

Woodgate: An important consideration of working with virtualization technology is the fact that the user has both the physical and the virtual PC to maintain. Every PC requires a degree of maintenance including but not limited to keeping the operating system and applications up to date with patches, virus and malware protection, and backup. Windows XP Mode is pre-configured with the Windows XP firewall and to apply updates automatically from Windows Update. It is not pre-configured with anti-virus or anti-malware software, which is recommended. Because of the need to maintain the virtual machine, we recommend everyone make best efforts to upgrade applications to run natively in Windows 7 and use Windows XP Mode only when necessary.

PressPass: How does Windows XP Mode align with Microsoft’s commitment to application compatibility?

Woodgate: With Windows 7, we’ve worked very hard to maintain compatibility with Windows Vista applications. We have an array of tools and resources to help with application compatibility. Virtually all Windows Vista-compatible applications, as well as the majority of Windows XP applications, run unmodified on Windows 7. For those that do not, the Programs Troubleshooter in the Control Panel provides a wizard interface to employ compatibility features that allow applications to run natively on Windows 7. For IT pros the Application Compatibility Toolkit provides finer-grained control over the compatibility features, also referred to as “shims.” When an application cannot run or be natively shimmed, that’s when it’s most appropriate to use Windows XP Mode technology.

PressPass: How can customers get Windows XP Mode?

Woodgate: Beta testers can download Windows Virtual PC and the virtual Windows XP environment later this week. When Windows XP Mode is released to production, there will be two ways for customers to get Windows XP Mode. The easiest way will be to get it pre-installed on a PC from an original equipment manufacturer or local value-added reseller. This requires minimum configuration and delivers the most compelling experience for small to medium-sized businesses. As an alternative, Windows Virtual PC and Virtual Windows XP will be available as downloads from Microsoft.com for Windows 7 Professional, Ultimate and Enterprise customers. Windows Virtual PC requires PCs with Intel VT or AMD-V hardware virtualization technology enabled in the PC BIOS. Windows XP Mode can be installed by anyone with reasonable PC maintenance experience; however, it is definitely easier to acquire via a new PC.

PressPass: Does Windows 7 have higher system requirements with Windows XP Mode installed?

Woodgate: Yes. We recommend that customers use Windows XP Mode on a PC with 2GB of memory. We also recommend an additional 15 GB of additional disk space for Windows XP Mode. In addition, Windows Virtual PC requires a PC with Intel-VT or AMD-V enabled in the CPU, as it takes advantage of the latest advancements in hardware virtualization.

PressPass: What have you heard from your customers about Windows XP Mode?

Woodgate: The early feedback we’ve received from customers on the concept is very positive, saying that they value our commitment to helping them manage their business. This new release reinforces our efforts to fuel business success by providing the right tools for our customers to flourish and succeed. By empowering our customers with Windows XP Mode, we are giving them the best of both worlds. They can now conveniently migrate to Windows 7 and move existing applications that may not have been compatible directly with Windows 7.

Good stuff. Nothing new per se (that is, with what we've said about XP Mode specifically), but it's nice to see it all laid out in official form.

Oh, and then there's this follow-up about MED-V v2.0:

How MED-V v2 Helps You Manage Windows XP Mode

Windows 7 Release Candidate availability

pthurrott — Sun, 26 Apr 2009 12:47:49 GMT

I wasn't aware that Microsoft had released this info to the public, but they have. :) So now I can talk about it…

The Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) will be made available to MSDN and Technet subscribers on April 30, 2009.

The public release of the Windows 7 RC will begin May 5, as previously reported.

Beta testers? I'm sure they'll get it eventually. Microsoft seems to have forgotten that they exist.

BTW … One thing we still can't discuss is the Windows Server 2008 R2 RC release. Expect news there in the days ahead as well.

And I'll be asking about the availability plans for XP Mode. I've heard that a beta will happen this coming week, but I'm not sure yet if that's public or for a smaller group. Hopefully this release is newer than the one we've been using since March.

Windows XP Mode Internals - Part 1 (Overview)

pthurrott — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 23:47:54 GMT

As promised, Rafael begins his deep-dive into XP Mode for Windows 7:

To start, Windows XP Mode (XPM) is a new tight-knit solution of several already-available-today technologies. At the core of XPM are Virtual PC 7 (VPC) and the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) protocol. While VPC’s purpose is pretty clear, RDP’s may not. XPM makes heavy use of RDP features such as Remote Applications Integrated Locally (RAIL), compositing, and multi-monitor support.

Windows XP Mode will be installable on three Windows 7 SKUs: Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate. More specifically, the license policy VirtualXP-licensing-Enabled is only installed and present in these SKUs, of which XPM checks upon use. The timeline for XPM release is still under wraps, but we’ve been told to expect a beta version next week and a final release roughly around the Windows 7 RTM timeframe.

Now, what are you going to see in terms of installable components? XPM comes in two parts – The VHD package – containing a preinstalled, shrink-wrapped copy of Windows XP with SP3 — and an optional Windows update (KB958559) that deploys a variant of the upcoming Virtual PC 7 (VPC) product. After installation, your XPM installation folder will contain an expanded VHD, a text file containing the product key, and some random words in license agreement form.

Read the post for more, and look out for Part 2...

XP Mode fun: IE 6 and IE 8 side-by-side

pthurrott — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 16:34:36 GMT

Rafael will document how to "publish" built-in XP applications so that they appear under Windows 7 with XP Mode (apps installed after the fact are auto-published), but here's a fun shot of IE 6 (XP) and IE 8 running side by side under Windows 7:

Good stuff.

(Note that, as you can see above, XP apps aren't [currently?] able to use Aero Snap, so I had to manually position that window.)

XP Mode and gaming: Not so much

pthurrott — Sat, 25 Apr 2009 16:26:50 GMT

I've gotten a lot of questions about whether XP Mode will be suitable for gaming.

Put simply, no, it will not be suitable for gaming.

First, this technology is aimed at businesses, not consumers. It's licensed only for Windows 7 Pro, Enterprise, and Ultimate. What Microsoft is trying to accomplish here is to remove the final deployment blockers for its most recent version of Windows. Those are compatibility related. Many businesses run older applications or, more important, custom apps that they built on older Windows versions.

Second, it's based on Virtual PC vNext (7.0) not Hyper-V, and the performance you get is similar to what you see in VPC today. That is, it's fine for applications, not so good for anything strenuous.

As a caveat, I suppose that older, DOS-style games that run on XP (DOOM or whatever) might run fine under this environment, but I haven't tried that yet. And let's face it, you can always use DOSBox or whatever for that stuff.

BTW: Fun XP Mode fact: XP Mode application windows running under Windows 7 cannot take advantage of things like Aero Snap.

Secret No More: Revealing Windows XP Mode for Windows 7

pthurrott — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 15:53:25 GMT

Rafael Rivera and Paul Thurrott reveal a new Windows 7 application compatibility feature called Windows XP Mode. Yes, it's that "secret new feature" you've been hearing about ...

Over a month ago, we were briefed about a secret Microsoft technology that we were told would be announced alongside the Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) and would ship in final form simultaneously with the final version of Windows 7. This technology, dubbed Windows XP Mode (XPM, formerly Virtual Windows XP or Virtual XP, VXP), dramatically changes the compatibility story for Windows 7 and, we believe, has serious implications for Windows development going forward. Here's what's happening.

XPM is built on the next generation Microsoft Virtual PC 7 product line, which requires processor-based virtualization support (Intel and AMD) to be present and enabled on the underlying PC, much like Hyper-V, Microsoft's server-side virtualization platform. However, XPM is not Hyper-V for the client. It is instead a host-based virtualization solution like Virtual PC; the hardware assistance requirement suggests this will be the logical conclusion of this product line from a technological standpoint. That is, we fully expect future client versions of Windows to include a Hyper-V-based hypervisor.

Windows XP Mode running Word 2003 under XP and Word 2007 under Windows 7.

XP Mode consists of the Virtual PC-based virtual environment and a fully licensed copy of Windows XP with Service Pack 3 (SP3). It will be made available, for free, to users of Windows 7 Professional, Enterprise, and Ultimate editions via a download from the Microsoft web site. (That is, it will not be included in the box with Windows 7, but is considered an out-of-band update, like Windows Live Essentials.) XPM works much like today's Virtual PC products, but with one important exception: As with the enterprise-based MED-V (Microsoft Enterprise Desktop Virtualization) product, XPM does not require you to run the virtual environment as a separate Windows desktop. Instead, as you install applications inside the virtual XP environment, they are published to the host (Windows 7) OS as well. (With shortcuts placed in the Start Menu.) That way, users can run Windows XP-based applications (like IE 6) alongside Windows 7 applications under a single desktop.

Obviously, XPM has huge ramifications for Windows going forward. By removing the onus of legacy application compatibility from the OS, Microsoft can strip away deadwood technology from future versions of Windows at a speedier clip, because customers who need to run older applications can simply do so with XPM. For Windows 7 specifically, XPM is a huge convenience, especially for Microsoft's corporate customers, who can of course control XPM behavior via standard Microsoft administration and management technologies like Active Directory (AD) and Group Policy (GP). And it significantly recasts the Windows 7 compatibility picture. Before, Microsoft could claim that Windows 7 would be at least as compatible as Windows Vista. Now, they can claim almost complete Windows XP compatibility, or almost 100 percent compatibility with all currently running Windows applications.

We've both been using and testing Virtual XP for over a month and we we've been dying to communicate what we've discovered, as you might imagine. So here's what you can expect. Paul will publish a high-level screenshot gallery on the SuperSite for Windows showing off Windows XP Mode and what it's like to run Windows XP and Windows 7 applications side-by-side. On Within Windows, Rafael will provide a deep technical dive into Windows XP Mode and explain how it works and how you can make it work the way you want. Later, Paul will add a Windows XP Mode article to his Windows 7 Feature Focus series as well. And of course we'll be covering this feature in-depth in "Windows 7 Secrets," which will be published by Wiley & Sons later this year.

Thanks for reading!

Paul and Rafael

UPDATE: My Windows XP Mode for Windows 7 Screenshot Gallery is now available. --Paul

Linux Integration Components for Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V

pthurrott — Sat, 11 Apr 2009 13:24:26 GMT

Looks like Microsoft has released an update for Windows Server 2008 Hyper-V so that it can work more efficiently with Linux guest OSes.

Brief Description

A set of drivers that enable synthetic device support in supported Linux virtual machines under Hyper-V.

Overview

When installed in a supported Linux virtual machine running on Hyper-V, the Linux Integration Components provide.

Driver support for synthetic devices: The Linux integration components include support for both the synthetic network controller and synthetic storage controller that have been developed specifically for Hyper-V. These components take advantage of the new high-speed bus, VMBus, which was developed for Hyper-V.

Hypercall adapter: The Hypercall adapter is a thin layer of software that translates the Xen-specific virtualization function calls from a Xen-enabled Linux kernel to Microsoft Hyper-V hypercalls. This results in improved performance for the Linux virtual machine.

Fastpath Boot Support: Boot devices now take advantage of the storage VSC to provide enhanced performance.

Thanks, Rafael.