Windows XP Mode, & Virtual PC

Well after having a good play with XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC, I can now feel confident about describing some of it's features.

XP Mode is essentially an XP SP3 virtual machine that runs under Microsoft's new Virtual PC for Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate. At this present time, Windows Virtual PC and XP Mode are at RC level.

One of the first things I noticed before I even installed anything was the name of the virtualisation product ... Previously we have seen Virtual PC 2004, Virtual PC 2007, and Virtual Server 2005 - followed by Hyper-V in Windows Server 2008, all by Microsoft. This product has been named Windows Virtual PC - taking away the year distinction at the end, and proclaiming it at the beginning with "Windows"... interesting decision, I am not sure if that will just initially confuse the matter, or help to set it apart from it's predecessor "Virtual PC" products.

One of the main new features of Windows Virtual PC is it's option install it's Integration Components, and to switch on or off it's Integration Features, and Auto Publish option.... and this is where the thing they are calling "XP Mode" comes into it.

The XP Mode packacge is essentially a preconfigured, pre-activated installation of XP with SP3.

When you get your XP Mode virtual machine up and running, you are presented with an interface which is familiar to anyone who has used and played with other Virtual PC products .... you get a fully functioning XP system running in a virtual environment ... desktop and all. Ok, so nothing suprising there... but here is where the cool part comes in. Lets say you need to use an application that does not install or run in Windows 7, so you install it on your XP Mode virtual machine and hey presto, the application shortcuts show up in the start menu (under the Windows Virtual PC tree) of your Windows 7 host!

Launching this application from your Windows 7 host informs you that the virtual machine needs to be closed before the application can be launched, but when it does launch, it appears as if it where running directly within the Windows 7 environment!

After a bit of tinkering an playing around with this new cool feature I can see that it appears to be a customised implementation of Terminal Services on XP, and the publishing of applications from the XP virtual machine to the Windows 7 host via Terminal Services on the XP virtual machine.

Further tinkering around found that I could install a VPN client on the XP virtual machine, and then lauch that from my host & connect the XP virtual environment to a remote VPN network and then run other applications within that virtual environment which connected to services on that remote network - all the while my Windows 7 host sat happily on my internal network with no interruptions to it's connectivity from things like VPN split tunnelling options disabling the local connection etc....

I can see this version of Microsoft Virtual PC becoming quite handy for many things.

Links:
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• Windows Virtual PC Tips
• Windows XP Mode and Windows Virtual PC

Windows 7 XP Mode

Windows 7 XP Mode ... it's like a virtual XP environment in which to seamlessly run XP applications on Windows 7. I am about to install it and try it out!

Microsoft Network Monitor 3.3

Microsoft Network Monitor 3.3
Always handy to have a link to this :-)

Adventures in the land of Microsoft Certification

Since my employer approved some Microsoft Windows Server 2008 training for me, and subsequently sent me on a training course a couple of weeks ago (Course 6421A: Configuring and Troubleshooting a Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure), I have been regularly studying for my first MS Certification Exam (70-642: TS: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuring).

Along the way I have been discovering a whole heap of "stuff" about Windows Server that I have just never needed to look at before, and "new stuff" like IPv6. This along with my inherent need to tell people about "cool stuff" has made me decide to try Blogger out & see how I go with it :-)