Tech Shout!

The Microsoft India Development Centre (MIDC) has just developed a new product called the Microsoft virtual PC 2007. This new product from Microsoft allows multiple operating systems to run at the same time on the same physical computer. The Microsoft virtual PC 2007 is available as a free download and will continue to be free software.

According to Srini Koppolu, vice president and managing director, MIDC, 450,000 free downloads were registered in the first week after the launch of the Microsoft virtual PC 2007.

“It’s a strategic technology for the company and not meant for specific revenues,” Koppolu said, as he pointed out that the product has support for only Microsoft operating systems.

Microsoft virtual PC 2007 was developed by a 20-member team. The Windows group team who works at the MIDC was really excited at the enormous response that the product received since it was launched on February 19, this year. They are already working on the next version of client virtualization and server virtualization.

Microsoft virtual PC 2007 provides a time as well as cost saving solution anywhere, as long as users run multiple operating systems. “It is of immense help to enterprises using multiple operating systems. This saves space, time and cost without disrupting Windows environment,” added Koppolu.

Koppolu also said that virtualization would be a key opportunity in the next three to five years. In fact, according to a study, the number of machines with virtualization would increase to one million in 2009 from 135,000 in 2004. The industry spending on virtualization is also expected to go up from $1.5 billion in 2004 to $5.3 billion in 2009.

Virtual PC 2007 from Microsoft has especially been optimized for Windows Vista. This allows business customers to migrate to Windows Vista for a more secure and manageable experience, and at the same time they can also keep a previous Windows environment available to run legacy or custom applications in a virtual settings.

According to Amit Chatterjee, general manager, Windows Group, MIDC, “Using virtual PC, you can create separate virtual machines, each of which virtualizes the hardware of a complete physical computer. You can use virtual machines to run operating systems such as MS-DOS, Windows, OS/2 and several other x86-based operating systems.”