Vista's Virtual PC Express to run Windows within Windows

Redmond (WA) - Following up on this morning’s news of six versions of Windows Vista, Microsoft’s next-generation client operating system, a Microsoft spokesperson told TG Daily this afternoon that Virtual PC Express, a feature of Microsoft’s new Enterprise and Ultimate versions, will be designed to run older editions of Windows as a subsystem.

"Virtual PC Express will be able to run any previous version of the Windows operating system," the spokesperson wrote. "Customers who have annuity agreements with Microsoft automatically are granted a second license to install Windows as well as downgrade rights. This enables a customer to install an older version of Windows on top of Virtual PC Express without having to acquire an additional license."

What can be inferred from that statement is that some users who purchased retail editions of Windows XP, or found it pre-installed on their new PCs, may not be able to install XP into the Virtual PC Express subsystem without purchasing an additional license. Currently, most retail editions of XP require some form of product activation, in which a product key is checked against a database of installed systems at Microsoft, to make certain the OS isn’t installed on more PCs than the license permits. A user can install one copy of Windows XP on the same PC multiple times, but not on two PCs.

Microsoft’s burgeoning line of virtualization software, which currently includes Virtual PC 2004 and Virtual Server 2005 R2, provides a complete software-based PC environment, complete with AMI BIOS, to any guest operating system. Windows, of course, works fine, but a user could also install Linux or UNIX ; and apparently Vista Enterprise and Vista Ultimate will also feature subsystem capabilities for UNIX software. Recently, Microsoft has made volume licensing exceptions for enterprises installing multiple instances of Windows Server 2003 on a Virtual Server system which is capable of running all those instances on a single processor. But today’s statement indicates that, while subscription and volume-licensed users won’t have to purchase a new license for XP to run virtually, retail users may still need to, as Microsoft will apparently consider a virtual PC to be a PC.