Microsoft's Next Virtual PC Will Run Linux

Fallen Kell writes "Contrary to previous reports, eWeek is reporting that Microsoft's new version of Virtual PC will support Linux as a virtual OS. I for one am very glad that MS did not strip out all the capability from this great product."

Comments

Why wouldn't they?

[Anonymous Coward]

After all -- you still need windows on your machine to run VirtualPC...

Free room and board for the chickens, says the fox

[corebreech]

Two things...

First, I've been using Virtual PC now for many years under both Mac and Windows and I have yet to come across an example of where Connectix went out of their way to support Linux. That Linux runs under Virtual PC is a testiment to the quality of Linux as an operating system and Virtual PC as a x386 emulator, but as far as I can tell, no special effort has been made to support Linux under VPC.

Second, in my view it is likely that Redmond explored the possibility of hobbling Linux under VPC, but found that to do so would either a) entail a rewrite of significant portions of the code, or b) damage compatibility with Windows applications that currently run under VPC, so they decided that c) it just wasn't worth it. Why else wait this long to make this announcement?

When my current copy of Virtual PC on Windows becomes antiquated for whatever reason, I will replace it with VMWare. Hopefully, this will happen at the same time I go AMD64, and I will switch from running Windows as my host OS to running Linux.

Virtual PC on Macintosh has already become antiquated for my purposes, and I have solved that by ceasing to use the Macintosh for everything save development.

Pragmatism or arrogance

[Space cowboy]

So, if MS are happy to let one of their high-priority risks/competitors onto their new product, what's the reason. I somehow doubt it's good-nature :-)

They don't want to antagonise any judicial review of their current "settlement" ?

They simply don't care, figuring that the cost of preventing "those damned hackers" from (ab)using it is higher than simply selling it ?

They've accepted that Linux will not go away, and are making plans to adapt the 'embrace and extend' policy as best they can ?

Hmmm....

Simon.

What they really mean

[dlb]

"Virtual PC will support Linux" as in you can load a supported linux distribution on Virtual PC....for now.

You still have to be running Windows or MacOS to use Virtual PC.

~dlb

"will support Linux" misleading

[a.koepke]

The technology will run almost any x86 operating system in a Virtual PC environment, Huffman stressed. "So Linux can be installed on a virtual machine on Virtual PC. There has been some misunderstanding about this: You absolutely can run Linux in Virtual PC," she said.

The Virtual PC software can run Linux as it can run any other OS that works under the x86 systems. This does not mean Microsoft supports people running Linux. They even state this later on in the article

"We don't support Linux, and we also don't support third-party applications. We direct customers to their Linux providers if they have an issue running Linux on Virtual PC, and if that Linux provider triages that issue as a Virtual PC bug and submits a bug report, we'll work with them to fix the problem. We're treating them like we treat third-party applications," she said.

As it says... they do NOT support Linux but are not going to do anything to block Linux from running under it. Allowing it to run is not the same as supporting it.

Re:"will support Linux" misleading

[WolfWithoutAClause]

As it says... they do NOT support Linux but are not going to do anything to block Linux from running under it.

That isn't quite right. The Microsoft spokeswoman said:

But Microsoft has optimized the product around key customer needs, which is helping them address application compatibility issues they are having with older, custom-written applications when they are buying new PCs and upgrading to newer operating systems, she said.

Translation: we're going to optimise it to run what we want it to run, if it deliberately^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h^h accidentally turns out that Linux runs like a dog under our VM feel free to raise a problem ticket, and we'll get around to it sometime before Hell freezes over, maybe.

Kernel oops.

[valentyn]

Windows XP supports Java
Explorer supports style sheets
Windows 3.11 supported DR-DOS
Office supports XML
Windows Media Player supports MP3

Now Virtual PC will support Linux. That just means Microsoft hates Linux as much as they hate Java, style sheets, DR-DOS, XML and MP3, thinks Linux a danger for their business model (which it is!) and will try to destroy it. (Which of course we knew already).

Never Trust A Smiling Cat...

[Freidenker]

With everything history has told us (DrDos etc...),
who can really believe it will run any non Windows Operating System without any personalized Glitches.,
introduced by "pure hasard"...
Regards,

Re:Never Trust A Smiling Cat...

[Jerf]

To be fair, it's going to be really, really, really hard to introduce "personalized glitches" into the software just for Linux, because "Linux" isn't a single kernel the way DRDOS 9 (or whichever it was) was.

My kernel is almost certainly unique in the world on a binary level. Moreover, if Microsoft does try to glitch the emulator, whatever is hanging up the emulator can probably be patched around. Linux is a moving target, unlike proprietary binaries based on multi-year release cycles. Conspiracy theories aside, even if Microsoft deliberately tries to hobble Linux, it will probably fail to do so for more then a couple of months before the kernel is fixed.

The amount of damage Microsoft can do is finite, since they still have to run Windows on the system.

Re:It will run Linux...

[cscx]

Except if you'd actually had a sense of humor, you'd realize that he was making fun of SCO's $699 "Linux tax."

Re:wheeee..!

[croddy]

No, VMWare runs Linux very well, but VMWare does not run on OSX, whereas VirtualPC will. there was a great deal of concern that VirtualPC would not be able to run Linux, thus the story.

personally, I find this announcement somewhat foreboding, as it hints that MS may threaten to displace VMWare as the machine virtualization software of choice -- if VMWare goes under... well, VirtualPC may be able to *run* Linux, but it will be a cold day in Redmond before VirtualPC runs *on* Linux.

*yawn*

[davmoo]

Microsoft isn't doing anyone any favors here, or tossing us a carrot.

The job of Virtual PC is to emulate a x86 environment. The job of the most common version of Linux is to run on a x86 environment. Doing anything that would willfully prevent Linux from running would most likely also break a hell of a lot of other applications that Microsoft loves.

About the only way Microsoft could stop Virtual PC from running Linux (or any other OS for that matter) without breaking other apps would be to put code in that explicity looks to see if its Linux you're installing, and if so Blue Screen. Even Microsoft isn't going to be that openly blatant.

For me personally, this doesn't really matter. I'm sticking with VMware, and I don't much give a damn what Microsoft does with Virtual PC. VMware ain't broke, so I ain't fixing it :-)

Re:*yawn*

[AVee]

I'm sticking with VMware, and I don't much give a damn what Microsoft does with Virtual PC. VMware ain't broke, so I ain't fixing it :-)

You forgot the must important advantage of VMWare, it not only runs linux, but it also runs on linux.

What the hell?

[Talez]

2 weeks ago: "we do not support the Linux platform but you can try and run it"

This was defined as: "MICROSOFT IS RIPPING LINUX OUT OF VIRTUAL PC!"

Today: "we do not support the Linux platform but you can try and run it" which is now being defined as "YOU CAN STILL RUN LINUX!"

Can someone explain this to me because I am totally confused.

REALLY tired..

[michaelhood]

of people generalizing americans. Just because the editors at eWeek are incompetent, doesn't mean I don't read. This is like saying that your poor grammar ("american's"?), is a good indication that Brits don't brush their teeth.

Burn karma, burn.

Stop Complaining about useless stuff.

[nberardi]

If we all just stoped complaining about useless stuff, we could stop spreading FUD and these guys at eWeek could actually write about real problems.

You do all realize that even if Linux didn't show up in the menu it is still supported. You just choose Other and set your memory allocation. I don't understand what the big deal is and why everybody can't really understand that those OS's listed are just templates not supported OS's. You would think a technical bunch like /. would really understand that an x86 emulatur can run anything that a normal x86 machine can run.

both poster and timothy have misunderstood

[Anonymous Coward]

this is not news. it always could run linux. the story is implying in some way the product has been prevously crippled not to. this is not the case

Runs Linux or runs *on* Linux?

[DrXym]

There is nothing to lose by supporting Linux as a guest OS - Microsoft sell more copies of Virtual PC, they harm VMWare, and at the day you have to be running XP or OS X anyway to use it anyway.

But don't hold your breath expecting to ever see it run on Linux.

The bigger story here is the vaunted price cuts for this software. I'm sure they're not trying to drive VMWare out of business or anything. No indeed.

Re:How does VIrtualPC compare

[bill_mcgonigle]

a couple of the labs here on campus run it on top of RH7 for MS Access (cringe)

There seems to be a glaring lack of an Access-like product for linux. Even FileMaker-like would suffice. Has anybody seen one? I mean a real one, not pg-access (a nice effort, but not an Access replacement). Are there any projects with traction, even if it's like gnumeric was several years ago?

Apples to Oranges comparison

[brokeninside]

The architecture of VMWare and VirtualPC are entirely different. VMWare will never run on any platform other than x86 because of the way it is designed to "virtualize" x86 op codes. VirtualPC, on the other hand, emulates an entire PC in a platform agnostic way which is why you can get it for Mac OS.

So, it does not surprise me that VMWare is performs better. I would be surprised if it didn't. But VMWare is also much more limited, it can't run on non-x86 platforms.

Personally, this is why I think MS bought Connectix and not VMWare. The rumor mill has it that the next generation of the XBox will use a PowerPC processor from IBM. If so, the inclusion of Virtual PC would allow for backwards compatibility with the games of the previous generation.

I also suspect that portions of Virtual PC will end up integrated into 64 bit Windows for Itanium so that Microsoft can run 32 bit x86 code on Itanium without the performance penalty of using Itanium's 32 bit compatibility mode.

Re:wheeee..!

[w42w42]

... well, VirtualPC may be able to *run* Linux, but it will be a cold day in Redmond before VirtualPC runs *on* Linux.

I agree. It would seem to me though, that Microsoft being the legally recognized monopoly that they are, that the government is obligated to make sure that they do not also become the sole provider of emulation software. Of course, it'll be a cold day in Redmond before they do that.

Re:Free room and board for the chickens, says the

[MochaMan]

I've never run the Mac version, as I hate Macs, the last Apple I touched was a Lisa...

Wow... at least you admit that you hate something you've never used. Most people would be too embarrassed.