Long ago, before the era of hardware slices and server farms, virtualization was a desktop thing. From SoftPC to Windows on Windows, desktop virtualization was primarily a tool for developers and support personnel ... people who had a compelling reason to run more than one environment concurrently on their PCs or Macs. Then along came VMware and the VDI (Virtual Desktop Initiative). Suddenly, virtualizing the desktop became the Next Big Thing in TCO reduction, and the big boys and their big plans stole much of the attention away from the traditional desktop virtualization model.

[ VMwareWorkstation 6.0 was selected for an InfoWorld Technology of the Year award. See the slideshow of all the winners in the platforms category. ]

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Fast-forward to today and you find that the market for these tools has contracted a bit. Pioneers, such as Insignia and Connectix, have either faded away or have been acquired, while others, such as Parallels, have emerged, thanks to shifts in platform architecture (for example, Apple adopting Intel CPUs for the Mac). Add to this the impact of external forces, such as the open source movement, and you have what continues to be a vibrant, fluid market, one that serves multiple niche applications, including software development, technical support, and legacy program compatibility.

In this roundup I take a look at four of the leading desktop virtualization packages, including VMware Workstation 6.0 Beta 3, a feature-laden developer workbench; two legacy compatibility solutions, Parallels Workstation for Windows 2.2 and Microsoft Virtual PC 2007; and an open source option you may have never heard of (but likely will in the near future), InnoTek VirtualBox 1.3.

Along the way I’ll explore how well these solutions scale and determine where they fit into the overall desktop virtualization landscape. Hint: Microsoft has conceded the market, while Parallels and InnoTek are still searching for an identity. This leaves VMware as the only company that understands this niche, and even then there are signs of delusions of grandeur (VDI).

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Microsoft Virtual PC 2007
Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 is the long-awaited update to the company’s desktop virtualization product. Three years in the making, it features expanded OS support (Windows Vista as host and guest) and a revised VM architecture that leverages Intel and AMD hardware virtualization technologies. However, little else has changed with the product since its previous incarnation, Virtual PC 2004, was released amid much fanfare. Outside of a few new parameters in the VM settings dialog, in fact, the latest version is indistinguishable from the previous.

Not that this is necessarily a bad thing — one of Virtual PC 2004’s strengths was its approachability. The user interface was uncluttered and easy to navigate, even for VM novices. Add to this some innovative (at the time) features — such as host/guest drag and drop — and it was easy to see why the product gained a significant following among casual VM users. Virtual PC 2007 retains these qualities while correcting long-standing issues such as lack of support for newer mobile CPUs and the inability to work with multiple monitors.

The net result is a product that, despite its lack of growth, still effectively provides a low- or no-cost solution that allows users of Microsoft’s newest OS, Windows Vista, to run legacy applications reliably and without dual-booting to Windows XP. In that regard, Virtual PC 2007 succeeds handsomely, even if it also suggests that Microsoft doesn’t care about winning back the desktop virtualization market.