Connectix Virtual PC 5

Persuading a computer that it's another computer is known as 'emulation'. With a bit of effort, it's possible to trick a PC into thinking it's anything from a Sinclair Spectrum to a PacMan video game.

Besides the obvious entertainment value, emulation has its more serious side. It's particularly useful for testing software intended for a computer that isn't available or even has yet to exist.

Virtual PC for Windows lets you emulate a PC on your PC but what, you may be wondering, is the point of that?

One good point is that nine out of 10 PCs use Microsoft Windows even though it isn't the only operating system available. So if you want to dabble with Linux or investigate the late, lamented BeOS, you either need a second PC or to be brave or knowledgeable enough to install it alongside Windows.

For the unwary, that's a task that can be fraught with danger.

With Virtual PC, you can create as many 'virtual' PCs as you like that run as just another Windows application. These emulated PCs won't be as powerful as your true PC but they are completely self-contained and if one goes wrong, you can just delete it and start again.

Virtual PC needs a reasonable specification for its emulated PCs to run smoothly, but as long as you only want to use one of them at a time a Pentium III will suffice.

The amount of memory and hard disk space you need depends on what operating system you plan to install: Windows 95 needs 500MB of disk space and just 32MB of memory; Windows XP needs 2GB and 128MB.

You'll also obviously need a copy of the operating system itself, as you don't get one with Virtual PC.

Setting up a virtual PC is the essence of simplicity. Once you've provided a name and how much memory to use, you can boot the PC and install the operating system.

For Linux and later versions of Windows, this simply requires booting from its CD-Rom; from then on, you can stop and start your virtual PC just as you would any other program.

DETAILS
Availability: Free trial from http://preview.connectix.com/trial

Contact: Computers Unlimited 020 8358 5857 (distributor)
www.connectix.com