Well, I’ve used VMWare’s virtualization with Windows 7 hosting Ubuntu (and had earlier used it in Ubuntu with VMs for another version of Ubuntu, Windows XP, Windows 98, PCBSD and several other Linux distros). Did NOT like the way the newest VMWare VMs worked with Win7. At all.
I have Linux Mint installed in a Virtualbox VM hosted by Win7. Works great. Love it–and the way Virtualbox integrates well and does full screen nicely.
I have tried to like M$’s Windows 7 XP Mode running under M$ Virtual PC. Really, I have tried to like it–and there are some things to like. Full integration with ALL the hardware on the host machine, right “out of the box” with no need for additions or extensions. OK, that’s nice. But XP Mode will NOT run full screen and still allow access to the Win7 host (and that’s just plain stupid–requires three CLICKs to get back to a Win7 app running behind the fullscreen mode WinXP or over to another VM running in Virtualbox–dumb, really dumb, M$); customizing the GUI is either a PITA or not enabled. IOW, it’s a subset of WinXP running in “crippled mode” for those times when one simply cannot get an essential older app to run in compatibility mode, or when one wants a basic interface to serve as a visual aid in phone support or some such.
But WinXP mode using M$’s Virtual PC is nothing near as complete as a real WinXP running as a guest under VMWare’s offerings or under Virtualbox (and yes, I did try that as well, hosted in Ubuntu, though at the time I could only install a 32-bit version using Virtualbox). Still, I suppose it does have a limited usefulness, although it’s certainly not reason enough for most folks to spend the extra money to upgrade to Win7 Pro (or Ultimate). Win7 Home Premium is certainly Good Enough for those folks who simply MUST use Windows–and I suppose I fall into that category now that I’ve become enamored with Windows Media Center in its now mature iteration in Win7. (Still, I’m very glad to be able to do most things in Linux Mint, hosted in a VM in Win7 :-))
Speaking of different versions of Win7, what features do Pro and Ultimate have that’re so appealing that one might upgrade to one of those versions (for more $$ of course) instead of Home Premium? “…let me ‘splain. No, there’s too much. Let me sum up.”
Windows 7 Pro has only three features not found in Windows 7 Home Premium:
- XP Mode
- Domain support
- Backup to a networked drive
XP Mode? You already have my take.
Most folks on a home network do NOT need support for joining a domain. Businesses? Quite likely (which it is why it’s called Windows 7 Professional), but not necessarily in the cases of many small businesses.
The last was my reason for “going pro” when I purchased my upgrade. Well, that and the fact that I could purchase it for the same price as Home Premium, but that’s another story. Most folks won’t even need the ability to do backups to a networked drive built into the OS. Windows 7–all versions, IIRC–has a very capable backup program that can do backups–even disk mirroring–to various media. The Pro version just adds native ability to back up to networked drives. If a home user wants to do that, more than likely their best bet is to purchase an NAS (Network Attached Storage) device which will more than likely have networked backup ability built into the device.
Geeks preferring to build their own NAS might appreciate the native ability in Win7 Pro to do networked backups.
As for Win7 Ultimate, all it adds to the Pro version is Bitlocker encryption (and freebie solutions to do everything Bitlocker does and more abound) and support for an additional 35 languages. Most folks will need neither of those. Heck, I won’t even use Spanish any more, because of the Mexican government’s active support for outlaw invasion and subversion of the US. Yep. I’m boycotting a language because of misbehavior by the Mexican kleptocratic kakistocracy. *heh*
N.B. I do like the “java” background (pic above) that’s been around since at least Win2K. When I want to rest my eyes a bit, I can just let ’em “defocus” while looking at the background and my icons and mouse pointer appear to “float” on top of a background that seems to be about 2′ behind them. Nice optical illusion. 🙂