Vista - New operating system in Virtual PC

I want to try a different operating system and office suite in Virtual PC
2007, which I have just downloaded from the Microsoft site. If I decide I
like the operating system can I install it as my "proper" OS without problems
with activation and/or validation. What I'm trying to do is evaluate Office
2007 without upsetting my Office 2003 installation which I need for a
computer course I'm studying. The instructions and screenshots in the course
refer specifically to Office 2003 so I don't want to make changes that I
cannot undo. At the moment I'm running XP Pro Media Edition with Office 2003,
but will probably end up using Vista and 2007 when I've completed my course,
and this is what I intend to install in Virtual PC if it will work. Any
ideas? Thanks.

"John North" <JohnNorth@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:35865AB7-28E6-4476-A06E-1B770229B0BB@xxxxxx
Yes you can but, obviously, you still need your "proper" OS to boot your PC
and launch VPC first... :-)
VPC is perfect for software evaluation - almost designed specifically for
it, you might say...
Vista and Office 2007 will work perfectly in a virtual machine. A couple of
things, though:

1) A virtual machine is considered the same as a physical machine in terms
of licensing - so you'll need a separate licence for Vista and a separate
licence for Office 2007. However, if you were to sign up for Technet or
MSDN, you could install the software on as many virtual machines as you like
so long as it was for development, testing or demonstration purposes - you
would be covered under this because you'd be developing your training course
documentation...

2) A virtual machine needs as much RAM as a physical machine - Vista with
Office 2007 needs at least 1GB RAM to run anything like efficiently, though
others disagree. Also, however much RAM you allocate to your virtual
machine(s) reduces the amount of RAM available to your host, so make sure
your host has got plenty...


--
Mark Rae
ASP.NET MVP
http://www.markrae.net

VPC is perfect for evaluating software. However, all the usual licensing
terms apply. If you meant the TechNet site at the Microsoft site you
downloaded the software from then just evaluate the software under the terms
of your TechNet subscription. If you are downloading the trial copy from
the Office download center you can do your evaluation within the grace
period. The advantage is that after the evaluation you can simply dump the
software.

If you decide to install Office 2007 on your host then keep in mind that you
can run both the 2003 and 2007 software in parallel with the exception of
Outlook. You must choose one version or the other.

"John North" <JohnNorth@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:35865AB7-28E6-4476-A06E-1B770229B0BB@xxxxxx

Thanks very much for your reply. My decision is easier to make now, and I
understand the importance of the Technet reference, but I'm still unsure
about my licencing position when I make the Vista/Office 2007 installation my
"proper" installation, that is, when I abandon my XP Pro/Office 2003 setup
when I've completed my course.

I hope I'm not wasting your time or have missed the obvious, but when I
install Vista and Office 2007 as my "real" setup will I not have issues with
re-installing when there will be a record of a previous installation when I
authenticate / validate the new installation. I've never done this before and
I can't afford to make mistakes.

Also, I was going to upgrade my memory anyway, so this is a good reason to
this first.

Thanks again.

"Mark Rae [MVP]" wrote:

Hi, thanks for your reply.

I've read quite a few posts and comments about running the two versions of
Office in parallel and noted the point you made about Outlook. This is not a
major problem because I intend to use Office 2007 when I've completed my
course (which requires Office 2003). The information I've gathered so far
offers different, often conflicting, opinions about running the two versions,
so I decided to play it safe by using Virtual PC.

Have you, or any of your colleagues, run the two Offices suites together,
and if so, what problems were encountered? I have already got 2003 on my
machine, so installing in the right order shouldn't be a problem, but I can't
afford to have my machine out of use if I have problems so obviously I'm
worried because some of these actions are not realistically reversible
without a re-install.

Thanks again for your help.





"Colin Barnhorst" wrote:

"John North" <JohnNorth@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:C429CC98-C501-4D8B-8B47-59E273C5DDC9@xxxxxx

[top-posting corrected]
VPC is an application, not a dual-boot facility. So, if you want to make
Vista / Office 2007 your "proper" installation, you will have to trash your
XP machine first - don't even think about trying to upgrade. That means that
you will need a licence for Vista and a licence for Office 2007.
No. As above, you will need to trash your existing XP installation first...
Yes indeed.


--
Mark Rae
ASP.NET MVP
http://www.markrae.net

"John North" <JohnNorth@xxxxxx> wrote in message
news:6D35DE7A-7B00-4239-83B4-DABEB4D9CB2D@xxxxxxYou could always clone your current system before attempting to setup the
two Office versions, knowing you can revert to as it was if things go wrong.

In article <u5EyaRV3IHA.4448@xxxxxx>
"Mark Rae [MVP]" <mark@xxxxxx> wrote:Bad advise. Upgrading XP to Vista works for most people, and there's the added
advantage of not having to worry about drivers and other problems that you
will run into with a clean install of Vista. I would have had to purchase a
new scanner and printer had I not gone the upgrade path.

"Anonymous Remailer (austria)" <mixmaster@xxxxxx> wrote in
message news:303e7ec02a12e8e595eb370dbf3075d9@xxxxxx
I disagree.
Upgrading an operating system is always the wrong answer. If you're using XP
drivers in Vista, then you're using the wrong drivers... If your hardware
doesn't have native Vista drivers, then upgrade your hardware or stay with
XP - anything else is just a kludge...


--
Mark Rae
ASP.NET MVP
http://www.markrae.net

In article <#bXAZHW3IHA.1200@xxxxxx>
"Mark Rae [MVP]" <mark@xxxxxx> wrote:More bad advice. But, since you're so sure of your advice, what about this scenario?
I have a software package that requires online activation, but the company has since
gone out of business. What is your advice?

Let me guess. Buy new software.