Microsoft Virtual PC 2007

Downloaded and installed the free full version of Microsoft Virtual PC 2007 successfully on Lenovo Z61t running Windows 7 Beta.

Within Virtual PC 2007, the option for hardware-assisted virtualization is not available. According to Intel, the processor on Z61t which is Intel Core 2 Duo T5500 does not support Intel Virtualization Technology. But on further checking revealed that it is supported. Also in the BIOS, there is no option for Intel Virtualization Technology. Using another tool SecurAble confirmed that the processor does not support hardware virtualization. The conclusion is it does not matter whether your processor or BIOS support virtualization for Virtual PC 2007 to work.

Next, I tested installing Windows XP in the virtual environment. It took almost an hour to get Windows XP up and running. As shown, I can run IE 6.0 SP3 in Windows XP simultaneously with IE 8 in Windows 7 Beta. This is useful to run those software applications that are still not supported in Windows 7 Beta.

However, you can't expand to full screen in Windows XP and the maximum screen resolution is 1024 x 768 even though Windows 7 Beta runs in 1440 x 900 mode. Also, the date and time in Windows XP don't correspond to the date and time in Windows 7 Beta.