Microsoft seeks premium to allow virtualization of Vista
Microsoft Corp. plans to charge and arm and a leg to allow users of Apple Computer's Intel Macs to run its next-generation Windows Vista operating system under virtualization.
Instead, Microsoft will require that users purchase a Vista Business or Vista Ultimate license, which will retail for $299 and $399, respectively, in order to emulate the Windows environment.
"You may use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system on the licensed device," the company wrote in the licensing agreements for the higher-priced systems.
"If you do so, you may not play or access content or use applications protected by any Microsoft digital, information or enterprise rights management technology or other Microsoft rights management services or use BitLocker."
Apple, which plans to allow Windows operability as part of its own next-generation "Leopard" operating system, has so far stated that it will do so through its Boot Camp software — a dual-booting solution that runs Windows operating systems natively and without the need for emulation.
However, users of the company's new Intel Macs have so far preferred virtualization solutions such as Parallels Desktop and VMWare for running Windows on their systems. Unlike Boot Camp, which requires that users choose either Mac OS X or Windows each time they start up their machines, virtualization solutions allow both operating systems to run simultaneously.
Earlier this year, Apple took such a liking to Parallels' Desktop solution that it began advocating it over Boot Camp, making prominent mention of the software on its website and in its national television advertising campaign. It also began carrying the software in its retail stores.
While Apple has maintained that it continues to have "a plan" to incorporate Boot Camp into Leopard — due in the first half of 2007 — the company has declined to comment on whether it has been working behind the scenes to transition the technology into its own virtualization solution.
Word of Microsoft's Vista licensing restrictions were first noted in a post on the MacBidouille forums.
94 Comments
So are there physical restrictions on this or does MS expect users to obey the license agreement?
I guess this restriction applies to any OS, even Windows emulated from within Windows. And who'd want to run virtualized Vista anyway? Business apps are handled by XP just fine and games... they're only possible through BootCamp.
So, who does this affect, anyway? Who's going to have Vista both installed nativeley and used under emulation?
Slow news day today, eh?
So, this is sounding to me like it's aimed at having one copy of Windows installed *both* native *and* under a virtual machine. So what about us folks who aren't bothering with dual boot, and will only install & run a copy of Windows under a virtual machine?
From the part of the license agreement quoted in this article, seems to me that my Parallels Desktop VM becomes the "licensed device", and I would *not* be running a virtual machine on top of *that* at all! If so, then I could comply with said license terms installing a legit copy of even the most basic stripped down home version of Vista, as long as the VM *was* the licensed device (albeit that is itself a virtual device). But then, I'm neither a lawyer nor play one on YouTube.
Oh, and this doesn't affect me personally, since I'm still using Win2K (to match the local all-knowing IT dept), with an upgrade in the works any day now to XP. So shouldn't have to worry here about Vista for another 2-5 years ... if it hasn't imploded by then.