Confirmed: you CAN run Windows 95 on Virtual PC!

(last: Jan. 2008); See also About Vista's Windows Experience Index

So TurtleTracks and I were talking about problems inherent in running old games made for Windows 95/98 on current Windows operating systems (e.g. the limitations of 'compatibility mode' ... and it occured to me that I had only been thinking about [VMWare] and [Virtual PC] in terms of hosting [Vista] on your XP O/S, or vice versa.

What about hosting [Win 95] or [DOS] on your current Windows O/S, and running the games that way?

So, here's what I found from MicroSoft's websites:


From http://support.microsoft.com/kb/831461/en-us (as of Jan. 19, 2008*):

You can use the following operating systems as a "guest operating system" in
a guest PC [do they mean 'on a host PC'? - Editor]:
• MS-DOS 6.22
• Windows 95
• Windows 95 OEM Service Release 2
• Windows 98
• Windows 98 Second Edition
• Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me)
• Windows NT Workstation 4.0
• Windows 2000 Professional
• Windows XP Home Edition
• Windows XP Professional Edition
• OS/2 Warp 4 Fixpack 15
• OS/2 Warp Convenience Pack 1
• OS/2 Warp Convenience Pack 2

APPLIES TO
• Microsoft Virtual PC 2004
• Connectix Virtual PC for Windows 5.2

[Note that it doesn't list Virtual PC 2007]

*
Article ID : 831461
Last Review : May 9, 2007
Revision : 3.4

See also:
"How to Install the PC DOS 2000 Guest Operating System That Is Included with Virtual PC"
"Microsoft Virtual PC for Mac Version 7.0.2 (Update)"

Update:
Okay, the list of "guest" operating systems for [Virtual PC 2007] was cryptically hidden under the button "Product Specifications":
http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/overview.mspx?wt_svl=20323a&mg_id=20323b

According to this page, with the "2007" version:

1. You have to be running XP Professional, XP Tablet Edition, or Vista (no [XP Home] support)
2. The earliest you'll now be able to run are [Windows 98], [Windows 98 Second Edition], [Windows Millennium Edition (Windows Me)], or [Windows 2000 Professional].
   :-(

BUT, the page also mysteriously states (emphasis mine): "Virtual PC can run most [? could you be more vague, please? -Editor] x86 operating systems, not just the operating systems listed below, in a virtual machine environment."

On a side note, the "FAQ" states, for the question "Why are you making Virtual PC free for everyone?":

"Microsoft is investing strongly in virtualization technology for hardware and applications across client and servers. The value in virtualization technology moving forward will be in the management and the operating system rather than in the virtualization stack."

What do you want to bet the real answer is "To distract you from the other offerings that let you run other operating systems like Linux (because we're afraid you might like those other operating systems more if you tried them)." Plus, of course, you have to buy each one of those 'Virtual PC' operating systems from Microsoft...

Links:

• Virtual PC 2007 Home Page {http://www.microsoft.com/windows/products/winfamily/virtualpc/default.mspx}
• "You must have a validly licensed copy of Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 installed on your computer in order to install Service Pack 1 for [Virtual PC 2004]." - from the Service Pack 1 download page.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~posted 19 Jan 2008, by Liberty