Prerequisites

• Virtual PC 2007 (free download)
• A healthy amount of RAM (I have 1GB, it ran fine once I turned off some services like SqlServer and IIS. I also didn’t run any other applications…like Visual Studio…while running Virtual PC and Vista.)

New Virtual Machine

Open Virtual PC and click New…. Select Create a virtual machine, the location you would like to store the virtual machine file, select Windows Vista as the OS, and select Using the recommended RAM. Select a new virtual hard disk including the location for this disk, and then click Finish.

You now have a new virtual machine with no OS installed on it. Select the machine you just created and click Start. Since there is no OS, you will get a prompt asking you to insert boot media. Put your Windows Vista disk into the DVD drive and hit Enter.

We’re Just Getting Started

This is the first thing that happens. I actually had to start my virtual machine 6 or 7 times before it would finally start the next step. The first few times it just sat and spun on this step and eventually told me it couldn’t find the boot disk.

It’s starting up!

Choose your language, time format, and keyboard type.

Enter your product key.

“Read” and agree to the license terms and conditions.

Select installation type. I thought it was interesting that a clean install is classified as Custom (advanced).

Where do you want to install windows?

Installing. This step took about 25 minutes to complete.

Halfway there, but you’ve gotta restart.

Mysterious things are happening here. This took about 5 minutes to complete.

We’re back in business, it looks like we’re getting close!

Setup Windows

Vista is now installed! Before reaching this point it reboots again…now you are prompted to create a user account. I was disappointed in the selection of user account pictures. Being a man, I was hoping for something like a picture of a rocket or a rhinocerous.

Pick your wallpaper.

Choose protection settings.

Make sure Windows figured out your time zone and date/time settings correctly.

Windows Vista Setup thanks you. For what? I’m not sure.

You’re done, but Windows need to check your performance.

Time to login! (and change my user account picture to something less feminine)

Final Analysis

Although I couldn’t run all the cool Vista bling in the virtual environment, I still had fun trying out all the new features in Vista. I think the Finder erm…Explorer is easier to use that it’s XP predecessor. I also like the built in tagging, although this does not work on all document types. The new search functionality is pretty fast, and even finds stuff buried inside of documents. However, I didn’t like that the search from the Start Menu behaves differently than the search from the Explorer window. Being a person who does not bash MS, I’m looking forward to having Vista installed in a non-virtualized environment…someday.

The .NET Framework 3.0 adds new technologies to the .NET Framework 2.0, which makes the .NET Framework 3.0 a superset of the .NET Framework 2.0. You can think of .NET Framework 3.0 as an “additive” release to the .NET Framework 2.0, as contrasted with a generational release where software is revised across the board. (For example, the .NET Framework 2.0 was a generational release over the .NET Framework 1.0.)

The 3.0 Framework adds four new namespaces to the 2.0 Framework:

• Windows Communication Foundation (WCF)
• Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF)
• Windows Workflow Foundation (WF)
• Windows Cardspace

Reference: Deploying Microsoft .NET Framework Version 3.0

Overcoming Fear

So, supposedly the 3.0 Framework is completely “additive” and the existing 2.0 Framework remains untouched. Despite this reassurance, I still felt uncomfortable just installing things willy-nilly. I felt sure I would find some small print buried on MSDN warning us of some critical change to the .NET 2.0 Framework included in 3.0 that would cause all my existing applications to stop working. Feeling comforted when I couldn’t find any warnings and pressured by the need to prepare for the rapidly approaching Community Launch Event, I proceeded.

Proceeding

First, download the framework and run dotnetfx3setup.exe. This will download 30 MB and install the “additive(s)” for you.

You’re done! The .NET 3.0 Runtime Components are now installed!

My first action after installation was to open all my current projects and make sure they all still run. Sure enough, everything still works!

SQL Server Setup failed to obtain system account information for the ASPNET account. To proceed, reinstall the .NET Framework, and then run SQL Server Setup again.

This is caused when ASP.net is installed before enabling IIS. This is easily fixed using the following on the command line:

\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\<version>\aspnet_regiis.exe -i

References

• Avoiding Microsoft SQL Server 2005 deployment pitfalls
• ASP.NET IIS Registration Tool

Operating system not found

I rebooted again and everything was normal. Unfortunately, “Bessie” is so old that normal is very slow…especially when trying to run applications like Visual Studio. I haven’t been very concerned about updating because I mostly use my Apple iMac at home and I have a pretty cool PC at work. I’ve got my eye on one of the Intel Macs…must hold off as long as possible though.