With the launch of Virtual PC 2007 Microsoft made it clear they have no intention of competing in the desktop virtualization market. The product's lackluster performance and limited feature set will no doubt drive the remaining hangers-on firmly into the VMware camp. However, savvy users long ago discovered a viable alternative, one that doesn't require leaving the Microsoft fold. I'm speaking of Microsoft Virtu With the launch of Virtual PC 2007 Microsoft made it clear they have no intention of competing in the desktop virtualization market. The product’s lackluster performance and limited feature set will no doubt drive the remaining hangers-on firmly into the VMware camp. However, savvy users long ago discovered a viable alternative, one that doesn’t require leaving the Microsoft fold.I’m speaking of Microsoft Virtual Server. Though not marketed as a desktop virtualization solution, Virtual Server 2005 R2 (SP1) works quite well under Windows XP and Windows Vista. It provides all of the basic VM capabilities, including Intel and AMD hardware virtualization support, and is surprisingly easy to use/configure (provided you don’t mind a web-based user interface).It’s also blazingly fast. As I’m writing this I have a Virtual Server VM installing Windows Vista in the background. The process is clocking in at less than 30 minutes, which is competitive with some high-end PCs. In fact, Virtual Server’s performance is so impressive I decided to use it as the baseline reference platform for my upcoming desktop virtualization roundup. Oh, and did I mention it’s free? Definitely worth checking out. Grab the download and take it for a spin. Software DevelopmentSmall and Medium Business