‘Stupid’ Virtual PC Tricks
So I am thinking that I can explicitly define the roles my notebook plays by setting up Virtual PCs for each role. Eventually, this notebook will have to have its operating system upgraded. Is it possible to migrate, say, all of my Macromedia applications to a virtual PC without any inconvenient side effects? I choose Macromedia (their tools as of 2004) because I depend on their coding tools (I do not depend on their graphics tools like freeHand or Fireworks)—whatever hardware-related performance problems should be limited. Moreover, I can reduce the screen resolution for the Virtual PC so that I can finally magnify those tiny-ass UI fonts while running the physical PC at 1600×1200.
My guessing suggests that my Sonic Foundry and Sony Pictures Digital tools should have direct access to the hardware. Adobe Photoshop and all of my 3D-rendering apps should have direct access as well. However, I know that all of my Microsoft tools can run on a Virtual PC—so that’s two Virtual PCs: a Macromedia coding box and a Microsoft coding box.
By migrating to a virtual PC, it looks like I can plug and unplug huge chunks of hard drive space. When the time comes to upgrade, I can start with a fresh box running Virtual PC and then plug in a virtual machine image packed with “pre-installed” applications. This seems too easy. There has to be catch!