Folks, this is not about desktop virtualisation, but use of virtual machines on desktop (or laptop obviously)...

I wanted to run some Windows XP and Windows 7 VMs on my laptop to test a couple of tools were working on. My main OS is Windows 7 Ultimate, so obviously I tried Virtual PC.

First Virtual PC does come as a stand alone product, but needs download of "Windows XP Mode". You don't necessarily have to install the Windows XP side though. I tried creating a Windows 7 VM, and it took a good amount of time. While applying all the updates I've noticed the VM was slow and the CPU on the guest OS was always 100% - even after Integration Services were applied and before anything else was installed.

I then decided to install VMWare Player. What a difference. The application recognised the Windows 7 DVD, asked for credentials I wanted to use and from that moment I didn't have to touch the VM again until all was installed.

It also performs a lot faster than Virtual PC. Shutdown is almost instantaneous, startup is quick and the guest OS performs extremely well, with a good CPU usage (i.e. low).

Some suggested I should try VirtualBox but I am not in the mood of downloading yet another virtualisation technology. But what are your thoughts?

I am familiar with virtualisation since the old Virtual PC, Virtual Server and obviously Geekzone currently runs on a set of virtual machines under Hyper V.