VMware is a virtual machine application that is useful for testing software to see how much you will like it, and most people who use it probably just perform a generic Windows installation for their test machine. VMware Converter 3 Beta will actually convert your existing Windows installation into a VMware image. That means you won’t have to waste the time in VMware trying to setup a good test machine.
It doesn’t work on Linux but it is compatible with several different versions of Windows:
- Windows XP Professional
- Windows 2003 Server
- Windows 2000 Professional
- Windows 2000 Server
- Windows NT SP4+ (IE5 or higher required)
I haven’t been able to try this software out but I one questions that popped into my mind was the activation process. I’m not sure if cloning an already activated system into a virtual machine would require you to reactivate your Windows installation. It probably would because VMware significantly changes the identity of your hardware in a virtual machine, which is something that would trigger a reactivation in Windows.
This is definitely a nice concept and should save IT people a lot of headaches. I could really see this being useful when someone complains that they are having troubles with some software and you want to investigate it further, then you could get a clone of their OS in order to determine the problem. Of course that would also copy all of the folders that someone may not want a IT person to see so a privacy issue arises. It’s still a cool idea though.
VMware Converter 3 Beta Release Notes
VMware Converter 3 Beta Homepage & Download
Note: Registration is required before downloading
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VMware Converter 3 Beta Makes Your OS Into Virtual Machine