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• Installing Guest Additions With Windows XP updated and booted, it's time to install some VirtualBox optimizations. Unbind the mouse from the VM by pressing the right Ctrl key. Click on Devices in the menubar of XP's VM window, then click Install Guest Additions. The Sun VirtualBox Guest Additions setup screen should open. Rebind the mouse to the VM by left-clicking anywhere on the Windows desktop. Click Next, I Agree, and then Next again. Check the box next to Direct3D Support (Experimental) if you plan on utilizing DirectX 3D graphics. Click Install to begin copying the Guest Additions files to your VM. When Guest Additions is done installing, click Finish to reboot. After Windows has rebooted and you're back to a workable desktop, a VirtualBox icon will be in the notification area of the taskbar. If you had previously resized the desktop's resolution, it may have reverted back. Also notice that your mouse is now able to move between the VM and host OS without clicking or using the Ctrl key. This is called Mouse Integration and is part of Guest Additions. It can be turned on and off from Machine in the menubar, or by pressing right-Ctrl+I. Sharing Files Remember the shared folder we designated when we tweaked XP's VM settings? You're going to need it now. Navigate to the shared folder in your Linux file manager (mine was the Public folder in my Home directory, /home/adam/Public). This is where you'll put files from Linux (the host OS) that you want to share with Windows XP (the guest OS). This is also where you go to receive files from XP to Linux. To make files from Windows XP available to the Linux host, or to receive files from Linux in XP, you need to first boot up the XP VM. In this step, the sequence must be followed to the letter. This is very easy to get wrong, and a misstep will result in you starting over. Follow the mouse pointer in the screenshot below for easy reference. From the Start Menu, open My Computer, then click My Network Places in the Other Places sidebar. Next, click View workgroup computers in the Network Tasks sidebar. Now, click on Microsoft Windows Network in the Other Places sidebar. Click on Entire Network again, in the Other Places sidebar. Now, there should be an entry for VirtualBox Shared Folders in the window. Double-click it. Your shared folder should be there, listed as \\VBOXSVR\"folder name.” For example, mine is \\VBOXSVR\Public. Since it's such a hassle to go through the XP file manager's sidebar to get here, it's a good idea to put the shared folder in your Favorites. Just click Favorites/Add to Favorites when you're in VirtualBox Shared Folders. From now on, you can get to the VirtualBox Shared Folders directory from Favorites in Windows Explorer. Now you'll be able to easily transfer files between the Linux host OS and the XP guest OS.

• When you get back to the Ubuntu desktop you can now open VirtualBox via Applications/SystemTools/SunVirtualBox. Since we are using the free version of Sun VirtualBox, and not the free and open-source version, we need to agree to the license agreement. To do this, scroll all the way down and then click I Agree. Next, the VirtualBox Registration Dialog window should open. If you already have a Sun Online account, enter your email and password and click Register. If not, you can enter your information and click Register. Alternatively, you can also just click Cancel to continue. Once VirtualBox opens, click on the New button in the navigation bar. This opens the Create New Virtual Machine wizard. Click Next. In the Name field, enter a name for your new virtual machine. If you plan on having several VMs, name each VM descriptively to avoid confusion (such as “Windows XP SP3 32-bit”). You could also name the VM for its intended purpose, such as “Gaming,” “MS Office,” or “Compatibility Testing.” Under OS Type, you can choose the operating system and version. Since VirtualBox defaults to Microsoft Windows in the Operating System field and Windows XP in the Version field, we can leave it alone and click Next. Now we must decide how much system memory we want to allocate to the virtual machine. In this respect, the VM is much like a real system; the more memory, the better. You can allocate up to half of your system's RAM to the VM. My test system has 4GB, so I'm going to give 1GB to the Windows XP VM. This will leave the host OS (Ubuntu) with 3GB when XP is running. After you have decided how much RAM to give to your VM, click Next. Since this is the first time you're running VirtualBox, there won't be any virtual hard disks to chose from. Therefore, we must select Create new hard disk, and then click Next. This opens the Create New Virtual Disk wizard. Click Next again. On this screen, we are presented with the choice between Dynamically expanding storage and Fixed-size storage. The difference is that Dynamically expanding storage will only take up the amount of space used by data in the VM. Fixed-size storage immediately takes up the entire size of the virtual disk. With either option, you will need to specify the size of the virtual disk after clicking Next. The Location field on this page should already be indicating the name that you gave the VM earlier. Using either the text box or the slider, you can specify the size that you want your virtual hard disk to be. Remember, if you chose Fixed-size storage, your real hard disk will lose whatever amount you decide here. If you chose Dynamically expanding storage, this is the maximum amount of space your virtual hard disk will be allowed to consume. I'm happy with the default size of 10.00GB, but you can specify any size that works for you. Click Next. The Summary Screen will display the type and size of your virtual hard disk as well as it's location on your real hard drive. Verify that the options are correct, and perhaps make note of the virtual disk's location. This is a good idea in case you want to backup, or even take your virtual hard disks with you. When satisfied, click Finish. The more space you've given to Fixed-size storage, the longer this will take. After your virtual hard disk is created, that wizard will close and another summary screen will display the Name, OS Type, Base Memory, and Boot Hard Disk that you selected for your new virtual machine. Verify the information and then click Finish.

• How To: Windows XP Mode In...Ubuntu Linux?

  With Windows 7 due out later this month, many of you are no doubt counting the days until release. I've played with both the beta and RC of Microsoft's latest OS, and quite honestly, I liked what I saw. If this had come out in 2006 when 'Longhorn' was promised, I have no doubt that I would not have switched to Linux (at least not yet). However, that's not how events played out. What really happened was 'Longhorn' became Vista, and it didn't make it out the door until 2007. It arrived late, buggy, irritating (UAC), overpriced, underwhelming, confusing (licensing), and in some cases, incompatible. Now, almost three years later, and almost five since Longhorn's initially-planned release, Microsoft is releasing the OS they should have launched several years ago. Unfortunately, Windows 7 is also overpriced (slightly less so than Vista), and even more confusing. But first, let's go over what Microsoft did right. Windows 7 is going to launch when the company said it will launch. Because of a long beta and RC testing phase, 7 is not going to be as buggy as Vista was when it debuted. Microsoft has taken the UAC down a notch. It has also come down on the price a little. The highest edition of 7 (Ultimate) is fifty percent more expensive than the highest edition of XP (Pro). This is opposed to 100% more expensive (Vista Ultimate versus XP Pro). But fair enough, the price did drop somewhat. Underwhelming, 7 is not. In terms of its user interface, Vista was pretty much XP with a reorganized Start Menu and a black taskbar. Flip 3D was basically nothing more than a choppy gimmick (though the thumbnail previews of windows within the taskbar are pretty sweet; Windows 7 kept them, and I use them in Linux). Windows 7 actually succeeds in terms of a being a unified vision that pays tribute to the brand. Everything is made of glass in 7. Vista began this trend with the transparent glass window borders and the overlaid faux-reflection texture. But 7 really takes the use of transparent glass and reflections to the extreme. The window borders, menus, some applications, and even the taskbar and start menu are all made of glass. New tricks include being able to make all windows transparent to see the desktop. As a total package, Windows 7 has what I consider to be the first true Windows theme. Finally, we're left with how Microsoft figured out how to solve its backward-compatibility issues. With the introduction of XP Mode (XPM), Windows 7 will not fall victim to the nightmare of incompatibilities suffered by early-adopters of Vista. XPM is a fully-licensed copy of Windows XP Service Pack 3 running in a VirtualPC Virtual Machine (VM). In many cases XPM is the clincher that holdouts needed in order to finally upgrade. Unfortunately, the confusion created by the Windows 7 licensing scheme has all but ruined their compatibility fix. XPM is only included in Windows 7 Professional and Ultimate. If you want a full retail boxed copy of Windows 7 with XPM, you're going to have to fork over $300 for Professional, or $320 for Ultimate. If you already own a copy of Windows XP or Vista, you can pay $200 for the upgrade to Professional, or $220 for Ultimate. Let that sink in for a minute. That's right, Windows 7 Home Premium (and below) does not have XPM. Most systems sold by retailers come with a version of Windows completely lacking XPM. Wait, it gets better. Thanks to Microsoft's ingenious Windows Anytime Upgrade, consumers who bought a new PC with Windows 7 Home Premium can upgrade to Professional for $90 or Ultimate for $140. If you were sold Home Basic or Starter edition, you'll have to first upgrade to Home Premium for $80. Like I said, 'ingenious.' One way or another, you are probably going to have to pay Microsoft some amount of money if you want XPM... ...or not. If you're open to using Linux , you too can have a fast and secure next-gen OS with full XP compatibility, all for free!