Chapter 4: Understanding Windows Integrity Control

The Future of Virtualization

Well, according to Microsoft, there isn't one. As I've mentioned before, Microsoft sees this as a short-term fix that won't last beyond Vista. As I also suggested before, there were five years between XP's release and Vista's release, and I wouldn't be surprised if we didn't see Vista's replacement for another five. That means that file and Registry virtualization is, as I've already suggested, basically a five-year warning to start inventorying your software's application compatibility needs, because Windows Vienna-Microsoft's current code name for the post-Vista, post-Server 2007 brand of Windows-may not run that old code or, if it does, it'll only run the code if you strip Windows of most of its security features.

Yes, the notion that a future Windows is going to force you to get rid of software that you've been using for years is frustrating, but in the end it's really for the best, believe it or not. Windows desperately needed to get more secure, and doing that required structural changes that unavoidably means that some applications won't work anymore. Besides, the things that applications are doing that Windows doesn't like are things that Microsoft has been telling programmers not to do since April 1992; enforcing the rules after 14 years doesn't seem all that unreasonable. There just comes a time when that old Model T just isn't safe to drive on a superhighway, and the same might be said of "Module Ts" on the information superhighway.

But what if you really do need to run an old program? Use a virtual machine. VMWare gives away their VMWare Server as I write this, and Microsoft is giving away both Virtual Server and Virtual PC. In case you've never played with anything like these, here's how they work. Virtual machine managers are programs that let you create imaginary computers inside your computer-pieces of software that nearly perfectly emulate real computer hardware called "virtual machines." You can then install operating systems on these virtual machines, and at that point you've got an imaginary computer isolated in its own little sandbox, able to run just about any application that you'd like. Virtual machines even have virtual network cards, and so these systems can interact with real computers over your network if you like. Virtual machine technology is a powerful way to build and maintain systems for testing and to run older applications.

File and Registry virtualization is an extremely useful part of the User Account Control software that will, I think, make running older software a heck of a lot easier.

Note 

I should note, however, that Vista isn't the first time that we've seen file and Registry virtualization in Windows, believe it or not. The Application Compatibility Toolkit has offered file and Registry virtualization as an option, one of its "shims," for as long as I can recall. But it was, at least in my experience, a bit hard to understand under ACT, and adding it right into the OS will make it more useful.