[Updates below: on activation, on vhd files.]
New in the Virtual Appliances Marketplace: Microsoft’s new virtual appliances. Simply download the self-extracting archive, and then you can use VMware Workstation, Server, or Player to automatically import and run the virtual appliance inside.
- Microsoft Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition Virtual Appliance
- Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 Virtual Appliance
- Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Enterprise Edition Virtual Appliance
- Internet Security and Acceleration (ISA) Server 2006 Virtual Appliance
- Internet Explorer 6 Application Compatibility Virtual Appliance (listing temporarily removed — see below)
- Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 Evaluation Virtual Appliance (listing temporarily removed — see below)
Enjoy. Let’s all thank Microsoft for helping expand the world of virtual appliances.
[Update: Evidently importing the machine may be trigger the Windows activation clock. Commenter mcp ended up with a 3-day deadline, but I don’t know for which appliance. Note that some of these images (the first 4) are part of the "VHD Test Drive" program, and are 30-day trials. Correspondent Michael reported that he got the full 30 day trial with them inside VMware Workstation. The other two (and I believe there are an additional two more out there) are not from the VHD Test Drive program and your mileage may vary. More updates as I get more information.]
[Update II: The IE6 Compatibility Appliance contains just a .vhd file (a virtual disk, equivalent to a VMware .vmdk file). The VMware appliance team is developing some better instructions on how to use these within the VMware platform, and in the meantime has disabled them in our directory, just to avoid confusion for now. Note: you’re wecome to download them from MS — they’re easy to find with a quick search.]
