The biggest reason to jump to Windows Vista is the protection it offers, especially when it comes to Web browsing. But if upgrading an entire operating system just to view Web pages seems a bit extreme, you might check out the VMware Browser Appliance.
This free-for-download package, built on the freeware VMware Player application, uses a technique called "virtualization" to create a fully functioning virtual PC that runs inside Windows. The virtual PC is completely independent of your Windows setup. That means any malware infections or other changes that occur in the Browser Appliance cannot touch your actual Windows installation. They are stuck in the confines of the virtual machine.
You can download the software from the VMware Web site. It's a huge, 300MB download, so make sure you have the bandwidth to handle it. Once installed, launch the Browser Appliance to see an application window that displays the output from the new machine. The great thing about Browser Appliance, which runs the popular Ubuntu Linux OS, is that it comes preconfigured with the Firefox 1.5 browser. Launch the appliance software, and once Linux boots up inside the virtual machine window, click on the appropriate Firefox icon in the Applications menu. Firefox on Linux and Windows are nearly identical, so if you're used to Firefox, you won't have any trouble getting used to the new approach.
The virtual Linux machine can run side-by-side with your Windows applications. For instance, you can kick off a big Firefox download, then click on Microsoft Word and get back to work on a document. You won't be able to copy and paste between Windows and virtual Linux, but task-switching between them is just a matter of clicking on the appropriate item.
The Browser Appliance enables safe surfing, but there's no reason you can't use it to test-drive Linux. You can install applications, change the OS configuration, and generally work within the virtual PC just as you would with a dedicated Linux system. It's a great way to let kids use a shared PC to browse the Internet and play games without making a mess of Windows.
The biggest drawback? It's a resource hog, which could mean sluggish programs in the virtual PC. The Browser Appliance can require 300MB or more of memory, depending on what you do inside Linux, so performance-hungry apps will run slowly. But if you've got the memory, it can be a valuable tool.
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