Don't forget Hyper-V core (Free) you can even use it to do native booting to VHD file. Free and legal, using Microsoft's latest and greatest!
Most of the members here can safely consider me a noob in matters dealt with here and specifically in virtualisation. However that should not come in the way of me trying this out. Solution: try virt. on win 7 64 bit to learn something, and more importantly to test out new software before putting them in the real system. No programming or developing at all. Tools already available: free: VMPlayer, Virtual Box, Windows XP/VPC; Others: VM WS 7. My queries: 1. for my purpose, will the free solutions suffice. VMPlayer has no ability to make snapshots. VB and VM WS7 have that. 2. if I do not like what I see, can I restore from a system image pre-virt. and expect VM etc and all guest OS to have vanished. This is important as system imaging restore has so far worked for me in testing new software but that still takes 10-15 mins everytime. However, I should have the confidence that restoring sys. image pre-virt. on a PC with virt. will make everything related to virt. vanish. Can then try out new solutions, different softwares (VM WS, VM Player, etc). 3. where do I keep the virtual HD. On my main C:OS, I have 27 GB filled up and 104 GB free. I can easily add 50 GB here on C with the safety of knowing that restoring from pre-virt. image will clear out that VHD and everything. Of course, formating and aborting can also do the same thing. The question is C: better or a different drive. Have copious HDD (4.5 TB internal) and 50-75 GB is not an issue. Say I install VM on C and put VHD of 75 GB on a separate drive say D:, will restoring from system image pre-virt. remove VM from C and make VHD on D useless. I can then delete or format VHD and start afresh. No time limitations there. 4. will snapshots every day or regularly fill up that 50-75GB pretty fast like a normal windows image (8-10GB for basic and 20GB for final). 5. I want to try out the free solutions first simply because they are 100% legit but without compromising on functionality (snapshots and what else I may find). However, some experts suggested VM WS7. Does WS7 need those extra tools or I can do without them (does VMPlayer also ask for those tools). 6. If you see my signature, I have 5 GB DDR3 1333 Ram and dedicating 2 GB to VM is not an issue. Can also add 2 GB to compensate for this loss and increase flexibility. 7. Finally, to activate, can I use Daz loader on a virtual edition of win 7 x64 ultimate/pro. I would greatly appreciate some suggestions so that I can try something new quickly.