Are the Windows Vista Virtualization Limitations Aimed at Apple?

Windows Vista marked the first time when Microsoft has addressed virtualization technology in the operating system's End User License Agreement (EULA). And with the license, Microsoft also introduced limitations to the use of Windows Vista in concert with emulated technologies. For Windows Vista Home Basic and Home Premium, the EULA is clear: "You may not use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system."

In fact, Microsoft is only allowing the use of Windows Vista Business, Enterprise and Ultimate as both guest or host operating systems with virtualization technologies. Here is the EULA fragment corresponding to the use of Vista Ultimate with emulating technologies: "You may use the software installed on the licensed device within a virtual (or otherwise emulated) hardware system on the licensed device. If you do so, you may not play or access content or use applications protected by any Microsoft digital, information or enterprise rights management technology or other Microsoft rights management services or use BitLocker. We advise against playing or accessing content or using applications protected by other digital, information or enterprise rights management technology or other rights management services or using full volume disk drive encryption."

Recently, various sources have put forward the supposition that the virtualization limitations for Windows Vista are targeted at Apple. The business and high-end editions of Windows Vista can run on Mac machines via Apple's Boot Camp and Parallels virtualization product. Reports have alleged that Apple users are locked out from using Windows Vista Home Basic and Home Premium.

But the fact of the matter is that Apple's marketing campaign is based on the fact that the Max OS X is an operating system superior to Windows Vista Ultimate, if not the most advanced OS in the world. Then why in the world would a Mac user want to run stripped down versions of Windows Vista?

Microsoft's previous experience with virtualization technologies and Windows has revealed that there are two target groups: corporate and enthusiast. For the first, there's Windows Vista Business and Enterprise; a single instance of the latter operating system can be installed on up to four virtual machines on the same computer, and for enthusiasts there is Ultimate. And the limitations apply not only to the third party virtualization technologies but also to Microsoft's Virtual PC 2007.

Allowing Vista to run in a virtual machine means additional support hassles for Microsoft. Of course, one question still lingers on. Would Microsoft have still introduced the same limitations for Windows Vista virtualization if it hadn't shelved its own Mac virtualization platform?