Comment 10 for bug 155362

I too would like to add that I feel this is an important omission in Gutsy.

In order to move closer to defeating BUG #1 we need to be able to convince the market that they can viably do away with a windows boot up. Part of that journey is to take users on the comfortable journey where they still have access to that old familiar OS until they realise they don't need it. - Virtualisation is one option, dual booting is another.

Having upgraded and tested all other features I had made the important decision to do away with a dual-boot configuration where Windows still played a major role. This is an important step, as it helps me demonstrate to the Australian Local Government market that Linux for the desktop is ready.
Sadly, I still need to run some things under a windows environment, but now happy to do this as a VM environment.

Of course, today is the day I started with the VMConverter process to turn the windows partition into a VM - only to discover that the upgrade had KO'd the VMPlayer. .. one thing lead to another which lead me here...

Of course an open VM solution that is well supported would be preferred, but I've not found any that offer the ability to convert a Windows desktop to a VM - they all start with ".. .and now install windows..." This is not an option where laptops are supplied to the company "pre-imaged" from the manufacturer.

"VirtualBox.org" do not appear to have a conversion process, and I've not found any other option that appears to be more than "proof-of-concept-ware"

Any suggestions would be received gratefully.