beta @ amanzi

Microsoft are following VMware’s lead by providing pre-built virtual machines for download. Have a look at this search on the Microsoft downloads site and you’ll find a few there already: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/results.aspx?pocId=&freetext=VHD&DisplayLang=en

These are only official trial versions from Microsoft, so VMware still has the lead here with a whole community of user-created virtual machines most of which are fully-licensed machines ready to run. But these offerings from Microsoft will definitely make it easier for end-users to trial Microsoft’s software.