Performance would be slower in the virtual istance compared to if
you are running the OS natively (non-virtualized). I don't think
that Virtual PC runs in a 64 bit host OS, so you would need to run
Virtual PC in a 32 bit host OS, meaning the virtualized machine
would be your 64 bit. This would kind of defeat the purpose of
running a 64 bit version of SolidWorks. If you need 64 bit version,
you are working with large datasets. When working with large
datasets, you need all the performance you can get. If its just for
evaluation, keep in mind the performance won't be an accurate eval.
On closer look, Virtual PC 2007 will run as a 32 bit app in a
64 bit host OS, so you could virtualize your 32 bit version of
SolidWorks or whatever else running in a 32 bit virtual machine,
and use the native host 64 bit OS to run more intensive data
sets.
I was doing the XP 32/64 dual boot thing for a bit. My
hardware really didn't support 64bit (old mobo & no driver
updates since original release), so I uninstalled & went back
to 32 bit.
Solidworks revoked my license because I had it installed on my home
PC, 32bit & 64bit...too many installs. SW said that the 32 bit
& 64 bit were 2 different PCs, not a dual boot. I had to give
them my boot.ini file & uninstall it from my home PC just to
unlock the software. The whole affair was a pain in the you know
what & took about 3 weeks to clear up.
I was going to install Vitrual PC, free from microsoft.com.
It allows you to run another OS without doing the dual boot thing.
It makes the second OS think it is the only one there.
As I said, I was going to but I don't have an available license to install XP Pro 32bit.