At least as early as Ubuntu 8 (I'm not 100% sure), the Ubuntu installation there allows the administrator push F4 and select from a number of options some of which are,
- Normal
- Install a minimal system
- Install a minimal virtual machine
According to the Ubuntu FAQ,
The virtual kernel only includes the necessary drivers to run inside popular virtualization technologies such as KVM, Xen, and VMWare. The server kernel in contrast contains the necessary drivers to work with a wide range of hardware, and should be installed directly on host systems. Other than that, all other options are identical between the server and the virtual kernel.
Note though, that it is still a minimal install so the "Basic Ubuntu server" task packages are missing.
So in theory, the minimal virtual machine option should be used if you are using virtualization technology. The gains would be a faster kernel without the bloat of consideration for many types of drivers. This is because the hardware list in virtual machines is much smaller.
References
Provided what the differences between the installs are - http://askubuntu.com/questions/57336/minimal-system-or-minimal-virtual-machine-on-install