On trying out operating systems in virtual machines

[liam_on_linux]

I quite like VirtualBox. Yes, VMWare has strengths, but VBox works a treat, does the seamless-desktop thing with certain
hosts/guests, and basically why pay?

I use VMware Player when I'm doing stuff that requires direct USB access - it's a lot less hassle than VBox for that. You need to run it with admin rights, though, which is a snag.

But when I am

Comments

[reddragdiva]

For actual work, "server" these days increasingly means "Linux VM". So I would completely disagree on "running an OS in a VM", though I can see the point for reviewing.

[liam_on_linux]

Just out of curiosity - do you mean Linux inside a VM on $OS (which might well be Linux, I suppose), or $OS in a VM under Linux (via KVM or something)?

I guess that's true for production server OSes. Less so for client ones, just yet, though. But when I talk to people trying to "evaluate" Linux as a replacement for Windows, either on clients or servers, then my point is that they will learn nothing substantive about boot times, driver support, system performance, responsiveness or anything else running it in a VM. This is something I find surprisingly hard to get across.

[reddragdiva]

I mean a Linux VM running on whatever (almost certainly Linux). With occasional Windows VMs here and there.

I see your point about evaluation, but if you're talking about server side, the result will likely be a Linux VM. The only substantial case when it won't is when proprietary software (particularly Oracle) has a stupid licensing scheme (per-CPU on the whole VM server) that you have to buy a smaller box just for it.

[liam_on_linux]

OK, gotcha. Ta for that - you make a good point.