Windows 7: virtualization for windows 7

I have windows & home edition and I want to use virtualization to run Linux in windows 7.

Please suggest me any virtalization software(VMWare Workstation or Virtual Box) which is compartable with windows 7.

why ???

both vmware and virtualbox will run linux as a guest os happily.

Which one will be better..Virtual PC or VMware Workstation ?

Personally I'd say use VirtualBox.

VMware Workstation is the pay for version of their software. I think it's about $180 a license.

Instead, try out VMWare Player 3.0. It's a freebie version of the software, which allows you to create VM's, including Linux and it's got an automatic installer feature which will automatically install and deploy the VMWare Tools on the Linux machine. This can be great if you are brand new to Linux.

+1

Nothing against VMware products, it's just that I find VirtualBox extremely easy to use and configure.

Three different Linux distros running fine and well in my VirtualBox:



GOS and Ubuntu are for fun, Mandriva to work with.

Kari

Kari,

Have you tried VMWare Player 3.0? It can detect from the ISO or the DVD which software you are installing and can actually preinstall things like the VMWare tools and what not and perform the OS installation without prompting you for anything (partitioning, usernames, timezones, and the like).

I don't have any problems with VirtualBox myself...and was the product that I used to use at home until VMWare Player 3.0 came out and could now make VM's as well as play them back.

I would like to run Windows 7 and Linux concurrently on my work
laptop. Has anybody done this? If so, how?

I'd prefer to avoid support issues, so I'm thinking the best
approach might be to run Windows 7 as the host OS, with Linux as
a guest OS, rather than running a hypervisor.

Below are some options I found via web searching. If anyone has
any experience with these or recommendations, I'd like to hear
about it:
coLinux
Cooperative Linux
"... port of the Linux kernel that allows it to run cooperatively
alongside another operating system on a single machine ...
special driver software on the host operating system is used to
execute the coLinux kernel in a privileged mode (known as ring 0
or supervisor mode) ... by constantly switching the machine's
state between the host OS state and and the coLinux kernel state,
coLinux is given full control of the physical machine's MMU (i.e,
paging and protection) in its own specially allocated address
space, and is able to act just like a native kernel ..."
· This looks pretty raw. My gut says don't trust it yet.
Sorry, coLinux.

Windows Virtual PC 7
Windows Virtual PC: Home Page
"... can be used for minimally functional concurrent Linux
hosting. The only interaction you’ll get between Windows 7 and
any Linux version using VPC7 is at the file level."
· I tried loading Ubuntu 10.04 desktop 32-bit on a Windows 7
Professional 64-bit Virtual PC, and it repeatedly died without
any error message. I saw one post which said it might work with
a text-based installer and different graphics options, but
haven't tried it.

VirtualBox
VirtualBox
"VirtualBox is a general-purpose full virtualizer for x86
hardware, targeted at server, desktop and embedded use ... runs
on Windows, Linux, Macintosh, and Solaris hosts and supports a
large number of guest operating systems including but not
limited to Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista, Windows
7), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 and 2.6), Solaris and
OpenSolaris, OS/2, and OpenBSD."
· Has available pre-built developer VMs, all of which seem to
run Oracle Linux 5, Oracle Solaris 11 Express, or Oracle Solaris
10.

Parallels Desktop 4 for Windows & Linux ($79.99)
Overview - Parallels Desktop 4 for Windows & Linux
· Windows 7 64-bit is listed as a "supported host operating
system". Ubuntu 9.04 and versions of Debian, Fedora, Mandriva,
OpenSUSE, RHEL and SLES are listed as "supported guest operating
systems".

VMPlayer
VMware Player: Run Windows 7, Chrome OS - Free Download for a Virtual PC
"VMware Player installs like a standard desktop application.
Once installed, VMware Player runs virtual machines in a separate
window. VMware Player includes features that enable users to
create and configure their own virtual machines for optimal
performance and access any devices connected to their PC."

VMware Workstation 7.1 ($189.00)
VMware Workstation: Run Multiple OS Including Linux & Windows7, on Virtual Machines
"VMware Workstation installs onto the host operating system and
provides broad hardware support by inheriting device support from
the host."

Thank you,
Jerry J. Anderson
CCIE R&S #5000

Hi Jerry, welcome to the Seven Forums.

Linux on a vm on Seven host, or vice versa is easy to setup, easy to maintain and easy to use. Personally I prefer having Linux guest running on Windows host; generally speaking it's easier to setup a fully working Linux vm on a Windows host, than fully working Windows Seven on Linux host.

You can forget Virtual PC. Although it can run a Linux vm, the integration between host and guest is problematic (more). VMware Player and VirtualBox (both free) have no problems with Windows host / Linux guest integration.

So, my recommendation is to install either VirtualBox or VMware Player, select the right Linux distro and install it on a virtual machine.

This tutorial might give you some ideas: Linux - Install on Windows 7 Virtual Machine using VirtualBox

Kari