views:

413

answers:

7

What should I use to virtualize my desktop, vmx, xen, or vmware?

Needs to work on a linux or windows host, sorry virtual pc.

@Derek Park: Free as in speech, not beer. I want to be able to make a new virtual machine from my own licensed copies of windows, for that vmware is kind of expensive.

A: 

Um, VMware is free.

Derek Park
The player is free. vmware server and vmware ESXi are free. vmware workstation, which has some really useful features, is NOT free.
Ferruccio
I'm sure it does have some useful features. That doesn't mean that VMWare's other products are not also useful.
Derek Park
player doesn't let you create your own machines..
sascha
There are ways to create VMs other than with server or workstation products. For example http://www.easyvmx.com/ creates the configuration and VHD files for you, so you could setup a machine from scratch using only VMWare Player.
Peter Bernier
+1  A: 

I've been using vmware for about 8 years or so. Currently I'm using it on a mac and am very happy with it. I still have my old windows 95 in suspended animation, I boot it up every once in a while to show my kids the awesomeness of 32M and 256 colors.

That being said, you should probably try them out with the particular environment and apps you will be using, and see which one is best for you.

One feature of vmware I really like is the ability to snapshot the system. I do this before every software install, and when one of them goes awry I just revert the virtual box back to the pre-install state. It's great!

Mark Harrison
+2  A: 

I've only had experience with VMware ESX, and while it's a fairly expensive product, it is also very powerful. I would definitely recommend it if you have the resources. Depending on your needs, they also have a more basic (and free) version, VMware Server.

bcwood
vmware ESXi is free
Ferruccio
+7  A: 

Try VirtualBox. It's free, open source, and it runs on Windows, Linux, Macintosh and OpenSolaris.

John
+1 for VirtualBox. I use it on my Fedora machine at home. Overall it is pretty good. Everyonce in a while my virtual machine will just end with a status of Aborted, but other than that no complaints. It runs well and does what I need. Seemless mode is also very nice.
Bob
+3  A: 

@ChanChan, I don't think you can claim to be only interested in freedom when you ask if you should "Pay for vmware." I'm forced to assume you are talking about money there, not about freedom. :p

Nonetheless, I gave you a poor link. VMware Server is free (as in beer) and will run Windows VMs just fine.

For what it's worth, I've also used Xen, and it's perfectly good, too.

Edit: I reread this and it sounds really obnoxious and rude. So, I'd just like to apologize, ChanChan, for not taking more care with my reply. (I would have apologized in a private message, but we don't have those yet.)

Derek Park
+1  A: 

We have been using VMWare Server in production for 2 years now, and are migrating to ESX next year. For your desktop the free VMWare version will work well for you. There is also a utility to convert an existing machine to a VM slice.

David Robbins
A: 

I've tried VirtualBox, VMWare Server (free) and Virtual PC. Of the three, VMWare seems to be the fastest. The other two were just too slow for me. The one thing I don't like about VMWare is that you only get one snapshot per vm. Of course, I could get more if I bought the VMWorkstation product but, at $200, it's more than I can afford right now.

Slapout