VMware for Linux 2.x: A Credible Alternative to Dual Booting
Dave Aiello wrote, "In an attempt to fully embrace Linux as a server operating system, I decided that the I needed to force myself to use that operating system as much as possible. So, I bought myself the latest and greatest Dell Inspiron laptop, loaded it with as much memory as I could get, and left the comfort of Windows behind."
"But, there were problems with this strategy. What Linux software makes it easy to manage a small payroll? What Linux software helps you to control co-located NT Servers? After all, one cannot deploy Linux in a co-lo environment until you are comfortable using the operating system in day-to-day situations."
"The solution turned out to be VMware 2.x from the company of the same name. This is the kind of product that I dreamed of having when I was a Macintosh user, years ago. VMware lets you carve out a virtual machine from your Linux box and place in it any flavor of Windows you choose. Compatibility has been, in a word, extraordinary. It's hard to argue with a system like this when it runs such demanding applications as RealPlayer 8 Plus and PCanywhere in the client operating system."
Dave Aiello continued, "Use of streaming software like the RealPlayer can be a frustrating experience at times, but it works surprisingly well considering the fact that it is operating within a virtual machine. Our experience with pcAnywhere is better; The difference between running it on a 100 percent Windows machine and on a Windows virtual machine under VMware was imperceptible to me."
"I am quite convinced that this is a viable strategy for using both operating systems going forward. My commitment to this is great enough that I am looking to upgrade my laptop's hard drive to 20 gigabytes so that I can configure different VMs to emulate different Windows configurations that we run."
"At CTDATA, are building our company's future on Linux servers. This makes products like VMware critical to our transition plans. We encourage you to give VMware a try if you are in the position of straddling the operating system divide as CTDATA is presently."