NewsForge: Review: VMWare 2.0

“Many Linux users, for one reason or another, have to use
Windows for one reason or another. Perhaps there is an application
they need for their job that isn’t available for Linux and does not
work with Wine. In cases like this, until recently, you would need
either two machines or one machine that you would have to reboot
into one OS or another.”

“This is where VMWare comes in. VMWare is a product that uses
what VMWare calls its “MultipleWorlds” technology. Essentially,
VMWare creates virtual machines within your machine. These virtual
machines are capable of running most popular x86 operating systems
within them. In fact, they really are like normal machines — they
even have a BIOS, as you can see in the image to the right.”

“VMWare supports most major x86 operating systems, such as
Linux, FreeBSD, Windows versions from 3.1 to 98 Second Edition,
versions of Windows NT from 4.0 Service Pack 3 to Windows 2000, and
MS-DOS. The version of VMWare I reviewed was the Workstation
Edition, which allows you to have as many Virtual Machines with as
many operating systems as your machine can handle and retails for
$299. The Workstation Edition is available both for Linux and
Windows NT platforms, allowing you to go either way (Linux on
Windows or Windows on Linux). VMWare also offers an Express
Edition. The Express Edition only allows you to have one Windows 9X
installation, but retails for only $99. This product would be
useful for those who strictly need the ability to run Windows 9X on
their Linux machine.”

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