vmware questions

goofus · Apprentice Joined: 19 Nov 2004 Posts: 180

i read abit on the vmware webpage about their product. but i have some questions:

1. can i install windows "on" linux via vmware? or do i have to install windows normally?
2. can i run windows under linux with vmware and play games? only because of my games i have still a windows installation.
3. is there much performance loss if 2. is true?

Headrush · Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 6:28 pm Post subject:

Yes VMware allows you to run various OSes in Linux.
VMware provides a virtual machine, which means you will install Windows the same as you would on a native Windows installation.
VMware isn't designed for games. At this time it does not have enough DirectX or Direct3D support to play modern games.
A better choice for running some games is cedge from http://www.transgaming.com or Wine (in portage). Both support 3D games. Cedega costs approximately $15 and Wine is free. Both are based on the same code, but Cedega tends to have the newest DirectX support. OpenGL support in Wine seem good.

As for speed, VMware works best with lots of memory. I have 2 gigs of RAM and run several machines at once. Speed is suitable for normal apps like Word, Excel, Photoshop, etc.

Cedega and Wine running surprising fast. I measured only a slight drop in framerates compared to running the games on native Windows. Depending on you specs, probably not even noticeable.

klarnox · Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 6:32 pm Post subject:

VMware creates a virtual machine for you to install on, so you boot your host OS (whatever you have installed on the laptop), then start VMware, then in VMware you start the virtual machine. You'll see the virtual machine post then try to boot from whatever media is available (windows install cd in your case). At this point you go through a normal windows install on the virtual machine.

Games probably won't work well if at all, I am assuming. I haven't personally tried it, but at the least you'll see a performance degradation.

If you wanted to try it out I believe VMware will give out 30 day trial licenses for their workstation product if you request one.