[WBEL-users] Re: VMWare

[Henry Stilmack]

Daniel J. Summers wrote:

> I'm thinking about saving up the money to purchase VMWare, so I can run 
> the few Windows apps that I can't get working with wine under Linux 
> without having to reboot.  $189 is pretty pricey for an individual, 
> though - before I spend that money, I wanted to hear from some 
> experienced VMWare users.
> 
> Does it really support *everything* the way a system usually would?  
> Would it recognize USB devices that Linux doesn't?  (I'm thinking in 
> particular about my scanner - although I could probably get a new 
> scanner for a lot less than $189.  ;>  )  I also would like to run 
> Fujitsu COBOL (which I have the Windows version) and Paint Shop Pro 5 
> (an older version, but it does what I need it to, and it's paid for).  
> IE would be nice, too, just so I can see how my web pages look without 
> having to VNC to my wife's computer to do it.
> 
> I'm also all-ears if you know of another emulator-type product that 
> works well.  Thanks!

We've been using VMware since version 1 - it is _excellent_.

VMware is a complete emulator - you actually install Windows onto a virtual machine, and yes, you will be able to run all Windows software on it. I can even use my Lexmark all-in-one (X6100) printer/scanner with VMware, whereas I'm still trying to hack together a Linux driver for it (grumble). AFAICT, you should be able to use any device that has a Windows driver.

One caveat - buy more memory or your performance will suck greatly. I'd say you need to be able to give VMware/Windows at least 1GB for it's exclusive use to get anything close to native performance out of it.
-- 
Henry Stilmack, CISSP <h.stilmack at jach.Hawaii.Edu> Systems Administrator
UK/Canada/Netherlands Joint Astronomy Centre   Tel: +1 808-969-6530
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