[WBEL-users] Re: VMWare

[Bill Whiting]

I've been using VMWare since the beginning of the year and I'm thrilled. 
  I was able to convert my dual boot laptop to a Linux boot w/ vmware 
sessions for the various windows tasks that my work requires.  I can run 
LotusNotes and a windows VPN in vmware while running OpenOffice on the 
WhiteBox desktop.  I can run an IBM message broker configuration manager 
in the VMWare windows session and manage a Linux based broker on the 
host Whitebox session (that won't make much sense unless you work w/ WBI 
Message Broker, but trust me; It's cool).

I have been able to get by with 1Gb total Ram, but I can't run two 
VMWare sessions simultaneously.  Definitely, the more ram the better the 
performance and the more you can do.

//Bill

Henry Stilmack wrote:
> 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.