Which VM?

[SunnyD]

I've decided I'm going to run some sort of VM platform in order to play with other OSes in my (not so) spare time. Question is, I'm not sure which one is the best to use.

In no particular order, the following is the features I'm looking for:
***FREE
*As little bloat as possible
*Takes as little host resources as possible, particularly if it's not in use
*Good guest compatibility (I think VMWare is the only one that supports OSX currently)
*Runs well on Windows 64-bit (particularly Windows 7) as a host OS

Thing is, I use my desktop for a lot of things, but definitely need the performance for gaming. Hence I'd like to avoid anything that hogs a ton of resources. That's not to say I'll be gaming while the VM is on (but I may, occasionally).

Right now I know my choices are VMWare Server, VirtualBox. XenServer and Virtual PC. I think Xen is out of the question (because it's Unix-only host?). Are there any more I should consider? I've used VMWare and Virtual PC before. VMWare seems to be a fairly huge package, and I worry about what it does in terms of resources. I do know it supports OSX though, which is a plus (wouldn't mind doing some iPhone/Pod dev).

So anyway, um... help? Suggestions?

 

[masteryoda34]

Originally posted by: SunnyD
(I think VMWare is the only one that supports OSX currently)

If at all I think this is unofficial support.

Sun VirtualBox would be good.

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: masteryoda34

Originally posted by: SunnyD
(I think VMWare is the only one that supports OSX currently)

If at all I think this is unofficial support.

Sun VirtualBox would be good.

Sorry - it wasn't quite a question - VMWare is capable of hosting OSX. I'm unaware of any other VM's supporting that option.

 

[seemingly random]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...tform_virtual_machines

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: seemingly random
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...tform_virtual_machines

Well that's insanely handy. Thanks!

 

[seemingly random]

Originally posted by: SunnyD

Originally posted by: seemingly random
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...tform_virtual_machines

Well that's insanely handy. Thanks!

I'm starting with them also - virtualBox initially. Since I'm generally distrusting of any new s/w, it'll be loaded on an older amd x2 pc that's sitting around.

 

[seemingly random]

Might be useful as a jumping off point: http://vmetc.com/

 

[heymrdj]

I use VMWare Server 2. With it's support for just about any kind of Guest, and the fact that it will run on Vista x64 without having to boot into the mode that accepts unsigned drivers is a major plus for me. I can dev here at home on my Vista Ultimate laptop then upload the vdmk's to my live VMWare server for deployment.

 

[SunnyD]

There's "some" rumbling that VirtualBox is capable of running OSX now too, or at least an older version of it. In the mean time I can do some Linux work.

 

[KentState]

I use VMWare Workinstation and it works pretty well. I'm able to game while it's up an running. Last night I had a 8 server domain going while playing TF2 and Bioshock.

 

[SunnyD]

Wow... I'm McLovin VirtualBox's seamless mode. Too bad it doesn't boot OSX yet.

 

[lopri]

I had a similar decision to make not too long ago, and many recommended VMWare Workstation/Server. I was looking at free stuff, including MS VPC and Sun VBox, so I tried the server but it wasn't very friendly to a noob like me. In the end I ended up paying for VMWare workstation (w/ discount), but coming from MS/Windows VPC, I have no complaint about it so far.