[lug] Favorite Distro for Hosting guest OS like Windows7?

[Maxwell Spangler]

On Tue, 2010-08-10 at 23:12 -0700, siegfried wrote:
> Are there any distros that are better suited for hosting guest OS's (like
> windows 7) than other distros?
> 
> I have a 2005 machine and I want to install linux to host windows 7. I need
> windows 7 to run Visual Studio 2010.

VirtualBox is the quickest and easiest way to get a Windows VM up and
running in Linux.  It doesn't require hardware virtualization features
in the host CPU, only plenty of CPU cycles and memory.  I can run
VirtualBox on my 2004 era laptop and get things done, but it's nowhere
near as comfortable as running on my four-core 2010 era desktop.

Just as a side note, the 2010 era laptops and desktops are ideal for
basic desktop virtualization: cases where users want to run a host and
one or two virtual machines (Windows hosting Linux, Linux hosting
Windows, etc).

Modern CPUs like AMD Phenoms, Athlon IIs, and all Intel i3/i5/i7 series
are high Mhz, multi-core chips that have basic hardware virtualization
support.  You can imagine a dual-core chip running the host OS on one
core and a virtual machine on another core for a much more comfortable
experience than an older single core, non-VM enabled CPU.

I suspect you are like me: still enjoying a trusty old laptop and not in
a hurry to spend money on something new.  But when you do, it'll be a
much more enjoyable experience.

Cheers,

-- 
Maxwell Spangler
========================================================================
        Linux, Unix and Database Administration
        Currently: Boulder, Colorado
        LinkedIn: http://www.linkedin.com/in/maxwellspangler