What is the best virtualization application for Windows 7?

Question

I have a Compaq notebook with Windows 2007 Home Basic and Core2Duo T6600 processor 32-bit system. I want Windows XP and Windows Vista as guest operating systems on my machine. I am unable to install Windows Virtual PC 2007, because I don't have Hardware virtualization technology.

Which Virtual Machine software can I install to virtualize Windows XP and Vista?

On googling I found VMWare, Virtual box, VMPlayer, etc. on many forums and articles, but I can't decide which would be the best.

UPDATE:

I want free software, it won't be on a server since I have a standalone notebook. I don't want any live migrations. I need to download virtual machine software and create a virtual machine for Windows XP and Windows Vista on my 32-bit Windows 7 OS.

Answer 1

Here's an article that compares Desktop Virtualization Software and a table comparing features.

However, the problem with software recommendations is that you have to be specific in what you want.

• Does it have to be free or can it be paid?
• Should it support live migrations?
• Do you want to create virtual machine out of fysical machines?
• Will it only be used on one computer or run on a server?
• Do you need to download your virtual machines or can you install them yourself?

Without any of this information, I would say pick Virtual Box. But for simply creating and running a virtual machine, any of these three would suffice.

Answer 2

I've used VM Player and VirtualBox and found VirtualBox much more user friendly and easier to use.

Answer 3

I have used VirtualBox and VMWare Player, both free solutions. Both have a similar setup interface that is intuitive and easy.

I started with VirtualBox, but had issues with audio in an Windows XP guest. So, I gave VMWare Player a try, and it worked fine. I'm running on a Windows 7 host.

I took a brief look at Virtual PC/Server, but was turned off by the lack of support for Linux guests.

My recommendation would be to give both VirtualBox and VMWare a try - neither takes long to come up to speed with, and if you have both, and run into issues with one of them you can quickly try the other to see if it addresses the problem.

Answer 4

All of those you listed should suit your OS - the difference is that some offer different features than others. Maybe you should look into that and then decide what you'll use depending on the features you need.

Personally, I use VirtualBox and it has proven as very good. I've used it on Windows as well as on Linux and never had any problems whatsoever with it.

Answer 5

We have exactly the same issue and chose to use VMWare. The process was so much easier than I imagined it was going to be. We have since used it to migrate a server from an old physical box onto a virtual instance. The process was again painless, migrating the server across in minutes and having it up and running within the hour. The software is free too so even if you decide its not for you the only thing you've lost is your time.