How to Run and Switch Between Multiple Windows / OS Without Restarting your Computer
It’s been a while since my last post on symbian phone hacking
but this time around, I’m bringing something different from mobile
stuff. I’m posting a tutorial with detailed screenshots on how you can
install, run and switch between multiple operating systems with a
software called VirtualBox.
VirtualBox is a powerful x86 and AMD64 / Intel64 virtualization
product for enterprise as well as home use. Not only is VirtualBox an
extremely feature rich, high performance product for enterprise
customers, it is also the only professional solution that is freely
available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General
Public License (GPL)
Why is virtualization useful?
Although I have dropped the full link for a complete user manual for this software below, I shall however brief you about why this software (VirtualBox) is particularly useful. The techniques and features that VirtualBox provides are useful for several scenarios:
Although I have dropped the full link for a complete user manual for this software below, I shall however brief you about why this software (VirtualBox) is particularly useful. The techniques and features that VirtualBox provides are useful for several scenarios:
* Running multiple operating systems simultaneously – VirtualBox allows you to run more
than one operating system at a time. This way, you can run software written for one
operating system on another (for example, Windows software on Linux or a Mac) without
having to reboot to use it. Since you can configure what kinds of “virtual” hardware should
be presented to each such operating system, you can install an old operating system such
as DOS or OS/2 even if your real computer’s hardware is no longer supported by that
operating system.
than one operating system at a time. This way, you can run software written for one
operating system on another (for example, Windows software on Linux or a Mac) without
having to reboot to use it. Since you can configure what kinds of “virtual” hardware should
be presented to each such operating system, you can install an old operating system such
as DOS or OS/2 even if your real computer’s hardware is no longer supported by that
operating system.
* Easier software installations — Software vendors can use virtual machines to ship entire
software configurations. For example, installing a complete mail server solution on a real
machine can be a tedious task. With VirtualBox, such a complex setup (then often called
an “appliance”) can be packed into a virtual machine. Installing and running a mail server
becomes as easy as importing such an appliance into VirtualBox.
software configurations. For example, installing a complete mail server solution on a real
machine can be a tedious task. With VirtualBox, such a complex setup (then often called
an “appliance”) can be packed into a virtual machine. Installing and running a mail server
becomes as easy as importing such an appliance into VirtualBox.
* Testing and disaster recovery. Once installed, a virtual machine and its virtual hard disks
can be considered a “container” that can be arbitrarily frozen, woken up, copied, backed
up, and transported between hosts.
can be considered a “container” that can be arbitrarily frozen, woken up, copied, backed
up, and transported between hosts.
