[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]

Re: VMWare VMWare hints and suggestions



Aharon Schkolnik wrote:

> I am about to install VMWare. I just read the documentation. I am
> seeking hints and suggestions.
> 
> First of all, which M$ guest operation system should I install ? I can
> probably get a hold of whatever I decide. I need it basically for
> reading Hebrew e-mail, and maybe to use MS Outlook calendar. Which M$
> operating system will cause me the minimum amount of headache ?
> 
> Any other hints/suggestions will be welcome.

1. The best tip I can give you is: Wait!
   Release 2.0 is soon (its beta is already available), and it has
   many improvements, new features, and bug fixes. If it's not urgent
   for you, do yourself a favor, and start with the "latest and
   greatest".

2. Regarding preferred guest Windows: If you lurk a little in
   VMware's newsgroups, you'll find again and again messages which
   recommend NT over other Microsoft systems. So this is the naive
   answer for your question.
   However, the problems with guesting the consumer versions of
   Windows, especially Win98, are solved with version 2.0, so if you
   follow my 1st rule (to wait), I think that Win98 may be as good as
   NT.

3. FreeMWare is years from completion, as well as Wine. And Wine does
   not emulate your PC (which is simple) but your Windows (which is a
   monster and impossible to emulate), so it will never be 100%
   compatible with Windows. And it doesn't support Hebrew. In
   addition, please don't follow "tips" to adopt the oldest version
   of Windows as a preferred guest. I hear a lot of complaints of
   users who can't run ancient Windows versions under VMware
   (especially Windows 3.11). Nobody claims that NT (or Win2000) is
   so good; the claim is only that it is less bad. In any case, even
   VMware staff recommend NT over 95/98.
   Also ignore the tips about giving the guest its own partition in
   order to avoid privileged access to the host file system. Of
   course, the OPPOSITE is true: In order to allow the guest to
   access its own partition, you should chmod this "/dev" file and to
   allow VMware to access it, or give VMware dangerous privileges. On
   the other hand, if VMware runs in the default configuration (i.e.
   its "virtual disk" is a simple file in the filesystem of the
   host), then no special permissions are needed, and the guest runs
   is a safe "sand-box". In addition, it's not true that a raw disk
   is faster than a file; Again, according to VMware, the opposite is
   true. Also, the claim that a using a simple file in the filesystem
   of the host as a virtual disk is a new feature of 2.0, is funny;
   The opposite is true: This was the only option with the early
   versions of VMware, while the raw-disk was added later.

   I must say that EVERYTHING which was written in the first response
   for your question, was the OPPOSITE of the truth. Since I don't
   believe that somebody will try to fail you with "Achitofel
   advices", I guess that the response was humoristic and sarcastic.

4. Ensure that you have enough memory for TWO operating systems.

5. The most important tip, probably for any question and not only
   VMware, is to not believe automatically what people answer you.

-- 
Eli Marmor

=================================================================
To unsubscribe, send mail to linux-il-request@linux.org.il with
the word "unsubscribe" in the message body, e.g., run the command
echo unsubscribe | mail linux-il-request@linux.org.il