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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
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