Run multiple operating systems concurrently
Posted: Sun Mar 19, 2006 8:28 pm
Ever wanted to try another operating system without messing up your computer? You might have heard of live CDs. These are very good for trying an operating system, but until you get used to it, you have no computer to use. It also takes time to startup and shutdown for when you want to change between the live CD and your main operating system.
I have a very cool answer for this problem. QEMU. It allows you to run an operating system on top of another one. If your main Operating System is XP Professional (like me), you could use QEMU to run any other version of Windows, Linux, or even a MAC operating system with its PowerPC emulation.
You can run an unlimited number of Virtual machines at the same time. Its ideal if you currently use Windows and want to learn Linux without loosing your Windows in the mean time. It can go onto your network so that whatever OS you run can connect straight up to the internet as if it was connected to a LAN. Start with Qemu Manager. Its also a good idea to download the QEMU accellerator. You can download this from http://fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/download.html - the current version is 0.7.2
Installing the accelerator is not obvious at first so if you are having trouble just post here and I'll give you instructions.
Does anyone think this is actually useful for them?
I have a very cool answer for this problem. QEMU. It allows you to run an operating system on top of another one. If your main Operating System is XP Professional (like me), you could use QEMU to run any other version of Windows, Linux, or even a MAC operating system with its PowerPC emulation.
You can run an unlimited number of Virtual machines at the same time. Its ideal if you currently use Windows and want to learn Linux without loosing your Windows in the mean time. It can go onto your network so that whatever OS you run can connect straight up to the internet as if it was connected to a LAN. Start with Qemu Manager. Its also a good idea to download the QEMU accellerator. You can download this from http://fabrice.bellard.free.fr/qemu/download.html - the current version is 0.7.2
Installing the accelerator is not obvious at first so if you are having trouble just post here and I'll give you instructions.
Does anyone think this is actually useful for them?