are programs noticeably slower when you run them on a virtual machine

[lkub]

about the virtual machine option: are things noticeably slower when you run it with two OSs at the same time?

Originally Posted by lkub

about the virtual machine option: are things noticeably slower when you run it with two OSs at the same time?

It really depends on software that you use as well as on your hardware. I have tried VirtualBox and VMWare. I didn't like the performance of the latter at all. VirtualBox with Windows XP works OK. It is still pretty slow even though I have core2duo with 2GB of RAM, but it is OK for syncing my mobile phone and doing little things. I wouldn't use Photoshop on it.

I should admit that I haven't tried to use Xen and Qemu, so I don't really know how fast they work.

Related thread:
the best virtual machine for Linux: qemu, kvm, xen, virtual box, parallels, vmware

[elch]

Qemu is recommendable over VMware and VirtualBox if your CPU supports KVM. It is more lightweight and in my opinion more powerful. But if your CPU is not virtualization-aware, Qemu with Windows XP is rather unusable.

Originally Posted by elch

Qemu is recommendable over VMware and VirtualBox if your CPU supports KVM. It is more lightweight and in my opinion more powerful. But if your CPU is not virtualization-aware, Qemu with Windows XP is rather unusable.

I like the GUI that VirtualBox offers. It is very intuitive, very easy to use, you don't need to use command line at all.

However Qemu is much much faster on my PC. I couldn't possibly imagine using Photoshop for Windows in VirtualBox, while it works OK in Qemu. I should admit that Qemu requires much more time to learn how to use it.

I would recommend to try both VirtualBox and Qemu.

Making Windows XP guest running faster in VirtualBox (Ubuntu 10.04 Lucid Lynx)