Virtual Machine setups

[Flame]

What virtual machine do you use?

what OS's do you use in your virtual machine?

Any specific things you do in your virtual machines?



This is my VM's, any tips for me?

 

[SAIYAN48]

I use VMware as my hypervisor. When I make my Windows ISOs, I test them out in a VM; I don't use them for much more these days.

 

[SylverReZ]

My main hypervisor would be VirtualBox. It is a bit finicky sometimes, like, for example, when you cannot mount a USB device unless you create a filter to mount it based on name or when, after you have 'Guest Additions' installed, it has problems transferring files from host-to-guest when doing drag-and-drop. I only use this if I need to transfer some things over to modify or mess around with in Windows applications, not in the realm of games. Examples include: hex editing, compiling, making disk images, etc.

3D acceleration can be a tough nut to set up depending on your operating system and what steps you need to take, so my preferable option if I'd like to run games on an operating system that needs it, I would much rather have something period accurate—that is where 86Box comes into play. It's an emulator that can emulate all sorts of different systems dating from the IBM 5150 to a Pentium II machine with a Voodoo 3 3000; I've been using it more often on a daily basis to test out Windows games without requiring me to build a computer using parts that are skyrocketing in price in these dire times or bring out a laptop (which is less powerful than what it offers). It truly brings out the best experience, and the best part is that it can do OpenGL through my graphics card.

Just note, that with 86Box, it can be very resource intensive with the CPU so I'd recommend using an AMD Ryzen or an Intel Core i9; otherwise, like when I once tried out 86Box the first time on an Intel Core i5, you end up with choppy sound and the performance is pretty poor. Honestly, can't say I have any negatives about it, just make sure you get the nightly release as it has a better UI for configuring VMs and support.

Here's just a list as to how I configure my virtual machines:

Spoiler

Windows XP (VirtualBox) - 512MB RAM, 25GB HDD, 128MB VRAM / VBoxVGA, ICH AC97 Sound, DVDROM.

Windows 98 (86Box) - AOpen AX6BC (i440BX) Motherboard, 256MB RAM, 20GB HDD, PII @ 233MHz CPU, 3DFX Voodoo3 2000 Graphics, SB16 PnP Sound, 32x DVDROM, 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy, PS/2 Mouse & KB.

Windows 3.11 & MS-DOS 6.22 (86Box) - ASUS PVI-486SP3 (SiS 496) Motherboard, 32MB RAM, 120MB HDD, Cirrus Logic GD5426 Graphics, AMD Am486DX2 @ 66MHz CPU, AWE32 Sound, 8x CDROM, 3.5" 1.44MB Floppy, AT keyboard & MS serial mouse.

 

[Tom Bombadildo]

Don't use VMs on my main machine, but I have 2 servers setup currently.

First one is on my ThinkServer RD330, runs Proxmox as base OS and currently runs a Windows VM that I use as a seedbox and Jellyfin Server, a Linux Mint VM for general Linux use, and a Linux container that runs a WOTLK WoW private server for me and some friends.

Second one is a 2012 Mac Pro that I keep at work, also running Proxmox. I ended up putting a GTX 1660 Super I had laying around in it that I passthrough to a Windows VM for a light remote game streaming setup (which is surprisingly capable despite the dated Xeon X5690s in it ), and a Linux VM with a MoP WoW private server