Instead, it needs a lightweight software layer called a hypervisor to coordinate it with the underlying physical hardware. The VM cannot directly interact with the physical computer.

Virtual machines are often called guests, and the physical machines they run on are called hosts. These resources include memory, RAM, storage, etc.

Then, each of these new virtual machines can run its own operating system and applications independently, while still sharing the original resources from the bare metal server managed by the hypervisor. For example, you can install multiple operating systems on your same Windows computer, such as Linux, Windows, and macOS.

Virtualization technology allows people to create multiple virtual machines on a single physical machine. As I mentioned above, there are some big players in the market, but in the end you need to choose what suits you.Ī virtual machine (VM) is a virtual environment that works like a computer within a computer. It also depends on what level of security you need, whether you want a bare metal or a hosted hypervisor, and the type of operating system you want to virtualize. But there are several other important players worth considering: Parallels Desktop, VirtualBox, Hyper-V, so what is the difference between them? Which one should I choose? The virtualization software you choose to a large extent depends on the operating system your current device is already running and the infrastructure you set up. One of the most representative virtualization software on the market is VMware Workstation, which is generally considered an industry standard and is suitable for Windows and Mac host operating systems. Guests can have different programs and settings from the owner. After installing the virtualization program on the Windows computer (host), you can use this virtualization program to install other operating systems (guests). How to install multiple operating systems (and programs) on the same Windows computer? The answer is simple: use virtualization software.

Virtualbox vs vmware