Are you looking for the best Virtual Machine Software, and are tired of searching for them? If yes, then don't worry because you have ended up in the right place. This article will give you a list of such best Virtual Machine Software, and will also answer some of the most common questions about it.
So, let's get started.
What is a Virtual Machine?
As the name suggests, a Virtual machine is a substitute for a real machine. It offers the same functionality as a physical computer.
Following is the list of both open-source (free) and commercial (paid) Virtual Machines Software for Windows, Mac, and Linux with their features and download links:
1. Hyper-V
Hyper-V is a hypervisor designed to create virtual machines on x86-64 systems. It can be configured to expose individual virtual machines to one or more networks.
Features:
These are the following features of Hyper-V.
- It is very easy to create and remove different operating systems.
- It supports a cloud-based platform.
- It allows running multiple virtual machines on a single desktop or laptop.
- It allows doing hardware virtualization.
- It supports many different operating systems in a virtual machine including various releases of Linux, FreeBSD, and Windows.
To download Hyper-V, click here.
2. VMware Workstation Player
VMware Workstation Player is a streamlined desktop virtualization application that runs on multiple operating systems on the same computer without rebooting.
Features:
These are the following features of VMware Workstation Player
- It supports operation alongside Hyper-V, WSL2, Device Guard, and Credential Guard features of Windows 10.
- The enhanced 3D graphics support for DirectX 11 and up to 8GB of GPU Memory.
- It allows choosing from hundreds of support Guest and Host OSs.
- It runs restricted virtual machines created by Workstation Pro or Fusion Pro.
- It offers to build, push, pull and run OCI Container Images with the new vctl CLI.
- The paid license version allows to use it for commercial purpose.
To download VMware Workstation Player, click here.
3. VMware Fusion (Mac)
VMware Fusion (Mac) is a secure and powerful desktop sandbox for running different operating systems on the Mac without rebooting. It is known for cloud computing and virtualization software.
Features:
These are the following features of VMware Fusion (Mac).
- It easily runs your BootCamp volume as-is or converts it to a virtual machine.
- It supports hundreds of Guest Operating Systems.
- It runs Windows applications side by side with Mac applications.
- It has enhanced 3D graphics with DirectX 11 and eGPU support.
- The paid license version allows to use it for commercial purpose.
To download VMware Fusion (Mac), click here.
4. VirtualBox
VirtualBox is an open-source hypervisor for x86 computers for both enterprise and home that runs on Windows, Linux, BSD, and others.
Features:
These are the following features of VirtualBox.
- It supports a large number of guest operating systems.
- It is the only professional solution that is freely available as Open Source Software under the terms of the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 2.
- It provides the flexibility to run any application on the PC.
- It offers a high-performance product for enterprise customers.
Note: It supports the following platforms: Linux, Mac, Windows, Solaris, and OpenSolaris.
To download VirtualBox, click here.
5. Kernel Virtual Machine
Kernel Virtual Machine is short for KVM. It is a full virtualization solution for Linux on x86 hardware containing virtualization extensions.
Features:
These are the following features of Kernel Virtual Machine
- It consists of a loadable kernel module, KVM.ko, that provides the core virtualization infrastructure and a processor-specific module, KVM-intel.ko or KVM-AMD.ko.
- It allows running multiple virtual machines running unmodified Linux or Windows images.
- Each virtual machine has private virtualized hardware.
- It is open-source software that helps to do scheduling and resource control.
- It offers lower latency and higher prioritization.
To download Kernel Virtual Machine, click here.
6. Boot Camp
Boot Camp is a virtual machine software that allows switching between macOS and Windows.
Features:
These are the following features of Boot Camp.
- It comes with your Mac device, so there is no need to download it externally.
- It can install Windows 7, 8.1, and 10.
- The same keyboard can be used for both Apple and Windows.
- It updates the AMD graphics drivers for Windows Application in Boot Camp.
To download Boot Camp, click here.
7. QEMU
QEMU stands for Quick Emulator and is written in C language. It is a generic and open source machine emulator and virtualizer.
Features:
These are the following features of QEMU.
- It runs programs for another Linux/BSD target, on any supported architecture.
- There is no restriction for the host OS.
- It allows running operating systems for any machine, on any supported architecture.
- It allows running KVM and Xen virtual machines with near-native performance.
To download QEMU, click here.
8. Parallels
Parallels are the fastest, easiest, and most powerful application for running Windows on Mac without rebooting.
Features:
These are the following features of Parallels.
- It allows switching between Mac and Windows with a single click.
- It is easy to use.
- It provides information like usage statistics and real-time licensing activities.
- It offers no hassle.
- There are no complex keyboard shortcuts.
- It drags tools to the dock or taskbar for easier access.
To download Parallels, click here.
9. NAKIVO Backup & Replication
NAKIVO Backup & Replication is a comprehensive backup and disaster recovery solution that offers multiple storage options to improve backup efficiency and simplify data protection.
Features:
These are the following features of NAKIVO Backup & Replication
- It creates image-based, incremental, and app-aware backups of live VMware VMs.
- It automates VM protection with VMware backup policies to save you time and effort.
- It boosts VM backup speed by up to 2X while reducing storage space requirements.
- It copies VMware backups to tape, offsite, or Amazon/Azure/Wasabi.
- It can automatically exclude swap files and partitions from VMware VM backups.
- It automatically tests backups to verify your VMs are recoverable and error-free.
To download NAKIVO Backup & Replication, click here.
10. Virtualization Manager
Virtualization Manager is a virtual machine monitoring and management tool that optimizes performance issues.
Features:
These are the following features of Virtualization Manager.
- It provides comprehensive virtualization performance management.
- It provides powerful capacity planning tools.
- It provides predictive recommendations.
- It manages across on-premises, hybrid, and cloud.
- It resolves issues with a single click.
- It reclaims resources back into the virtual pool.
To download Virtualization Manager, click here.
Now, let us try to answer some of the most common questions that often come to our mind while choosing the best virtual machine software.
How to set up a Virtual Machine?
These are the following steps to be followed to set up a virtual machine:
- Download any virtual machine software.
- Install it on the system.
- Download the .iso file of the OS you want to install
- Complete the installation of Virtual Machine software with the operating system you want to install.
- Select the .exe file
- Now, open the virtual machine.
What are the advantages of a virtual machine?
These are the following advantages of the virtual machine:
- It ensures application provisioning, better availability, easy maintenance, and recovery.
- It allows multiple operating systems to exist simultaneously on the same machine.
- It allows users to go beyond the limitations of hardware to achieve their end goals.
What are some of the factors that are to be considered while choosing the best Virtual Machine Software?
These are the following factors that are to be considered while choosing the best virtual machine software:
- Providing guest access.
- Creation of a separate computing environment within the same host.
- Ability to control the execution of guest programs.
What are some of the best Virtual Machine Software?
These are the following best virtual machine software:
- Virtualization Manager
- NAKIVO Backup & Replication
- QEMU
- Hyper-V
- Parallels
- Kernel Virtual Machine
Conclusion:
I hope from the above article it is clear what virtual machines are, how to set up a Virtual Machine, what are some of the factors that are to be considered while choosing the best Virtual Machine Software, what are some of the best virtual machine software, their features, and the links to download them.
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