▷ Best virtualization applications for windows and linux

We are going to do a complete review to see which are the best virtualization applications and the best Hypervisors on the market to be able to virtualize operating systems. Virtualization is today an extremely used resource in companies of a technological nature. For example, for hosting services, testing environments, technology consultancies and ultimately IT company. But we also have to have our sights set on us, normal users.

Index of contents

If we want to create a virtualization environment, there are also applications specially designed for desktop and home environments or small networks. These tools will allow us to have on our own computer a series of perfectly operating operating systems in which to test and test applications.

Best virtualization apps

We are going to talk about the best virtualization applications for home and small business environments. It is important to note that we have an interesting variety of applications for both Windows and Linux operating systems, and also Mac. So let's see what we have

VMware

VMware is one of the most powerful and software-packed solutions available for virtualization. The owner company has paid products that cover absolutely all areas of virtualization. Its programs have compatibility for Intel VT-x technology

As for the solutions we have for desktop environments, we have largely paid license applications, and not exactly cheap. But it also gives the opportunity with the occasional free tool for companies.

• vSphere Hypervisor - is a free Hypervisor that is intended for virtualization in primarily server environments. vCenter Converter: what this application does is convert a Linux or Windows physical machine and other virtual machines into a VMware virtual machine.

Regarding virtualization applications for normal users, we have basically two:

VMware Workstation Player

It is the cheapest software we can find for our needs. This Hypervisor is capable of virtualizing a fully functional operating system on our PC. It will have functionalities to share folders on the network and communicate our virtual machines with the physical machine. We have a trial version. We can buy it for just over 160 euros and it runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.

VMware Workstation Pro

Let's say it is the full version of the previous one. In this case we will be able to virtualize more than one operating system within our PC. In addition, we can connect to current virtual servers in vSphere. Its acquisition comes out for 275 euros and runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.

If we talk about business environments and server virtualization we will have the following:

vSphere Enterprise

It is an application that provides a complete environment for virtualization and is the most used and powerful of the tools available to the company. For only 3975 euros we can have it. It offers full hardware virtualization, hot migrations, real-time monitoring, etc.

Oracle VM VirtualBox

If in the case of VMware we had to spend significant sums of money, in the case of VirtualBox it is just the opposite. This Hypervisor software can be purchased completely free of charge from its website.

Virtual Box is a program to create virtualization environments with multiple operating systems within our fully functional physical machine and with the possibility of physically connecting them to the network. In it we can install Linux, Mac and Windows machines in all or almost all their versions. And we can do all this without paying a penny.

By mediating its “ Guest additions ” tools so that, once installed in the virtual machine, we can interact with it in a more advanced way, for example, to copy and paste documents directly. In addition, it is available for both Windows and Linux and Mac systems. We will also have a portable version.

VirtualBox supports both virtualization technologies from Intel and AMD.

VirtualBox Enterprise

There is also a paid version designed for IT environments with some extra functionalities oriented to work environments. If license costs so much only 93 euros.

Microsoft Hyper-v

If we talk about virtualization we cannot leave Microsoft behind. Your Hypervisor Hyper-V is available natively on your Pro and Server operating systems, for example Windows 10 Pro. This will mean that anyone with Windows 10 Pro will be able to have Hyper-V for free.

Thanks to this tool we will be able to virtualize operating systems with all the hardware as if it were real machines, just as VirtualBox and of course VMware do. Thanks to this application we will have no need to install external software on our system. Hyper-v allows virtualization of both Windows systems and different versions of Linux and FreeBSD.

Also has support for AMD-V and Intel VT-x virtualization technologies

If we have Windows Server, this tool will come with some extra utilities like:

• SR-IOV networking functionality Hot virtual machine migration from another server Shared HDX

One of the drawbacks that Hyper-v have is that it is perhaps a problem if we have other virtualization programs installed on the computer, not allowing them to run correctly.

QEMU

QEMU is a free software tool available for Linux, Windows and Mac operating systems, making it an excellent alternative to VirtualBox, since we can also purchase it freely from its website.

The curiosity of this emulator itself does not have a GIU, although it is possible to install it through another extension on both Mac and Windows. As for some of its most remarkable features are:

• Supports VT-x and AMD-V virtualization technologies Virtualises Windows, Linux and Mac systems Dynamic allocation of hard disk space Formulates virtual network cards Supports SMPC Hypervisor control from command mode Hypervisor remote control

Parallels

Parallels is a Hypervisor that is available for Mac and allows you to run virtual machines from other operating systems on the Apple platform. It has optimization functionalities for Intel chipsets so they can run Intel VT-x technology without any problem. This will allow the hardware to be optimized for the operation of virtual environments.

This tool gives us, like the previous ones, functionality such as transfer of files between real and virtual machines, shared folders and all kinds of I / O devices.

Its license costs 100 euros on its official page, so it is not too expensive either.

Xen

Source: Wikipedia

This virtualization software is one of the most widely used today. Developed by the University of Cambridge, it is licensed under GNU Linux, making it an open source program available to everyone. We can download it from its official website.

It is only available for installation on Linux operating systems, but is capable of virtualizing both Linux and Windows systems. In addition, it has support for AMD-V and Intel VT-x technologies since both companies have given their support to the evolution of this open source project.

It also has hot migration of virtual machines and it has a solution called paravirtualization that allows optimizing the performance of virtual machines so that their performance in component virtualization is not penalized.

Citrix XenServer

In 2007 the Citrix company acquired the Hypervisor Xen kernel to develop it independently. This software is available in both paid and free versions with Xenserver Free edition. In this case we do have a version in both Linux and Windows and aimed at server virtualization in small companies or home users. Like its free source Xen version, it has support for VT-x and AMD-V technologies.

Some of its features are taken directly from the Xen project:

• Hot migrations Hardware virtualization Performance monitoring Ability to share files directly

Proxmox

And we cannot leave Proxmox aside, a software that those who have tried VMware will find certain coincidences with this since it is based a lot on the star payment product.

Proxmox is a GNU Linux open source Hypervisor, so we can also buy it for free. Although we will also have a slightly more advanced version of payment that is aimed at companies and a professional work environment.

It is available for installation on Debian-based Linux operating systems. And we can download it from this link. Among its main characteristics are quite similar to the previous ones:

• Hot migration Optimization for network bridges Command line tools such as good Linux software Backup available Preinstallation of operating system build templates

KVM

Other open source virtualization software for Linux that supports VT-x and AMD-V technologies. This software is heavily based on QEMU and provides its own virtualization features with assisted hardware and operating systems.

It allows the execution of operating systems from disk images, for example, in ISO or MDS format with executable operating systems. For the creation of virtual machines we will have all kinds of virtualized hardware as well as the rest of the distributions that we show here. We can only virtualize Linux operating systems.

This is our list of virtualization applications available for Windows, Linux and Mac.

We also recommend our article on virtualization:

Which one do you use? If you know any that is not on our list, leave us in the comments what it is.