[steven1350]

Quick question. I am well aware what vmware is and what it is capable of. However, their website is poorly laid out, I and I need to know what I am looking for. So

What is the vmware program which I can install a linux distro from windows. I dont know whether or not this is the client or server.......?

Also, must be free.

**Link would be nice

[lotuseclat79]

The only freeware product is VMware Server (formerly GSX Server). See the link at Wikipedia here for Known Issues.

There are other alternatives such as Xen Virtual Machine Monitor here.

One thing you might ask yourself is whether your current processor supports the enhanced Intel VT-x architecture extension instructions that uniquely support a such a virtual environment, and if not, then plan for it in the future.

-- Tom

[DoubleHelix]

Originally Posted by lotuseclat79

One thing you might ask yourself is whether your current processor supports the enhanced Intel VT-x architecture extension instructions that uniquely support a such a virtual environment, and if not, then plan for it in the future.

-- Tom

What the heck does that have to do with running a Linux distribution using VMWare? I have no idea what you're talking about, and I actually run a Linux distro using VMWare.

[lotuseclat79]

Do you really think that being able to merely run Linux on VMware ever happened with the regular instruction set of Intel or AMD? Anyone can emulate an instruction set (but at what cost in emulation?), but to run multiple OSes without changing the OSes adapting them to the environment instead of the other way around is the motivation behind the instruction set enhancements.

Read about it, and you may begin to understand that what VMware and Xen represent now is a moving target worth $B in the future.

Do you have the free or the Enterprise version of WMware.

-- Tom

[DoubleHelix]

All I know is it works. I've not concerned myself with the deep technical roots of the app. It seemed like it could be a pretty confusing statement.

I have neither the free version (didn't know there was such a thing) nor the Enterprise version. I have VMWare Workstation.