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General discussion (archive)Windows 7 Incompatibility... Interesting solution(20 posts)(20 posts)
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This is my favourite topic
Posted April 12, 2011
Linux:-)
Ok, seriously - the idea (it's not mine - I've read about it on some blog - dear blogger props to you) is something like this:
Use Win7 to run virtual machine with GNU/Linux to run Wine,DosBox or ScummVM. Person who wrote about it was playing BGII on Win7 through VirtualBox with Ubuntu. So, I just wonder - have any of you tried something like this (virtual machine with GNU/Linux NOT older Windows)? If yes:
1.Which distro? (if not GNU/Linux - maybe openBSD?)
2.Desktop environment (if any)
3.Graphic card.
4.What game.
5.Performance (if any:-)
I don't use Windows so I would very appreciate some feedback.
Posted April 12, 2011
hmm, why in a virtual machine and not just linux as a second system? OK, you have to switch between the systems, but it would be much faster and stable I think.
Posted April 12, 2011
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Mal_Khar: Linux:-)
Ok, seriously - the idea (it's not mine - I've read about it on some blog - dear blogger props to you) is something like this:
Use Win7 to run virtual machine with GNU/Linux to run Wine,DosBox or ScummVM. Person who wrote about it was playing BGII on Win7 through VirtualBox with Ubuntu. So, I just wonder - have any of you tried something like this (virtual machine with GNU/Linux NOT older Windows)? If yes:
1.Which distro? (if not GNU/Linux - maybe openBSD?)
2.Desktop environment (if any)
3.Graphic card.
4.What game.
5.Performance (if any:-)
I don't use Windows so I would very appreciate some feedback.
I think it's too much to run program within emulation inside virtualized enviroment... Too many steps and points where things can go wrong. Easier way would be to install xp mode and install the game and run it from there. Works for win 7 pro and ultimate only.
Other than that, scummvm and dosbox work right out of the box on win 7 x86/x64 and you can always try installing the game in compatibility mode.
So far I had only work related experiences with 'nux distros, didn't run wine at all since all my progs/games work on my windows rig :(
Posted April 12, 2011
The first thing to note is that graphical hardware acceleration in virtual environments is seriously lacking, so don't expect to be able to properly run something that has high graphic requirements.

In general it doesn't really matter what the host OS is (the OS which runs the VM) as most of them are well supported; I'd go with Ubuntu as a host OS because that's the *nix environment I'm most familiar with.

As for what OS to run in VM, I'm a bit torn between XP and 7, especially if all you do is run games in it. XP has a smaller footprint than 7 which means you could run it on a less capable virtual machine.

In any case, I generally recommend at least 8GB of RAM when working with VMs (for XP I'd give it around 2 GB to use) and a fast hard-drive. The graphics card isn't as important as the graphics are done in software anyway
Posted April 12, 2011
... virtualization. :p
Posted April 12, 2011
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AndrewC: The first thing to note is that graphical hardware acceleration in virtual environments is seriously lacking, so don't expect to be able to properly run something that has high graphic requirements.
VMware Workstation runs The Witcher! :) Tested it yesterday. Maybe not that great, but it runs! :p
Posted April 12, 2011
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AndrewC: The first thing to note is that graphical hardware acceleration in virtual environments is seriously lacking, so don't expect to be able to properly run something that has high graphic requirements.

In general it doesn't really matter what the host OS is (the OS which runs the VM) as most of them are well supported; I'd go with Ubuntu as a host OS because that's the *nix environment I'm most familiar with.

As for what OS to run in VM, I'm a bit torn between XP and 7, especially if all you do is run games in it. XP has a smaller footprint than 7 which means you could run it on a less capable virtual machine.

In any case, I generally recommend at least 8GB of RAM when working with VMs (for XP I'd give it around 2 GB to use) and a fast hard-drive. The graphics card isn't as important as the graphics are done in software anyway
I would rather use some distro with lighter desktop environment - could be debian\ubuntu based - Lubuntu for example.
Graphics card is actually important because since Maverick Meerkat (and Fedora 14 I believe) it is possible to enable hardware acceleration in VirtualBox.
As for XP - Lubuntu is free. Not everybody have god old XP just waiting on a shelf to be installed in vm:-)

EDIT - Lubuntu is free of charge that is. Like free beer, not like freedom:-)
Post edited April 12, 2011 by Mal_Khar
Posted April 12, 2011
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dr.zli: I think it's too much to run program within emulation inside virtualized enviroment... Too many steps and points where things can go wrong. Easier way would be to install xp mode
XP mode is a virtual environment. :)
Posted April 12, 2011
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AndrewC: The first thing to note is that graphical hardware acceleration in virtual environments is seriously lacking, so don't expect to be able to properly run something that has high graphic requirements.

In general it doesn't really matter what the host OS is (the OS which runs the VM) as most of them are well supported; I'd go with Ubuntu as a host OS because that's the *nix environment I'm most familiar with.

As for what OS to run in VM, I'm a bit torn between XP and 7, especially if all you do is run games in it. XP has a smaller footprint than 7 which means you could run it on a less capable virtual machine.

In any case, I generally recommend at least 8GB of RAM when working with VMs (for XP I'd give it around 2 GB to use) and a fast hard-drive. The graphics card isn't as important as the graphics are done in software anyway
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Mal_Khar: I would rather use some distro with lighter desktop environment - could be debian\ubuntu based - Lubuntu for example.
Graphics card is actually important because since Maverick Meerkat (and Fedora 14 I believe) it is possible to enable hardware acceleration in VirtualBox.
As for XP - Lubuntu is free. Not everybody have god old XP just waiting on a shelf to be installed in vm:-)
Wait, I got what you wanted to do the other way around; you want an *nix guest on a Windows host. The question is, why would you do that? Most games work just fine on Windows 7, and for those that won't XP mode is just as good as VM.

Also, no, the graphics card is not important because the subset of things that gets hardware accelerated applies only to desktop composition and a small subset of OpenGL instructions, so games wouldn't benefit from that at all.
Posted April 12, 2011
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dr.zli: I think it's too much to run program within emulation inside virtualized enviroment... Too many steps and points where things can go wrong. Easier way would be to install xp mode
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KavazovAngel: XP mode is a virtual environment. :)
interesting topic, ms went to great lengths to integrate that particular way of virtualization as much as they could with OS so that it runs almost unseen in the background. Therefore although it uses virtual image and ms's VM it's not a classical virtual machine like ms's VM with linux (or vmware with linux ;) ). Try it out, works like a charm :D
Posted April 12, 2011
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Mal_Khar: Use Win7 to run virtual machine with GNU/Linux to run Wine,DosBox or ScummVM. Person who wrote about it was playing BGII on Win7 through VirtualBox with Ubuntu.
Sounds like a waste of processor cycles, with the possible exception of Wine as it doesn't run on Windows yet. All the other examples run fine on Windows 7.
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dr.zli: Try it out, works like a charm :D
I have, and I'd much rather use VMWare Workstation and its Unity functionality. To each their own though - I prefer the familiarity of VMWare, you prefer the start menu shortcuts of XP Mode.
Post edited April 12, 2011 by Miaghstir
Posted April 12, 2011
The average person won't be spending $189 just to use VMWare workstation for a few games.
Posted April 12, 2011
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Kabuto: The average person won't be spending $189 just to use VMWare workstation for a few games.
Nor will they byu Windows 7 Professional or Ultimate, most likely they'll run Home Premium.
VirtualBox is always a choice though.
Posted April 12, 2011
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Kabuto: The average person won't be spending $189 just to use VMWare workstation for a few games.
Well VMPlayer is free. You only need Workstation if you want to use some "extended" features like snapshots, virtual network, etc...
Posted April 12, 2011
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Kabuto: The average person won't be spending $189 just to use VMWare workstation for a few games.
VMware Player is free.
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General discussion (archive)Windows 7 Incompatibility... Interesting solution(20 posts)(20 posts)
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