A Virtual Machine (VM) allows you to run other operating systems inside your operating system. That is, you can run a virtual operating system like a simple program on your computer.
A Virtual Machine is ideal for testing other operating systems, or for running software on operating systems that normally do not run. For example, on a Linux computer you can run PhotoShop if you install a version of Windows in a Virtual Machine.
Want to try virtual machines? There are very good programs available for free, as we will see below.
How a Virtual machine works
It works like a virtual machine. It runs inside your current operating system (the host operating system) and provides virtual hardware to the guest operating systems. The virtual OS (guest OS) runs in a window inside the main operating system, just like any other program on your computer.
From the guest OS's perspective, the Virtual machine is a real, physical computer.
A component of virtual machines called a hypervisor emulates the virtual hardware: CPU, memory, hard disk, networking devices, and so on. The virtual hardware provided by the hypervisor is borrowed from the real hardware on your computer.
So this way you can have several virtual machines installed on your main system, as long as you have the space on your hard disk. After installing various operating systems, you can choose which virtual machine you want to start.
Practical uses for virtual machines
You can try new versions of operating systems: You can try Windows 10 on your Windows 7 computer if you're not ready to upgrade yet.
You can experiment with other operating systems: You can, for example, install various Linux distributions, which will allow you to experiment and learn how they work.
You can use software that requires an older operating system. If you have an application that only runs on Windows XP, you can install XP in a virtual machine and run your application from there.
You can run software designed for other operating systems: Mac and Linux users can install Windows in a virtual machine to use Windows software on their computers without compatibility issues. Unfortunately, games are a problem because virtual machine applications are too burdened with 3D games.
You can test a software on multiple platforms: Need to check if an application works on multiple operating systems? You can install it in a virtual machine.
Businesses that use multiple servers can put some of them into virtual machines and run them from a single computer. Each virtual machine is an isolated “container,” so this can save you from security issues.
Recommended software for Virtual machines on your computer:
VirtualBox, of course. A great, open-source application that can be installed on Windows, macOS, and Linux. VirtualBox does not have a commercial version. This means that you can have all the features for free, even the most advanced ones.
You can download it from the following link:
https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads
Along with the main program, download the VirtualBox Oracle VM VirtualBox Extension Pack, which will provide you with various additional settings and drivers.
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