Best of many worlds

Windows Vista runs inside a virtual machine in Ubuntu Linux.

The VirtualBox control panel gives you access to the different virtual machines that you set up.

WHEN I switched from Windows to Linux last year, a decision I had to make as a technology writer was what to do with readers who were still on Microsoft’s proprietary operating system.

On one hand, I felt a responsibility to help them see that for many computing requirements, Linux is the superior and more cost-effective choice.

On the other hand, I realized that 90 percent of all computers still run on Windows, and that many new programs appear first on this platform, precisely because of its huge user base. To ignore these programs would be to miss out on some pretty cool technology.

A case in point was Joost, a new Internet TV service that was available to beta test users in April.

Unfortunately, Joost was only available for Windows XP and for Intel-based Macs, neither of which I had. I tried to run Joost through Wine, a program that interprets Windows code and executes it in Linux—but no go.

I wish I could say I have finally solved the Joost puzzle, but I haven’t.

Still, I learned quite a bit trying to get there, with a free and open source program from Innotek called VirtualBox, which runs on Linux, Windows (2000, XP or Server 2003) and OS X (Intel-based) computers.

VirtualBox enables you to create virtual machines inside your host PC running any of the following “guest” operating systems: Windows Vista, XP, Server 2003, 2000, NT 4.0, 98, 95, ME and 3.1; Linux; FreeBSD; Open BSD; NetBSD; Solaris; and even OS2 Warp.

This means you can have Windows XP running in its own window on your Linux PC or Intel-based Mac. Or, if you’re a Windows user, you could have your choice of Linux flavor running in a window.

The guest operating system works like the real thing—you can install and run Windows programs on a virtual machine in the same way you would on a PC with Windows XP installed. On the virtual XP machine I created on my Ubuntu PC, I installed and ran Adobe Photoshop without a hitch. Best of all, Photoshop behaved well, with none of the quirks I experienced when I ran it under Wine.

To set up a virtual machine, you must have the installation CD of the operating system you wish to use. VirtualBox will have you install the operating system onto a virtual machine in the same way you would on a new PC.

It’s remarkably easy to set up a virtual XP machine. From the main program window, click on the “New” button. A wizard prompts you for a name for your virtual machine and asks you to choose an operating system from a drop-down menu.  Next you’ll be asked to allocate memory. VirtualBox recommends 192MB (for Windows XP) but if you have lots of RAM, you can allocate more to improve performance. The program then asks you to choose a virtual hard disk from which to boot the guest operating system. If you don’t have one yet, it will have you create one. This might sound intimidating, but it’s really just asking you to reserve space on your hard drive for the guest operating system. It recommends 10 gigabytes for Windows XP—and asks if you want the disk to expand with usage up to the limit you set, or if you want to reserve all that storage space right way. Choose one and you’re on your way.

The first time you start a new machine, it will look for the install CD in the CD-ROM drive and boot from it. It will then go through a typical installation, including formatting your virtual disk.  Don’t worry—this won’t wipe out your hard disk; it will just format the virtual disk you specified. When the installation is complete, you’ll be asked to remove the install CD and reboot the virtual machine. From this point on, you’ll be able to boot and run Windows XP in its own window, and install any other Windows programs you may want to use. Except Joost and other video-intensive programs, that is, which still won’t recognize the settings for my virtual graphics card.

VirtualBox lets you run guest operating systems in a sandbox, safely tucked away from your main operating system so it’s unlikely you’ll do any damage to your PC. This segregation, however, also means you have to take extra steps to share folders between the host and guest operating system—not rocket science, but not all that intuitive, either.

During my test runs, I also had trouble getting the virtual machines to access my USB drives.

These problems notwithstanding, VirtualBox is a great tool for trying out new operating systems or for running programs that are not available on your regular platform of choice. For example, I was also able to use it to create a virtual PCLinux OS machine, just to see how different PCLinux is from Ubuntu. I am also able to run Pando, a free Windows-based program that allows you to send 1GB file attachments. Without VirtualBox, I wouldn’t have been able to use this program at all on my Ubuntu PC. Now I can.