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My latest video review takes a look at the raw and unbelievable performance in VMWare Workstation 7.1.1, running 3 operating systems simultaneously under a Windows 7 64-bit host machine.
Hi, this is Mike from Windows 7 Forums, and we’ve got a good one for you this morning. Today, we’re checking out VMWare Workstation 7.1.1. VMWare is a virtualization software, and it is used primarily to run slave systems on a host machine. So you can run a computer, within a computer, within a computer. Here I have Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Home Server. I can run all operating systems at the same time, which is pretty amazing. With the type of hardware required, all you really need is a good quad core processor and about 8GB of RAM, and you can do about the same thing.
Now, what is tremendous about VMWare, is that with the latest version, 7.1.1, it has expanded leaps and bounds. You can actually run… and let’s go to the Windows Experience/Performance Index here. 6.0 on both Gaming Graphics and Standard Graphics. 7.4 on processor. And when we talk about that on a virtual machine? In virtualization terms? We could run a pretty good game here. We could run an MMO, like World of Warcraft, or Star Trek Online. We could run Photoshop for graphic editing.. And so Workstation has really come very far. It is significantly, amazingly fast; we can run multiple operating systems at the same time.
Let’s check out Windows Vista Ultimate features here and just take a look… this is pretty incredible stuff when you take a look at it. From what I can tell, the OpenGL and DirectX enhancements are just unbelievable. We’re running Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7, all at the same time.
And let me just explain what this is used for mostly. It’s usually used by programmers mostly. Programmers use it for Visual Studio, and what they do is, they can develop, within Windows XP, Visa, and 7 at the same time. They can make the programs compatible at the same time.
Quality Assurance testers then go in and make sure that these programs can run in all different environments. This can be something like Mac OS X or Linux. You’re able to run operating systems so seamlessly. The latest VMWare Workstation 7.1.1 has been optimized for Windows. It is really great. It eclipses all other offerings. It is probably the most expensive one, but it is the best one.
I’ll show you the reasons why here. When we go into Settings for the Virtual Machines, we are able to choose a plethora of options. We’ve got about 2GB running for each machine. We’ve got a sound card here. We can go in and edit our hardware. We can add and remove different types of hardware.
And one of the most amazing features is Unity, which I will show you very shortly. Unity allows you to run programs on the host machine as if… I could run a Windows XP program on the host machine, just like XP Mode (you know Microsoft came out with XP Mode, yet Unity came out much before that and it has only gotten much better).
Here’s a demonstration of Unity now. I’m going to zoom out. What we’re going to do is check this out, because it is pretty amazing. We go and click on Unity, right? So look at this, we’ve got Solitaire from Windows XP running, we’ve got the start menu from Windows XP running… in the host computer!!
Now this is just a regular computer that really exists in real life – it is not virtual or anything. And I can run things like System Information. Look at what will show up: The System Information from Windows XP, and you know because it’s got the little VMWare Unity icon right here.
Now let’s compare the old Solitaire to the new one. We could do that, if we were to be so crazy…. We could do that! *Sound of cards shuffling* That is pretty cool. It is just unreal that this is the case. You know you can run applications seamlessly between operating systems.
And one of the great other features that I’d like to show you real quick, while on the virtualization subject, Is the ability to protect. And this is something where we use snapshots. Now if I take snapshots of this machine in its current state, everything is frozen still. And I can make any changes I want. I can destroy the whole computer. I can format the whole drive. I can install all sorts of programs. I can let my kids on, and they can run all sorts of games, and they can destroy the whole computer!
But what happens is that, if I revert back to the snapshot, everything is good. Everything is reverted back to square one, and we have a template. So this can be used in instructional environments, in academic environments, and in environments where a person who may not know much about a computer, and who could possibly destroy the computer, is now protected, because you have snapshots that you are building. And that all comes into play with the Auto-Protect Feature that comes with this software.
This software has really comes leaps and bounds. It is so fast. It will rock your socks off. We’re in Windows 7 now, under a virtual machine, so let’s go to YouTube, and lets be a little narcissistic, and watch our own YouTube channel, where you are actually, probably watching this, hopefully and let’s pick a video. Mind you, this is in a virtual machine. It is a machine within a machine.
[First ever Windows7Forums YouTube Video plays]
It’s great. It’s unbelievable that this exists in this way. IT BLOWS MY MIND! [Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up (Rick Roll) plays] Oops. Look at this, we can switch between virtual machines. I’ve gotta get outta here, this is unbelievable.
UNITY!
[Music video from YouTube continues to play in Unity and Full Screen]
That’s just incredible, folks. We’re running Internet Explorer from a virtual machine. And do you know what that means? It means security. Now if you have a snapshot, and you want to browse the web, you can always go back to the snapshot. This is great. It’s great software. It’s about $200 USD. And it’s worth every single penny.
It’s great in an educational environment.
It’s great for people who need a sandbox.
It’s great for people who want to protect their data and experiment.
That’s my review for VMWare. I don’t know what much else to see. It blows everything else out of the water. Microsoft Virtual PC doesn’t stand a chance against VMWare Workstation. VMWare, this is all they do is develop this thing, and just seeing this, and being able to use it, is just fantastic. I think you will all see it the same way. Why even have more than one computer? In the future, you’ll just be able to virtualize everything, hopefully.
So take care, this has been Mike from Windows7Forums.com. I just wanted to show you some virtualization features!
Link Removed
Hi, this is Mike from Windows 7 Forums, and we’ve got a good one for you this morning. Today, we’re checking out VMWare Workstation 7.1.1. VMWare is a virtualization software, and it is used primarily to run slave systems on a host machine. So you can run a computer, within a computer, within a computer. Here I have Windows 7, Windows Vista, Windows XP, and Windows Home Server. I can run all operating systems at the same time, which is pretty amazing. With the type of hardware required, all you really need is a good quad core processor and about 8GB of RAM, and you can do about the same thing.
Now, what is tremendous about VMWare, is that with the latest version, 7.1.1, it has expanded leaps and bounds. You can actually run… and let’s go to the Windows Experience/Performance Index here. 6.0 on both Gaming Graphics and Standard Graphics. 7.4 on processor. And when we talk about that on a virtual machine? In virtualization terms? We could run a pretty good game here. We could run an MMO, like World of Warcraft, or Star Trek Online. We could run Photoshop for graphic editing.. And so Workstation has really come very far. It is significantly, amazingly fast; we can run multiple operating systems at the same time.
Let’s check out Windows Vista Ultimate features here and just take a look… this is pretty incredible stuff when you take a look at it. From what I can tell, the OpenGL and DirectX enhancements are just unbelievable. We’re running Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7, all at the same time.
And let me just explain what this is used for mostly. It’s usually used by programmers mostly. Programmers use it for Visual Studio, and what they do is, they can develop, within Windows XP, Visa, and 7 at the same time. They can make the programs compatible at the same time.
Quality Assurance testers then go in and make sure that these programs can run in all different environments. This can be something like Mac OS X or Linux. You’re able to run operating systems so seamlessly. The latest VMWare Workstation 7.1.1 has been optimized for Windows. It is really great. It eclipses all other offerings. It is probably the most expensive one, but it is the best one.
I’ll show you the reasons why here. When we go into Settings for the Virtual Machines, we are able to choose a plethora of options. We’ve got about 2GB running for each machine. We’ve got a sound card here. We can go in and edit our hardware. We can add and remove different types of hardware.
And one of the most amazing features is Unity, which I will show you very shortly. Unity allows you to run programs on the host machine as if… I could run a Windows XP program on the host machine, just like XP Mode (you know Microsoft came out with XP Mode, yet Unity came out much before that and it has only gotten much better).
Here’s a demonstration of Unity now. I’m going to zoom out. What we’re going to do is check this out, because it is pretty amazing. We go and click on Unity, right? So look at this, we’ve got Solitaire from Windows XP running, we’ve got the start menu from Windows XP running… in the host computer!!
Now this is just a regular computer that really exists in real life – it is not virtual or anything. And I can run things like System Information. Look at what will show up: The System Information from Windows XP, and you know because it’s got the little VMWare Unity icon right here.
Now let’s compare the old Solitaire to the new one. We could do that, if we were to be so crazy…. We could do that! *Sound of cards shuffling* That is pretty cool. It is just unreal that this is the case. You know you can run applications seamlessly between operating systems.
And one of the great other features that I’d like to show you real quick, while on the virtualization subject, Is the ability to protect. And this is something where we use snapshots. Now if I take snapshots of this machine in its current state, everything is frozen still. And I can make any changes I want. I can destroy the whole computer. I can format the whole drive. I can install all sorts of programs. I can let my kids on, and they can run all sorts of games, and they can destroy the whole computer!
But what happens is that, if I revert back to the snapshot, everything is good. Everything is reverted back to square one, and we have a template. So this can be used in instructional environments, in academic environments, and in environments where a person who may not know much about a computer, and who could possibly destroy the computer, is now protected, because you have snapshots that you are building. And that all comes into play with the Auto-Protect Feature that comes with this software.
This software has really comes leaps and bounds. It is so fast. It will rock your socks off. We’re in Windows 7 now, under a virtual machine, so let’s go to YouTube, and lets be a little narcissistic, and watch our own YouTube channel, where you are actually, probably watching this, hopefully and let’s pick a video. Mind you, this is in a virtual machine. It is a machine within a machine.
[First ever Windows7Forums YouTube Video plays]
It’s great. It’s unbelievable that this exists in this way. IT BLOWS MY MIND! [Rick Astley – Never Gonna Give You Up (Rick Roll) plays] Oops. Look at this, we can switch between virtual machines. I’ve gotta get outta here, this is unbelievable.
UNITY!
[Music video from YouTube continues to play in Unity and Full Screen]
That’s just incredible, folks. We’re running Internet Explorer from a virtual machine. And do you know what that means? It means security. Now if you have a snapshot, and you want to browse the web, you can always go back to the snapshot. This is great. It’s great software. It’s about $200 USD. And it’s worth every single penny.
It’s great in an educational environment.
It’s great for people who need a sandbox.
It’s great for people who want to protect their data and experiment.
That’s my review for VMWare. I don’t know what much else to see. It blows everything else out of the water. Microsoft Virtual PC doesn’t stand a chance against VMWare Workstation. VMWare, this is all they do is develop this thing, and just seeing this, and being able to use it, is just fantastic. I think you will all see it the same way. Why even have more than one computer? In the future, you’ll just be able to virtualize everything, hopefully.
So take care, this has been Mike from Windows7Forums.com. I just wanted to show you some virtualization features!
Link Removed