virtualization technology Archives

Winsage

March 12, 2025

6 reasons Hyper-V is the best hypervisor on Windows

Virtualization technology is essential in modern IT infrastructure, allowing the creation of virtual machines (VMs) for various applications. Hyper-V is Microsoft's primary hypervisor for Windows Pro, Enterprise, or Windows Server users. It has been available since Server 2008 and provides tools for efficient VM creation, management, and monitoring. Hyper-V integrates natively with Windows, ensuring compatibility and simplifying VM management through the Hyper-V Manager interface. It is optimized for Windows, enhancing performance and security by utilizing features like Secure Boot and BitLocker. Hyper-V supports large-scale deployments and can configure multiple VMs for demanding workloads. It also allows users to create Linux VMs, such as Ubuntu, easily using the "Quick Create" feature. Hyper-V is a built-in, free hypervisor for Windows, requiring no additional costs beyond the Windows Pro license. Its integration, ease of use, and cost-effectiveness make it a leading choice for virtualization among average users and IT administrators.

Winsage

March 11, 2025

Freeing Windows

Several projects have emerged as alternatives to Windows, including ReactOS, which aims to provide a free and open-source operating system. Wine allows users to run Windows applications on other platforms. Recently, Free95 was introduced, licensed under GPL-3.0, capable of running simple Windows programs, with plans for enhanced compatibility. Free95 is still in its early stages and seeks contributors on GitHub. Currently, Free95 does not pass the "Does it run Doom?" test, indicating significant challenges ahead in replicating Windows functionality. As virtualization technology improves, the need for lightweight alternatives like Free95 may decrease, although they could still benefit users with aging hardware.

BetaBeacon

February 3, 2025

This major brand has a tool to run PC games, Steam on your Android tablet

Xiaomi has introduced a new tool called WinPlay for Android tablets, which allows users to play Windows games locally using three-layer virtualization technology. The tool is currently restricted to China as part of an internal beta program for the Xiaomi Pad 6s Pro, with no plans for a global launch in the short term.

Winsage

December 26, 2024

How I virtualized my Windows 11 PC using Disk2vhd and VirtualBox

Virtualization technology allows users to create a virtualized instance of their primary operating system using tools like Disk2vhd and VirtualBox. Disk2vhd is a free utility that converts storage drives into .vhd files for Physical to Virtual migration of Windows 11. The process involves downloading Disk2vhd, running it with administrator privileges, selecting drives, and creating the .vhd file while disabling the Use vhdx and Prepare for use in virtual PC options, but enabling Use Volume Shadow Copy for external drives. To deploy a virtual machine in VirtualBox, users must ensure CPU virtualization is enabled in the BIOS, install VirtualBox, and create a new VM by specifying its name, storage folder, type as Microsoft Windows, and version as Windows 11 (64-bit). Users then allocate memory and processors, select the option to use an existing virtual hard disk, browse for the .vhd file, and finish the setup. Once the VM is deployed, it should boot into the Windows 11 environment. If it loads the recovery environment, users can follow prompts to repair the system. However, running Windows 11 in a VM may lead to performance issues unless the host system has a high-end processor and sufficient RAM and CPU cores allocated. This project allows experimentation with the daily driver without risking its integrity.

Winsage

October 11, 2024

Chromebooks may soon lose a feature that allows you to use Windows apps

Google is expected to discontinue its partnership with Parallels for Chromebook users, which has allowed the running of Windows applications alongside Android apps since 2020. This decision is influenced by Google's collaboration with Cameyo, an alternative for accessing legacy applications. There have been no significant updates to Parallels on Chromebooks in over a year and a half, leading to speculation about its future. An official announcement regarding the discontinuation is anticipated before the end of 2024, potentially leaving Cameyo as the only option for running legacy applications on Chromebooks.

Winsage

September 5, 2024

Microsoft’s VBS/HVCI still hurts Windows 11 performance even on latest versions

Microsoft enhanced security features in Windows 11, mandating Secure Boot and Trusted Platform Module (TPM) 2.0 or Platform Trust Technology (PTT) for Intel users. A key feature is Memory Integrity (hypervisor-protected code integrity), which enables Virtualization-based Security (VBS) but can negatively impact CPU performance, especially during gaming. Disabling Memory Integrity may improve performance for gamers. An analysis by ComputerBase showed that AMD's Ryzen 5800X3D performs better with Windows 11 24H2 compared to its predecessor, but enabling VBS incurs an approximate 8% performance penalty. AMD has released optimizations for branch prediction on Windows 11 24H2, improving performance, particularly for the Ryzen 9000 series, with updates also backported to version 23H2.