Windows 10: Best Virtual machine software to try W10 TP on Windows 8.1

Can anyone recommend the least heavy (change in system prefs) and size, virtual machine software to test W10 TP on a Windows 8.1 Pro x86 desktop. I have tried VMWare Workstation in the past but find it is no longer free, I would like to have a quick look at W10.

Thanks in advance

Tim

:)

 

Will Windows 10 license permit consumers to run it in a VM?

Hi,

I have been happily running Windows 10 TP in virtual machines (VirtualBox and VMWare) for several months. When the real Windows 10 is released will the license permit it to be run in a Virtual Machine by consumers, or is an Enterprise Service Agreement
required as for Windows 8.1?

Thanks

 

install mac os to widows 10 pro

Virtual Machine can help you, then get an OSX installer.

W10 VIRTUAL MACHINE OPTIONS

 

You can still make use of VmWare Player for non-commercial use for free.
https://my.vmware.com/web/vmware/fre...are_player/6_0

 

And here's a tutorial by Brink - works the same for installing Win 10.
VMware Player - Install Windows 8

 

I prefer Windows' own native Hyper-V, to set it up in your Windows 8.1 Pro and install Windows 10 Tech Preview, simply follow the instructions in this tutorial: Hyper-V virtualization - Setup and Use in Windows 10

Although tutorial is written to Windows 10, the Hyper-V in Windows 8 Pro & 8.1 Pro works and functions exactly the same way.

 

I cant get hyper v to run on my desktop as it says the hardware is too old memory wise

 

Is VMWare better than VirtualBox at running as 'full' a full-screen mode as possible?

 

For me VMware Player full screen works just like my Host OS in "full screen".
I don't use VirtualBox so I can't comment on any difference with that.

I normally use the VM in "Windowed Maximized" so I can see both OSs at the same time.
Some W10 modern apps don't work right unless the VM is "Full Screen".

 

The OP asked for the LEAST HEAVY VM software which would automatically exclude Hyper-V which requires Win 8.x PRO and 64-bit making it the most demanding VM software I have ever encountered.

 

First, Hyper-V uses less host resources than for instance VMware Player.

Second, who on earth would like to do some serious virtualization in a system with less than 4 GB of RAM? If you have 4 GB or more it's quite natural to assume you have an x64 version of Windows.

 

Hi there

Have to agree with Kari on that one.

Another thing often forgotten is that the HYPER-V system uses dynamic RAM allocation -- If you for example allocate 4GB to a VM then VMWARE / VBOX etc will reserve that 4GB RAM making it unavailable to other VM's or the HOST system.

HYPER-V will only allocate RAM as needed (up to the Max you've set in the configuration). So if you have say an idle W10 VM it could be using as little as 500MB RAM or even less depending on various factors.

There are downsides though -- it's a bit more complex to set up HYPER-V VM's and they can't run on HOST's earlier than W8 - so for Linux HOSTS etc you need other considerations. Also the idea of using RDP to access the VM's can in some cases be a bit horrible over slow networks. A VMWARE VM also can run on a LINUX or a WINDOWS Host without change too.

It's worth though trying a VM with HYPER-V.

Cheers
jimbo

 

For Windows 10 TP users, an easy way to get started with Hyper-V is to use Disk2VHD to create an exact copy of your current Windows 10 installation and set it up as a Hyper-V vm: Hyper-V - Create and Use VHD of Windows 10 with Disk2VHD

 

I use VMPlayer on my PRIMARY Box with Win 7 as the Host OS.
My TEST box that has Win 8.1.1 is so bad (old) with a VM, it's unusable for me...

I can't use HYPER-V with a Win 7 Host as far as I know.
So, I use VMware with a Win 7 Host that allows me use a VM with acceptable performance with my hardware ...

 

Useful info on VMWare and Hyper-V here. If I want to try the W10 TP in either of those can I re-use the licence key I put into VirtualBox? Or would I need to uninstall from VB first?

Thanks