Windows VM under Linux

[The Big Nasty]

I really want to use Linux as my main OS, as I'm not a fan of what MS is doing with Windows, and I just prefer Linux over Windows anyway. I think Steam for Linux is a step in the right direction, but obviously, that is going to take time and there won't be a ton of support upfront. My question is, do people run Ubuntu or other Linux flavors as a primary OS and have a VM for Windows for gaming? And how has that worked out? Any real issues that stand out, or things you just can't get to work that way?

[mefi]

I've tried to play with VM and I think it's waste of time. Even Wine was better choice for gaming than VM.

If you have too much free time then you may try but AFAIK most people saying same.

[mefi]

http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?page=article&item=vmware_vmwgfx_g3d&num=5

I haven't tried VMware.

[Tusken GA]

I've never tried VM's in Linux but my experience of them in Windows has been that the graphics support just is not good enough for games. It can run Aero and some other less taxing 3D applications but you can forget playing full, modern games in them.

[Ledow]

Agreed. Pushing 3D support through a layer of abstraction actually costs quite a bit.

That said, if Steam for Linux does ever come out and has a decent proportion of my games in it, then I'll look into going Linux for the base OS, with a Windows VM for work, not for games. Already have consigned my test of Windows 8 Pro to the quarantine of a VM, I see no problem with doing it to Windows 7 too if it comes to it.

It also depends on the machine you use - sometimes it's trickier to get Linux drivers for the hardware than Windows drivers (e.g. Optimus graphics - it can be done, but it's trickier than necessary). If you love Linux, run it in a VM (because it *doesn't* need the fancy graphics) and use it as your main desktop - with proper VT support on the processor, and things like fullscreen modes on VM's, you'll never notice a difference and can still switch back to Windows if you can't get on with it.

I've been deploying Linux clients for the last 10 years and I tell you that it's *fabulous* for a lot of things, and not for others. But there's nothing "killer" at the moment that justifies the hassle of trying to run Windows in a VM on it, or trying to dual-boot it nicely, over just using Windows as the base OS and doing "real" work on a Linux VM.

[spielsterino]

Linux has been my primary OS for a long time. I'm not a big gamer but games do not work in VMs. Sorry way to slow. I do use a windows VM for connecting to work. I prefer games that have native linux installers but a lot of windows games run just fine in wine. Steam runs in wine and a good chunk of their games run in wine, just check the appdb on the winehq site before buying a game.

[NickJ]

If gaming is your main thing and you do a lot of it, then you might be better off using Windows 7 as your host operating system and running whatever distro of Linux you prefer in a virtual machine, or just dual boot.

I personally use Linux as my host operating system and run VMware Player with an older copy of XP, so I can run some specialized software that I need for work occasionally (Some GIS applications) and then I use Crossover and WINE to play games.

[ProChaser [Linux]]

You can use PlayonLinux (Wine) to play Windows games with Linux. It's quite easy to handle and they support many games. More info is on www.playonlinux.org ... moreover, Steam for Linux is running well or even faster than with Windows. You just have to bridge the time until AAA Titles are coming to S4L. In other words, try PlayonLinux in the meantime :)