i7-2630qm Virtualization

What is Virtualization primarily used for. I know you can run a different OS virtually with it's own amount of RAM, Processor usage, etc.
But what are some real-life applications?
I see people "show off" for stats and props, but where is it effective?
Like running Macintosh on PC, right?
And can you load some V software (VMware?) that does not require you to start windows?

I read that the i7-2630qm does not support virtalization,
what does that mean?
BIOS has an option to enable/disable...

Any info is appreciated...

 

Running a VM is really useful if you are on windows and need linux to run a certain script or if you are on linux and want to run a windows program (Although you can use wine for that)

 

i usually use VM to test new Linux distro.

2630QM does support Virtualization (VT-x) but not VT-d. For the latter you need 2720QM or higher.

 

Yeah, I've used Wine (which I was surprised as to how well it can work).

 

Virtualbox just taught me that

 

Question, for what do you need vt-d for? Unless you have some kind of dedicated HW which you want to pass-through into the VM, there's no use for that feature. [Note: passing through the radeon gfx won't work, even with vt-d in this laptop anyway and the network/sata/usb controller should be left alone].

 

I can fire up couple Windows servers and bunch of Windows clients to show off and test stuff in a working network setup, in my own laptop.

Without need to have 5-10 actual machines for it. Big difference, if I can do it with a laptop that I can carry on my bag or do I need a van full of computer hardware to do the same and drive that around...

 

Actually turns out that if you turn on virtualization in the BIOS it runs fine (I was trying a fedora VM.)