VM Software Recommendation

I am looking for a virtual machine software for a Windows XP VM. Basically, I have this old piece of software that won't run on newer OS (16-bit and all) so I want to make a virtual machine. Here's the kicker, I need to be able to pass data to and from the VM easily, the one thing that the built in Client Hyper-V in Pro and Enterprise versions of Windows 8 and up doesn't do gracefully. I know VMWare can do that, but I'm wondering if there are other alternatives to VMWare. Hyper-V client has the upside of being free, but it is kind of a pain to work with.

 

VMWare Player is free. VirtualBox is as well but I don't like it personally, maybe because I've used VMWare for so many years but I had issues with attaching devices as well.

https://my.vmware.com/en/web/vmware/free#desktop_end_user_computing/vmware_workstation_player/12_0

Just don't enter a serial number and you get the free version for non-commercial use. VMWare tries to bury the free version these days.

 

VirtualBox? I use it with a linked, shared folder between the host and client and it works well enough - shows as a network attached drive in My Computer of the virtual OS. Any files placed there are available to both guest/client and host. It's not a complex approach but it's quite easy to set up and it works well enough. I vaguely recall that you'll need to install the guest additions pack from Oracle (Which is free) in order to get this to work - which also allows you to use connected USB devices inside the guest OS.

 

I assume the free version allows you to connect a USB device to the OS running in the VM?

 

Yes it does.

 

Yes, either VMWare or VirtualBox will allow you to do basic stuff like device sharing.

Personally, I lean closer towards VMWare than VirtualBox, but that's mostly due to Oracle's sub-par Linux tools compared to VMWare's tools. Can't say anything about XP support, but either should run it just fine.

 

Sub-par Linux tools? What??

 

My most common issue is that the display tools only work half the time, give or take (as in, trying to get 1080p to work). And for Arch Linux, Oracle's tools are just absolutely broken, even the FOSS implementation isn't all that good.

In contrast, I haven't run into any issue with Linux on VMWare.

 

VMware has been around much longer, so they have an established wide base of support on edge distro's. No surprise there.

So far virtualbox has been best on Windows for me and the professionals needing to add a Linux guest on Windows for tool use / testing.

I use VMware for client work on large imaging projects, I have been doing it a long time so I am comfortable with it on Linux.

For one off personal vm's, like on most laptops / desktops running Windows, I usually suggest virtualbox because performance is better, and there is no nagging to upgrade to VMware Workstation Pro

 

I've found the exact opposite with VMware vs VirtualBox performance on Windows hosts... Then again I usually use Workstation but when I downloaded Player to tinker with Windows 10, it was definitely faster than VirtualBox.

 

I haven't played with Windows 10 since the Insider days, so I don't know how it performs now, but when I was needing to use a Windows 10 VM only Virtualbox was working, VMware wouldn't work.

Of course that's to be expected, one or the other trade off best /quickest adoption for new OS's, Linux distro's too, but I stuck with virtualbox for Windows 10 Insider testing.

I also just redid new VM's for Centos 7, and tried both VMware and Virtualbox, and Virtualbox was much quicker to boot and interactive graphics were much better.

It varies enough that I try both, and keep them both upgraded and installed all the time. I pick the one that works best when I need it on a particular OS, and move on only to revisit which to use upon the next release of that OS, or if some upgrade messes things up - VMware and virtualbox updates have both done this to me.

For a novice I find Virtualbox is easier for them to use, so that's why I recommend it.

Taking in to account past experience answering questions and their success rate without my involvement, virtualbox is best for me in this regard as well

 

I'm only reporting personal experiences, though my VirtualBox issues aren't limited to just "edge" distros (I've had some issues in Mint as well, though not as many).

Anecdotal experiences considered, my personal pick lies with VMWare for those reasons. Just my two cents is all.