So you just brought your hot new computer home from the store, and as you delete all of the crapware that came with it, and painstakingly take the fluff out of XP’s display so your machine will run at the fastest possible speed, you begin thinking of what your geek friends told you:
Try Linux! It’s free, it’s secure, it’s fast!
BUT, with Microsoft’s major hassles coming into play when it comes to reinstalling Windows, you’re reluctant to take the plunge and reformat your hard drive with Linux running your system.
Are you dead in the water? No, thanks to an incredible FREE product that is the subject of today’s FamilyFirst site.
The product is called VMWare. And the version of the software that my company spent hundreds of dollars for a couple of years ago is now available for free!
The way it works is that you install VMWare, then create a virtual machine. I just built one with Fedora Core 5 as the operating system. Put a bootable install disk in your CD-ROM, start the machine, and install your OS.
Once the system is installed, you have a fully operational machine running within your current one! Cool stuff.
Think about the possibilities: Surf the internet completely unaffected by spyware, viruses, or worms using Linux! Do you have a favorite old game that runs in expanded memory? Install DOS, turn expanded memory on, and play away! Install XP or Windows 2000, surf the web, then revert to a snapshot and blow away any spyware you might have picked up.
You’ll need a lot of memory. I would suggest at least a gig. More is better.
Download this amazing freeware and start running two OS’s on your box today!
http://www.vmware.com
