[PLUG] using VM Ware for "real" work -- has any one had success with this?

Jason Martin nsxfreddy at gmail.com
Tue May 29 17:38:41 UTC 2007


On 5/29/07, Rogan Creswick <creswick at gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm trying to migrate to Linux at work, but there are a few
> "must-have" apps that I'm having issues with:
>
>     * Word (OpenOffice doesn't cut it.  It can't read/write .doc files
> with high enough reliability.)
>     * Visual Studio
>     * Visio
>
> The reason these are "must-have" apps is that I have to be able to
> interact with other people who use them -- I could (and do) accomplish
> the same results with entirely OSS tools, but I'm not aware of
> anything that will say, read and write visio files, and let me create
> XP-themed UI mockups.
>
> I'm considering getting Crossover Office to run Word and Visio, and
> I'm working on linux ports of our software, so VS may not be a lasting
> issue.  In the meantime though, I still need to use these apps, so
> I've installed vmware player and made a 35gig image of my old XP pro
> install.  I've done this sort of thing in the past with Win2k on a
> dual-proc (2x 1ghz T-bird) machine, but now I'm on a single-core
> Athlon 64 (running 32-bit Feisty) and I'm having horrible performance
> problems.
>
> The issues seem to be tied to disk thrashing -- the drive is
> constantly active while VM Ware is running, and the XFCE performance
> monitor reports 100% processor activity (although Top shows minimum
> levels of activity ~12%).  Native Linux apps run just fine while VM
> Ware is going, but anything in the virtual machine is extremely slow.
>
> I have installed the vmware tools, and I'm using VMware Player, as
> opposed to VMWare workstation, which I was using before with success.
> I'd give VMWare Workstation another try, but I've seen indications
> that vmware player works just fine for some people on line.  Could the
> size of the image be the problem? (35 gigs -- *much* larger than any
> virtual machine I've used in the past.)
>
> Any suggestions / ideas about VM Ware, or interoperating with the
> windows apps above would be greatly appreciated!

How much physical memory does your host system have, and how much of
that have you allocated to the guest?  The disk thrashing could be
Windows using the page file, especially given what type of apps you're
trying to run.

Jason



More information about the PLUG mailing list