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

[Kenneth B. Hill]

On May 29, 2007, at 10:32 AM, Rogan Creswick 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!
>
> Thanks,
> Rogan
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I have not had much success running such Microsoft software on Linux  
using either VMWare or Crossover Office. I ended up just using a  
separate Microsoft Windows machine to run "microsoft only" software  
apps.

-Ken