bobpeers -> blog

I’ve been wanting to try using virtual machines for quite a while now. I really want to use an Open Source application so I first thought of using the Kernel Based Virtual Machine but that requires virtualization extensions (Intel VT or AMD-V) which my 5 year old laptop doesn’t have.

After talking to a work colleague about innotek VirtualBox I thought I’d give it try.

Installing was a breeze using the Fedora 8 rpm provided and after skimming through the manual I tried installing Ubuntu 7.10. This was easy enough but the first thing I noticed was that I really need more RAM. I only have 512MB on my laptop an allocated 256MB to Ubuntu but it’s pretty sluggish and laggy to use. The other thing I didn’t realise is that to install Ubuntu you need to boot from the CD and then click on the Install icon on the desktop, otherwise it’s just like running a Live CD.

Next I thought I’d try Mint 4.0. I’ve read a few good things about this so decided to give it a run. Unfortunately the install crashed soon after booting (which is strange since it’s based on Ubuntu and that booted fine) so I’ll have to wait to see Mint in action.

Next up it’s Slackware 12.0 when I have the time, I’ll post my further impressions with Virtualbox as I progress but so far so good. My only complaint is that use of the Qt toolbox which looks decidedly ugly on Fedora 8.