Virtualbox
I've finally found the way to watch Netflix instant streaming on ubuntu. This was my original goal way back in the days of CPU magazine. I am now able to load up windows 7 while I have a virtual machine running in my Linux world. I don't need to buy any more $90-$170 windows licenses. Netflix has been the last reason to keep windows in my world.
My kid plays a lot of games that also require the windows OS. He'll stay connected until Linux makes enough good games to win him over. That wont be this decade. But, there is hope.
Thanks to cyclo - who has done this a long time ago - I kept trying to figure out how to get virtualbox installed. It was quite easy when I saw the YouTube video.
There are a few gotchas still left to figure out. I can't move my mouse from one world to another. Once I have locked myself into the Windows 7 window, I can't find a way to get outside to the Linux environment - so I cltr/alt-delete. That gets the virtual window to close.
One other problem is that I can't get the netflix streaming video into a full screen. It stays in a smaller window even if I open up the Linux window to full screen first. I'm sure there are ways to fix these glitches. I'll have to wait until Ubuntu 10.10 has been out there longer to give the users enough time to find these problems and write the fixes. It's OK. I'm still quite pleased that we've gotten to this point.
My kid plays a lot of games that also require the windows OS. He'll stay connected until Linux makes enough good games to win him over. That wont be this decade. But, there is hope.
Thanks to cyclo - who has done this a long time ago - I kept trying to figure out how to get virtualbox installed. It was quite easy when I saw the YouTube video.
There are a few gotchas still left to figure out. I can't move my mouse from one world to another. Once I have locked myself into the Windows 7 window, I can't find a way to get outside to the Linux environment - so I cltr/alt-delete. That gets the virtual window to close.
One other problem is that I can't get the netflix streaming video into a full screen. It stays in a smaller window even if I open up the Linux window to full screen first. I'm sure there are ways to fix these glitches. I'll have to wait until Ubuntu 10.10 has been out there longer to give the users enough time to find these problems and write the fixes. It's OK. I'm still quite pleased that we've gotten to this point.
Comments
I myself now run my main development workstation, a couple of servers, in VMs. The advantage to this is pretty obvious. If I decide to upgrade my hardware, or host software (say from Win 7 to Win 8), I could just transfer the VMs and run them on the new environment. No need to re-install, reconfigure, etc. VMWare Workstation even supports multi-monitors so I don't miss anything when developing on it. Also in case my hardware blows up, I have backups of the VM which I can just then run on another PC, my laptop, etc.
Another advantage is that by keeping my host PC lean and mean (without development databases and their associated services running in the background, etc.) the PC stays fast. And conversely, by running only development tools in the VMs, they too run efficiently, without the fear of getting viruses, power sapping DRM (from games), etc.
My wish is for full 3D hardware acceleration be supported in Virtual Machines so I can install and play the latest games in VMs. That means I can keep the host PC real lean and mean where it acts mostly as a container for multiple VMs I am running.
The one problem I have is managing patches on multiple VMs. This means I have to run the same OS, Software (browser, etc.) patch multiple times (for each VM).
how much memory to allocate for something. I hate when you get questions that don't give you a way to find the answer - you try the default and hold your breath. Anyway, it sounds like you've figured out a lot about using VM and creating a local cloud.
You mentioned flavors of Linux. I've been hearing about Knoppix and am getting interested in how to use it. Is it any better than Ubuntu as far as finding weird old video drivers? You can make a flash drive with Knoppix and boot from that to fix a computer with corrupted Windows software.
I remember having to go to the terminal and type in loads of weird (barely understandable) lines of code to create that link to that place that needed to be available to that process. It was very unclear. I don't want to go there if I can help it. Maybe I should just leave Knoppix alone. Ubuntu has been easy to install and use. I was into Fedora for a number of years and got used to that language. Now, it's apt-get install. I'm glad the repository wars have abated. Oh well, life goes on.
Will this affect what my kid does on Steam? He is also going out into the wild world of servers on local machines providing games to play with his buddies from school. It bothers me to allow access to our machines from the outside world. I bet we could be hacked more easily if we let outsiders onto our machine. Any comments about this?
Unfortunately, not too many consumer oriented motherboards support VT-d but that is one thing I will be looking for on my next build... maybe summer of next year. I am hoping the prices of hard drives would be more stable by then.
Networks are still unknown territory for me. I've stayed away from wi-fi because I don't know if I would benefit from adding another router. Would I achieve the rates I get on all 4 RG-45 wired computers along with one flat screen?
I read the users responses about all the available routers and just stay away after I see how many negative responses appear on almost all of them. I only need to connect one laptop when Nikolai comes over for a visit. I just give him an RG-45 cable and all is well. It sounds like there's a lot of buggy software and uncertain connections that require talking to my ISP techs, etc. I stay away if I don't need to learn all about another set of problems. Am I just chicken? Does everyone have wi-fi because of the cell-phone stuff?
Wireless networking is just fine and quite easy to setup with a little experience. Also, wireless networking and cell phones are two entirely different things. (Although I do have my phone hooked to the wireless network when I am in range.) On a different note: this is why I do not really consider my professional life to be work, there is always something new and fun to read about or try out.