Here are some of the best hypervisor apps available that can keep all the virtual versions of a system under complete control.
Virtuality was once a capability of mainframe computers, and now even smartphones can do it.
Being able to segment the computer into different virtual versions has many advantages, specifically in respect of isolating experimental code from other critical processes.
Using this combination of hardware and software a system can allocate its resources more efficiently, and divide those functions that are internet-facing from those that have internal access to a network.
For IT professionals and software developers, virtuality is an important aspect of their computing activity, and picking the right tools to create and manage virtual installations is paramount.
Here is our selection of software best suited to those trying to keep things real, virtually.
Boot Camp is Apple’s free tool for running a Virtual session under macOS, but those that need to do this on a regular basis use Parallels, now owned by software behemoth Corel.
It enables them to seamlessly run Windows alongside their native OS, for those awkward moments when they need software that only works on that platform.
A few of the elegant things that Parallels can do is make Windows alerts appear in the Mac notification centre, and operate a unified clipboard.
Most Mac users think of Parallels as a tool exclusively for using Windows, but it can be used to host a wide range of Linux distros, Chrome OS and even other (and older) versions of Mac OS.
The lowest rung is $79.99 for the basic edition. Above that is a Pro edition that can address more memory and supports development environments like Microsoft Visual Studio. And, a Business Edition that includes centralised license management tools for IT professionals to use.
Not sure what operating systems you are likely to use? Then Oracle VM VirtualBox is a good choice because it supports an amazingly wide selection of host and client combinations.
Windows from XP onwards, any Linux level 2.4 or better, Windows NT, Server 2003, Solaris, OpenSolaris and even OpenBSD Unix. There are even people that nostalgically run Windows 3.x or even IBM OS/2 on their modern systems,
It also runs on Apple Mac, and for Apple users, it can host a client Mac VM session.
Oracle has been kind enough to support VirtualBox, and provide a wide selection of pre-built developer VMs to download and use at no cost.
And, all this is free; even the Enterprise release.
VMware offers a very comprehensive selection of virtualisation products, with Fusion 10 for the Apple Mac and Workstation 14 for the PC.
