The best virtual machines for Windows 10
In the past, we were limited to an operating system on our computers. If we didn't want to install another operating system from scratch (at risk of losing all our valuable data), there was nothing we could do about it.
Due to money restrictions or physical space restrictions, we cannot all purchase more than one computer. In this case, virtualization has become an important issue today.
Virtualization allows both experienced and beginner users to test the software and all operating systems without changing the basic system of their PC.
Using virtual machines is a safer option for network and system administrators because it isolates all processes running on the virtual machine from the rest of your PC.
In this way, users do not take any security risks.
The best free virtual machines for Windows 10
VMware Workstation 15 (Recommended)
WMware is one of the best virtual machines on the market due to its versatility and speed. It is easy to install and use for all proficiency levels.
It comes in two major versions that meet all your needs.
1. VMware Workstation 15 Player
After 20 years of active development, VMware Workstation 15 Player is a mature and stable local virtualization solution that can be used both as a personal training tool and a simplified tool for business.
It was created mainly as an option for ordinary users who need to run virtual machines.
Key features:
- Simple user interface
- Easy virtual machine creation
- Hardware optimization
- Driverless guest operating system edition
- Isolation and sandbox features (allows users to discover software and application development in a “real world” environment without affecting the host desktop)
- You can use it to isolate corporate desktop computers from BYO devices (copy-paste, drag and drop, disable shared folders)
- Accessing USB devices
- Ability to run restricted and encrypted VMs (only automated users can interact with corporate data)
- Get VMware Workstation 15 Player
2. VMware Workstation 15 PRO
This version is the industry standard for running multiple operating systems as virtual machines (VMs) on a single Windows 10 computer.
Built to create, test, or demo software on any device for IT professionals, developers, and businesses.
VMware Workstation 15 PRO offers all the features available in VM Workstation Player with a few important additions:
- Enterprise-level solutions
- The ability to clone machines
- Take multiple snapshots of the guest operating system
- Replaying changes made in the guest operating system for the test software
- Compatible with cloud or container technologies such as Docker and Kubernetes
- The ability to securely connect to VMware VSphere, ESXi or other Workstation servers
- Maximizes efficiency
- Enables easy transfer of VMs to your local PC and PC
- Includes the safest hypervisors in the industry
- Powerful features for IT security professionals
- High-performance 3D graphics (supports DirectX 10.1 and OpenGL 3.3)
- Ability to create complex Ipv4 or IPv6 virtual networks
VirtualBox
VirtualBox is a user-friendly virtual machine software that offers many features that make the maintenance and operation of this VM feel like 'walking in the park'.
"Guest Additions" features can be extremely useful when you need to grant additional privileges to the host for tasks such as sharing files, sharing drives, and peripherals.
All virtual machine parameters are kept in plain text XML files. With this approach, you can easily share folders and use them on the go.
Despite being a very powerful virtualization software, VirtualBox alone needs about 30 MB of hard disk space.
Depending on the virtual operating system you want to install, the size of the required space can be up to several gigabytes.
VirtualBox supports Windows, many Linux versions, Mac OS X, Solaris, and OpenSolaris.
Hyper-V
Hyper-V was launched in 2008, replacing the Microsoft Visual PC as the 'on-premises' option for your virtualization needs and work from Windows 8 onwards.
It is a very robust virtualization application with a very accessible interface and easy-to-use features for Windows 10.
In addition to letting you simply virtualize operating systems, Hyper-V hard drives, switches, external media drives, etc. It has virtualization capability but does not allow virtualization of any audio hardware or GPU.
It works only with 64-bit Windows 10 and is built into the Pro, Enterprise and Education version of Windows 10.
To enable Hyper-V, you need to click on the Start search button and type "properties". Then click on "Turn Windows Features On or Off".
If you're running one of the Windows 10 versions listed above, you can find it in the list of features offered here. Then all you have to do is select the box and click OK.
To check if the option is enabled, you should find the option as "Hyper-V Quick Rendering" when using the search feature of the Windows 10 'Start' button.
Citrix Hypervisor
Citrix Hypervisor is a virtualization management platform optimized for application, desktop, and server virtualization infrastructures.
It has extensive management tools and you can easily automate and deploy live environments.
Citrix Hypervisor also provides support for high performance advanced 3D graphics with a wide variety of GPU migration and virtualized GPU vendor options.
Includes support for Intel’s Virtual Graphics Technology (GVT-g) and NVIDIA GRID vGPU.
With advanced server consolidation and coverage, Citrix Hypervisor provides higher performance and capacity gain in CPU cores.
For automatic Windows VM driver updates, it integrates with Microsoft Windows Update Services with the main RAM per VM, VM RAM, and virtual disks.
Citrix Hypervisor has a 90-day free trial, but the full version will cost $763.