best virtual machine software for windows 10 free

The software surpasses VirtualBox and the Player variant in terms of features, settings options, hardware support, saving and managing snapshots, copying and cloning virtual machines, and network configuration.

VMware Workstation Pro, which costs around $199, is the big brother of VMware Player. The settings for virtual PCs are saved as an XML file and can be easily exported and adapted as required or used for new PCs. When setting up, you have the options of Windows 3.1, 95/98/ME, NT 4, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, 8, 10 and 11, Linux distributions from kernel 2.4, Mac OS X, and Open BSD as guest systems. The software’s wizard for creating new machines is particularly easy to use-you can directly select the medium for booting PCs. Bidirectional drag-and-drop from and to the guest system is available for machines with Windows and Linux. The special features of SSD drives as storage for virtual PCs are also taken into account. VirtualBox supports 32- and 64-bit computers as both host and guest, as well as utilizing USB 2.0 and USB 3.0 ports, allowing you to mount USB drives as virtual data storage and encrypted hard disk images. VirtualBox’s file manager allows you to look into a guest computer’s file system and conveniently copy files and folders between the host and guest PC. Further optimizations concern 3D graphics support when using Windows and Linux as guest systems as well as surround speaker systems.

In addition, window contents are easier to recognize on high-resolution monitors. Since version 7, VirtualBox significantly revised its interface with improved menus and buttons making it easier to use.

Best virtual machine software for windows 10 free