virtualbox.org

Sorry if this is a FAQ, just wonder if it is better to have linux host or windows host?

I use Linux for most of my task, like web browsing and programming. However, I have to use adobe lightroom for my photo editing as there is not corresponding software for linux.

Now I running Windows as guest system with Linux host, but the performance is bad. I just wonder if it is good for me to run Windows as host and run all my other tasks at Linux guest? Will all my other applications run slow as Linux guest? I am using ubuntu and there is a virtualization specific kernal, will Linux guest actually run better than Windows guest?

BTW actually I have a quad core CPU, will Linux guest scale better than Windows guest? I try to give my Windows guest to have 4 cores but it run A LOT slower than 2 cores.

Thanks a lot for the suggestions.

Photo editing should not be done in a VM. Period. You want the best performance and a VM does not provide that. What a VM can provide is enough for office work. You can do that on a system that's 10 years old, and on a system that's brand new.

As how you ask your question, compared to the black and white question in the topic title, there is only one true answer: Windows as Host performs much, much better. Simply because of the task you're giving it. Adobe Lightroom just works better on bare metal where it can use all the advantages of the physical hardware.