virtualbox.org

I have existing Linux (Open SUSE) and Windows 7 installations on my computer. Can I run VirtualBox under Linux and have my existing Windows installation as the "Guest" (hope I am using the right terms here)?

Can I, or how would, I then "connect" to the Windows machine and use it while running my session in a meaningful manner? I have experience of using VMWare's "console"and... oh my god it was slow. Okay for the occasional administration task, but not to use on a regular basis.

Thanks in advance.

See the "Windows Guests" section of the "Howtos and Tutorials" area.

I am unable to decipher your second paragraph - perhaps because I'm not a VMWare user and have no idea what your reference to VMWare's console is talking about. If you want to know what VirtualBox does then try it, and have the user manual handy. In fact I would suggest that you learn how to use VirtualBox basics before you move to advanced tricks, such as sharing a physical disk partition.

mpack wrote:I am unable to decipher your second paragraph - perhaps because I'm not a VMWare user and have no idea what your reference to VMWare's console is talking about.

You can use the VMWare software running on the host and interact with the virtualised system, inside a window, much as though using the system directly.

If you want to know what VirtualBox does then try it, and have the user manual handy.

Yeah. I could also try learning to drive a 44 tonne truck by trying it out. Or I could ask advice from people who might already know how to do so.

Have you looked at the screenshots?
VBox can run the guest in a Windowed environment just like VMWare Player/Workstation. A pretty stanard use-case for a desktop hypervisor I'd say.

Or you could run it headless and connect over RDP to the host using VRDP provided by VBox (not something I believe can be done with VMWare), or even to the guest's own RDP server.

A good rule of thumb is; it's you can do it in VMWare Player/Workstation, you can do it in VBox. It may not be 100% the same, but it should be close enough.
As this is virtualisation, it's easy enough to experiment and check out what the software does.