virtualbox.org

Hey guys,

I'm running a FreeBSD host and would like to get your opinion on whether Windows 7 or Windows 8.1 is better as a guest OS?

I've got a high end machine and will just be using the Windows guest to "fill the gap" as far as productivity/entertainment apps go, like web browsing, netflix, Onenote, Sketchup, AutoCAD, etc. I'm concerned that Win 8.1 is a little too .. experimental at this point to consider running in VB on a BSD host. I don't need anything fancy, so I'm leaning towards Win 7, but I'm having a hell of a time finding a place to get a full retail CD key. Do OEM keys dedicated to VMs work well in your experience?

I see that there are "free" Windows VMs available, too (can't post the site since this is a new account, but it is the "IE" site). It appears that they only "last" 30 days or so before activation is required, so that appears to be a dead end. I'm considering just trying the win7 and win 8.1 VMs out just to see which one works best in lieu of advice I get from you guys.

Thanks.

It's very easy to get a full retail key. Buy Windows 7 or 8.

Alright - any comments on the general "bugginess" of Win 7 vs 8.1 Guests? I'm just looking for something reliable that doesn't require a lot of tweaking .. I get enough of that just dealing with BSD.

Windows 7 has been around longer than 8 so that should tell you what you need to know.

However be warned. Any talk about pirating keys will lead to a locked topic and could get you banned.

Perryg wrote: However be warned. Any talk about pirating keys will lead to a locked topic and could get you banned.

+1

Thanks guys.

The Windows 7 Home Premium Retail version is difficult to find for sale at reasonable prices (pretty much everything you see advertised is OEM nowadays). Are there any issues using an OEM key for activation? It's my understanding that Win 7 OEM will be slaved to the VM UUID upon activation. Is the OEM key slaved to any other VM parameters? I understand that it isn't legal to clone the Win 7 VM at will, but I want to ensure that re-installing windows under the same UUID will work if I need to nuke the VM and start from scratch for some reason. Thanks again.

We can't answer your licensing issues but I can help with replacement of the original should it go south.
Install and fully update the new install and once everything is working as it should copy the entire guest folder to a safe location. This will keep it pristine and should you need you can always paste it back over the one that went south. Likewise you can do this for the same as it is updated, giving you backup assurance.

Alright, I can work with that. Thanks.