Best Virtual Machine

Installed directly on server hardware, VMware ESXi provides the foundation for running multiple virtual machines on one physical system. It is a type-1, or bare-metal, hypervisor, meaning it does not require a general-purpose desktop operating system underneath it. Each virtual machine receives virt...

Developed at Amazon Web Services, Firecracker runs small virtual machines called microVMs. It uses Linux's KVM virtualization support and a deliberately limited virtual device model to reduce the overhead associated with a general-purpose virtual machine. Each microVM has its own guest kernel, givin...

Running several operating systems on one desktop computer is the central purpose of VMware Workstation Pro. This hosted, or type-2, hypervisor operates above a Windows or Linux host system and creates virtual machines with configurable processor, memory and storage allocations. Each guest operating...

Built into the Linux kernel, KVM provides open-source support for hardware-assisted virtualization. Its name means Kernel-based Virtual Machine. With the necessary processor features available, Linux can host separate virtual machines running supported guest operating systems. KVM is generally descr...

A web interface for managing virtual machines and Linux containers sits at the center of Proxmox VE. This open-source virtualization platform combines KVM for full virtual machines with LXC for containers, providing two different ways to run workloads on server hardware. Virtual machines carry their...

Windows applications running alongside macOS are the main attraction of Parallels Desktop. This hosted virtualization application creates and manages virtual machines on a Mac, allowing another supported operating system to run without replacing macOS. Its desktop integration can present guest appli...

Microsoft Azure Virtual Machines offer a cloud computing service where users can deploy and manage virtual machines on demand. These customizable instances provide access to various operating systems like Windows and Linux. They are suitable for developers, IT professionals, and businesses needing s...

Virtual machine instances are the central resource offered by Google Compute Engine within Google Cloud. As an Infrastructure as a Service product, it lets organizations provision computing resources without owning the physical servers underneath them. Machine configuration and operating-system choi...

QEMU is an open source software project providing machine emulation capabilities. It translates computer instructions allowing users to run operating systems and applications not originally designed for their current hardware. Primarily used by developers, system administrators, and researchers need...

Droplets are DigitalOcean's on-demand virtual machines, used to host websites and applications or provide development environments. A Droplet gives its administrator access to a guest operating system on cloud infrastructure, removing the need to purchase and maintain the underlying physical server....

Microsoft Hyper-V is a type one hypervisor facilitating the creation and management of virtual machines. It operates on Windows Server or Windows 10/11, providing isolated environments for operating systems and applications. This technology is valuable for IT professionals and system administrators...

Nutanix AHV is a type-1 hypervisor built into the Nutanix platform. It provides virtualization capabilities by directly managing virtual machines on local storage. This eliminates traditional hypervisor licensing costs and simplifies IT administration for enterprises seeking efficient and scalable i...

VMware Fusion is a type-2 hypervisor for macOS. It enables users to operate multiple operating systems, such as Windows or Linux, concurrently on their Mac computers. This software facilitates compatibility testing of applications and allows access to legacy systems or specialized operating environm...

VirtualBox is an open source hypervisor allowing users to operate multiple virtual machine environments on a desktop computer. It supports cross-platform compatibility facilitating experimentation with different operating systems like Windows, macOS, and Linux. This software is particularly useful f...

Xen Project provides a Type 1 hypervisor enabling simultaneous operation of diverse operating systems within virtual machines. This open source software is notable for its efficiency through hardware virtualization and paravirtualization techniques. It’s primarily utilized by system administrators a...

Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops provides centralized management of virtual desktop environments. It enables secure remote access to applications and operating systems running on virtual machines. This solution is primarily utilized by large organizations needing efficient support for remote workers...

VMware Horizon provides enterprise-level remote desktop virtualization solutions. It enables secure access to applications and virtual machines across networks, supporting efficient workspace delivery for businesses and IT departments. This platform is particularly useful for organizations needing f...

UTM is an open source virtual machine environment created by the U.S. Army. It functions as a QEMU-based hypervisor designed to simulate macOS and iOS environments. This allows cybersecurity professionals and military personnel to conduct realistic training exercises involving adversary tactics and...

VMware Workstation Player is a free application that allows users to run multiple operating systems simultaneously on a single Windows computer by creating and managing virtual machines for testing, development, or running legacy applications.

Citrix Hypervisor, formerly XenServer, is an open-source server virtualization platform that allows multiple operating systems to run concurrently on a single physical host, optimizing resource utilization and simplifying IT management through features like live migration and storage management.

Scale Computing HC3 is a virtual machine that delivers persistent storage and compute resources simultaneously, utilizing a shared memory architecture to enable near-instantaneous application migration and data access without traditional I/O bottlenecks.

BHyVE is a lightweight, open-source virtualization platform that allows users to run isolated Linux environments directly on top of existing operating systems like Windows or macOS, utilizing the host’s CPU and memory efficiently for testing and development purposes.

Red Hat Virtualization is an open-source virtualization platform that allows organizations to create and manage multiple virtual machines on a single physical server, optimizing resource utilization and streamlining IT operations through its integrated management console.

GNOME Boxes is a graphical application for creating and managing virtual machines on Linux systems, allowing users to run multiple operating systems simultaneously within a single host environment using technologies like KVM or VirtualBox.

oVirt is an open-source virtualization management platform that allows administrators to deploy, manage, and monitor multiple virtual machines across a variety of hypervisors, primarily KVM, offering features like live migration and centralized control for efficient resource utilization.

Connectix Virtual PC was a popular Windows-based virtualization software that allowed users to run older versions of Microsoft Windows and other operating systems within a compatible environment on modern computers, facilitating legacy application compatibility.

Virtuozzo is a cloud computing platform that delivers Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), providing on-demand access to fully configurable virtual machines hosted in data centers across multiple geographic regions for business applications and workloads.

Microsoft Virtual PC was a software product that allowed users to run other operating systems, such as Windows XP or Linux distributions, within a simulated computer environment on their existing Windows system, utilizing hardware virtualization technology.

OpenVZ is a Linux distribution that utilizes kernel virtualization, allowing multiple isolated operating system environments – known as private servers – to run concurrently on a single physical host, offering resource control and security features.