MHR wrote:
Okay, I'm being noisy today.
I have VMWare Server 1.0.8 installed on my CentOS desktop, and it runs my XP and CentOS guests just fine, though I don't use them much.
I'm considering moving to either VMWare Server 2.0 or switching to KVM instead, mainly because VMWS 1 is now obsolete and also because its limitations on video configurations is really annoying - I have a 22" 1680x1050 LCD monitor, hoping to upgrade sometime in the not-too-distant future to a 23 or 24" display with full HD (1920x1080), but VMWS 1 does not support any wide-screen configurations at all. I tend to use on-screen real estate to maximum benefit, and the 1152x864 maximum useful size I have now is just too small for me, so I'm thinking maybe it's time to upgrade to something newer/better.
If you don't use it often and mostly access it locally, consider VMware player instead of server. (You might need to install server to create new images).
If you use VM guests a lot and have access to a windows box to run the control console, load ESXi on the hardware and run everything as guests.
One question I had that overrides most other considerations is how to transfer my existing XP VM over to whichever new underlying system I choose - is that even possible, or do I have to go through all the reinstallation pain yet another time?
The images are fairly portable. Just copy the directory containing the files. Or install something else to run them. ESXi is an exception because you don't have normal access to the filesystem - but the vCenter Converter is a free download and will convert about anything to anything else (I think you need windows for that too, but it could run under an existing VM if it can see the image files for the others).