An excellent multiple OS tool!

After reading about VMWARE, I was eager to try it out. VMWARE allows you to install multiple operating systems and host them on either WindowsXP/2000/NT or Linux. This is a great tool for people who need to (or like to) have access to different OSes. I use WinXP Pro as my primary desktop OS. With VMWARE, I can quickly and easily boot up Win98, Linux, or Win2k Server to experiment or use it as a base machine to troubleshoot a problem for another machine.

Although support for Windows beta's are limited, often they are installable allowing me to experiment with what will be the next release of Window without dedicating a PC to it.

As I prepared for my MCSE, I hosted an entire network (consisting of multiple Win2k Domain Controllers, Win2k Member Servers, and a Win98 or Win2k Pro client) on my single PC. NOTE: the more horsepower (CPU speed and memory) the better. My machine has dual PIII 800mhz processors and 768 MB RAM.

Now when I install a piece of software for testing or evaluation, I install it on one of those VMWARE sessions. My goal is not to clutter up my desktop OS and reduce (if not eliminate) those semi-annual backup, reformat, reinstalls of the PC.