Seamlessly Integrating WinXP into Linux

[fkasmani]

Hi,

I'm thinking of integrating WinXP with my Linux Mint Helena just for one app: Yahoo Messenger.

Well, I tried Gyachi & while it works perfectly, there's only one thing which I'm not satisfied with and that is when people using Yahoo Messenger on windows try to call me (not voice chat, but the actual "call" feature there is at the top left hand of the chat window), I do not receive their call - I don't even know that they're calling me.
Else I'm perfectly happy with Linux. (I've even tried installing Yahoo Messenger with Wine and the Linux version of Yahoo messenger, but they won't even load/login.

I have read the following and feel this can be a solution:

• [linux.com/archive/feature/124908]Linux.com :: Seamlessly integrate XP into Linux with SeamlessRDP
• [lifehacker.com/367714/run-windows-apps-seamlessly-inside-linux]Run Windows Apps Seamlessly Inside Linux - Dual Boot - Lifehacker

However, I do have some concerns:

1. What is the difference between VM Ware & VirtualBox
2. What is QEMU?
3. Will WinXP load and remain in memory by default when I boot the machine, or will it only come up when I call for it? I ask this because I know I'm low on system resources and the ONLY app I'll be using WinXP for, is Yahoo Messenger, which I use for only about 1hr a day. Besides this I do not need WinXP.
4. My machine is a Genuine PIV 3.GHz with 512MB RAM. Can it handle this load? (when I'm running WinXP with Yahoo Messenger, I'll not load any other apps, but maybe only Firefox in Linux).
5. The reason I shifted to Linux is because, for some reason WinXP was giving blue screens & I was fed up. Now if WinXP runs as a guest on Linux, can WinXP start causing problems and crashes and blue screens?

Thanks in advance for your suggestions and help.

[Rubberman]

1. What is the difference between VM Ware & VirtualBox
2. What is QEMU?
3. Will WinXP load and remain in memory by default when I boot the machine, or will it only come up when I call for it? I ask this because I know I'm low on system resources and the ONLY app I'll be using WinXP for, is Yahoo Messenger, which I use for only about 1hr a day. Besides this I do not need WinXP.
4. My machine is a Genuine PIV 3.GHz with 512MB RAM. Can it handle this load? (when I'm running WinXP with Yahoo Messenger, I'll not load any other apps, but maybe only Firefox in Linux).
5. The reason I shifted to Linux is because, for some reason WinXP was giving blue screens & I was fed up. Now if WinXP runs as a guest on Linux, can WinXP start causing problems and crashes and blue screens?

1&2 - VMWare, VirtualBox, and Qemu are all virtual machine managers. I use VirtualBox myself, though I've used Xen and Qemu in the past. VirtualBox is free for personal use (or just free if you get the open source version) and is easy to set up and manage for desktop purposes.
3 - The guest operating system (XP in your case) will only load into memory when you start the virtual machine and it boots up.
4 - This is adequate hardware for this purpose, but you will probably want to add some memory, otherwise it will be really sluggish.
5 - When a guest OS crashes, it will only crash the virtual machine it is running on. It should not cause problems for the host operating system.

[fkasmani]

thanks, Rubberman.

3 - The guest operating system (XP in your case) will only load into memory when you start the virtual machine and it boots up.

so does the virtual machine load into memory by default when I boot the machine, or do I load it whenever I need it?

VirtualBox is free for personal use (or just free if you get the open source version) and is easy to set up and manage for desktop purposes.

can I just install VirtualBox straight from the synaptic package manager in Linux?

thanks.

[Rubberman]

so does the virtual machine load into memory by default when I boot the machine, or do I load it whenever I need it?

You load it when you need it.

can I just install VirtualBox straight from the synaptic package manager in Linux?

I don't know if VirtualBox is in the package manager. If it is, it would be the open source version. You can download it here: Download VirtualBox | Register for VirtualBox resources | Free VirtualBox & Open Source VirtualBox

[fkasmani]

thanks, Rubberman.
Iǘe downloaded the download.virtualbox.org/virtualbox/3.1.4/virtualbox-3.1_3.1.4-57640_Ubuntu_karmic_i386.deb for Ubuntu 9.10 ("Karmic Koala") and hope it works well on Linux Mint Helena. (hope this is the correct free version Iǘe downloaded).
Iĺl post the outcome here. thanks.

[fkasmani]

Ok, I've started installing VirtualBox and following the instructions as per
lifehacker.com/367714/run-windows-apps-seamlessly-inside-linux
and have reached the step where virtualbox is making a new virtual disk (I chose Fixed-size storage and selected 5GB space) As for the RAM allocated to the guest OS, I set 256MB).

The problem is, it's just been stuck at 0% for the past 1/2hr or longer. Does it really take so long/Is it doing something, or has it crashed or something?
What should I do?

[fkasmani]

OK, WinXP successfully installed and is working OK (even though I've not done much yet). however, the system does become a bit slow, but so-far-so-good.

I am facing one problem though. I can use the mouse in the VirtualBox window (WinXP that comes up in VB) - the pointer moves OK, but everytime I click it wants to take a snaphot. There's actually 2 pointers in there - one is just stuck