Parallels

Parallels is a worldwide leader in virtualization and automation software that optimizes computing for consumers, businesses, and service providers across all major hardware, operating system, and virtualization platforms. Founded in 1999, Parallels is a fast-growing company with 800 employees in North America, Europe, and Asia.

http://www.parallels.com/eu/

Virtual Machines / Emulators

The software packages listed in this section are able to run one operating system inside another OS, or execute software created for one operating system inside another OS.
For instance, if you have a MAC, you can run Windows or Linux as a 'guest operating system' inside MacOS. In this case, MacOS is the 'host operating system', and Linux is the 'guest operating system'.
Alternatively, if you have a PC which has Windows installed, you can use e.g. Linux, FreeBSD or another edition of Windows as guest OS.
Or when you have Linux installed, you can run e.g. Windows as 'guest operating system'.

Bochs

Bochs is a highly portable open source IA-32 (x86) PC emulator written in C++, that runs on most popular platforms. It includes emulation of the Intel x86 CPU, common I/O devices, and a custom BIOS. Bochs is capable of running Linux, Windows, DOS and possibly other operating systems as well.

CP/M Emulator

Freeware application to emulate CP/M-80 ver2.2 on the Macintosh.

CrossOver

CrossOver enables you to run Windows software on Linux, MAC OS X and Solaris without needing to have a license for Windows (legally). This is an improved version of wine which offers enhanced compatibility with Windows. CrossOver is not freeware like wine though, it costs around 40$ which is not much if you compare it with a Windows license. For wine, please see below.

DosBox

An open source DOS emulator. It emulates an Intel x86 PC, complete with sound, graphics, mouse, modem, etc., for running many old DOS games that are not compatible with modern Windows PC's. You can download versions for Linux, Windows, MAC, Risc OS, Solaris, OS/2, BeOS, Zeta.

DosEMU

Emulates DOS on Linux. Freeware.

EasyVMX

Free online program to create virtual machines for VMWare Player.

Emulators and MAC

Emulators for running Windows and other operating systems on MAC OS.

Guest PC

A low-cost emulator for MAC / Power-PC which allows you to install and run Windows inside your MAC. Intel-based MAC's are not yet supported. Price: $ 69.99.

Hercules

An open source software implementation of the IBM mainframe System/370 and ESA/390 architectures, in addition to the new IBM 64-bit z/Architecture. Hercules runs on Linux, Windows, Solaris, FreeBSD, and Mac OS X.

Parallels

Low-cost emulator for Windows and MAC. Supported guest operating systems: Linux, Windows, FreeBSD, OS/2, DOS. Price: $ 79.99.

Plex86

Very lightweight Virtual Machine (VM) for running Linux/x86. Rather than implement a full and heavyweight VM which can run all guest Operating Systems (OSes), the new approach is designed to run only Linux VMs, making the new plex86 architecture on the order of 10x or 100x more simplistic.

VirtualBox

Freeware, open-source virtual Machine for Windows, Linux, MAC. It supports a large number of guest operating systems including but not limited to Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista), DOS/Windows 3.x, Linux (2.4 and 2.6), and OpenBSD. We noticed that the installation program of VirtualBox replaced the standard operating system network drivers on our Windows test PC with Virtual box network drivers, which is not a good thing...

VMWare for MAC

Runs Windows, Linux, FreeBSD or other x86 operating systems side-by-side with Intel-based Mac OS X. Not freeware.

VMWare Player

Freeware player which runs virtual machines. You cannot create virtual machines using this player, but you can create them using VMWare Workstation or EasyVMX (both listed directly below) .
Many pre-built freeware virtual machines are available for download here.
Note from the editor: we found it very difficult to download almost any free appliance due to server-timeout and other connection problems.

VMWare Workstation

Commercial (non-freeware), high-quality PC emulator. Emulates a PC with Bios and hardware.
Virtual platform which enables running more than one operating system simultaneously on one xxx86 computer. Currently one can run DOS, Linux, Solaris, Free BSD, Windows 7, XP, Vista, 200x, NT, 9x, 3.x and all Windows 64 bit editions. Up to four virtual Ethernet cards (having different network addresses) can each be assigned to each running virtual machine.
Each operating system runs in its own protected sandbox. Each operating system is executed directly by the processor, which gives a fast performance. Three versions available of this VM, one which sits on top of Linux, one which runs on MAC, and one which runs on Windows.
VMWare is used at Freebyte.com and we can recommend it as solid and stable.

Wine

Wine allows you to run quite a number of Windows applications on Linux, BSD, Solaris and MAC OS x (without the need to pay for a Windows license - it is fully legal). If you run a Unix-like operating system, then it is likely that Wine is already installed on your system. Otherwise the package manager (built into your Linux distribution) will be able to download/install wine for you.

Xen

A free virtual machine for IA-32, x86-64, IA-64 and PowerPC. It supports various guest operating systems, including Windows, Linux, Solaris, BSD.

Free Linux Operating Systems

Linux is a popular free Unix version, initially for the Intel xx86 set of platforms, but now also for other processors: Alpha, ARM, Motorola 680x0, PowerPC, SPARC.
In the Webserver area it has become the most popular operating system. Linux desktop operating systems have improved tremendously during the last few years. Linux now is now a true and viable alternative for Windows on the desktop as well.
A variety of Linux distributions are available: one can download several Linux versions for free, or order CD-versions at a small price.

aLinux

Office/multimedia RPM based Linux distribution.

Cooperative Linux

CoLinux.enables one to run Linux inside Microsoft Windows. It is a port of the Linux kernel that allows it to run cooperatively alongside another operating system on a single machine. For instance, it allows one to freely run Linux inside Windows 2000/XP, without using a commercial PC virtualization software such as VMware, in a way which is much more optimal than using any general purpose PC virtualization software.

Debian

Download Debian for free or Purchase the complete set of Debian CDs from your local Debian dealer

EasyPeasy

A Linux distribution especially designed for Netbooks.

Fedora

Free Linux operating system created by Red Hat. You can run it directly from CD to try it out, before installing it.

Free Linux Programming

Free programming tools for Linux, Windows and other Operating Systems.

Knoppix

You don't have to be a Linux expert to install Knoppix. It installs OK on the majority of computers (including many Laptops). Knoppix starts directly from CD-Rom , but you can also install it on your harddisk. The fact that it runs directly from CD-Rom allows you to try it out before actually installing it.
You can download Knoppix here.
Read more in this article on Knoppix.

Linaro

Linux distribution for ARM platforms.

Linux Desktops

KDE, stable graphical user-interface included in most Linux distributions.
Gnome, free desktop environment competing with KDE, included in most Linux distributions.
ICEWM, is a free window manager, its goal being speed and simplicity.
XPde, a desktop environment(XPde) and a window manager(XPwm) for Linux. It tries to recreate the Windows XP interface to-the-pixel point.

Linux ISO images

LinuxIso.org
LinuxHelp
LinuxLookup.com
Knoppix mirrors
These sites offer free Linux ISO-images for download. An ISO is an exact image of a CD, that can be burned again into a disc to create an exact copy of the original CD.
See also:
Downloading Linux.
Burning a Linux ISO image.

Linux Journal

Monthly magazine of the Linux community since 1994.

Linux Mint

Debian-based Linux distribution with focus on ease of installation and ease of use.

Linux News and forums

JustLinux (forums)
LinuxHotBox.com (news)
Fresh Meat (news)
Desktop Linux (news)

Linux Standard Base

Organization devoted to keeping all distributions compatible, so that software which runs on one distribution, also runs on the other. These companies are supporting the initiative: Compaq, Caldera, Coral, Debian, LinuxCare, Mandrake, TurboLinux, Read Hat, Suse, VA Linux, HP, IBM, Intel.

Linux-Laptop.net

Running Linux on Laptops.

LinuxQuestions.org

Linux support forums where Linux newbies can ask questions and Linux experts can offer advice. Topics include security, installation, networking and much more.

Lubuntu

A faster, more lightweight and energy saving variant of Ubuntu geared toward low-memory computers (like having 128 Mb of RAM or so).

Mandriva Linux

A Linux distribution that is available for 32bit PC, PowerPC (MAC), and 64 bit processors such as Intel Itanium and AMD Opteron. It includes many graphical administration assistants & wizards that make it intuitive and fun to use while providing all the power and robustness of other Linux systems.

Migrating to
desktop Linux

Free eBook in PDF format aimed at assisting those interested in migrating desktop PCs to Linux.
The goal of this eBook is to provide a technical planning reference for IT organizations large or small that are now considering a migration to Linux-based personal computers.

SuSE Linux Enterprie

Non-free business Linux editions including support by phone.

OpenSUSE

Free Linux operating system for Intel-based PC's. One of the best Linux distributions!

Pardus

Linux-based operating system developed by the Turkey Scientific and Technical Research Association. You can use it both in Turkish and English.

Puppy Linux

Small Linux distribution, only 60mb in size. Can boot from CD, USB disk and run inside Windows or standalone.

Qubes OS

Uses security domains implemented as lightweight Virtual Machines (or AppVMs). The AppVms are based on Linux. Each AppVM behaves like a local machine. The AppVMs are isolated from each other except for secure copy/paste and file sharing. There are plans to integrate Qubes OS with Intel TXT which unfortunately comes with the extremely scary vPro technology.

RedHat

Non-free Linux editions for server computers, sold by annual subscription.

SlackWare

Download Slackware for free or order the CD-Rom set from the Slackware store.
A special edition of Slackware Linux, called ZipSlack can be installed on the same drive (or partition) as Windows. It just needs a FAT (or FAT32) harddisk with about 100 MB of extra free disk space.
BigSlack is more complete than ZipSlack, and can also be installed on a FAT (or FAT32) harddisk. BigSlack needs about 850 Mb of extra free disk space.

Sub300.com

"Anything but Microsoft Retail Store" (USA), offering low-cost Linux computers which are devoid of any Microsoft software (the fact that it has become almost impossible to buy a computer without Windows pre-installed is commonly known as "the Microsoft tax").

Tiny Linux

Tiny Linux is a small Linux distribution designed especially for old recycled computers.

Ubuntu

Linux distribution with an option of running it directly from CD (without installing it). Ubuntu is easy to configure and easy to install. The newest version of Ubuntu uses the novel Unity desktop which is not liked by everyone. If you want to avoid Unity, then instead just download the excellent Ubuntu 10.04 (long term support) version which uses the Gnome 2 desktop. You can also try Xubuntu, which uses the leightweight Xfce desktop or Lubuntu which uses the leightweight LXDE desktop.
During install you should enable the options to download/install updates and third party software to ensure that you can play flash, windows media and other formats.
Ubuntu comes with its own set of programs, such as a full-fledged office suite, a good email program, the Mozilla Firefox Web browser, a file manager and much more. It can also access (read/write) Windows NTFS and FAT partitions directly. Additional software such as the VLC media player and wine can be installed later on (automatically through the Internet) using the 'Synaptic Package Manager'.

VectorLinux

Lightweight Linux editions. The Light version of VectorLinux version will run on a Pentium 166 with 64 Mb ram. The standard edition needs no more than a Pentium 200 and 96 Mb of ram.

Xandros

Non-free Linux distribution which offers Windows-compatibility. See also here.

Xubuntu

A version of Ubuntu based on the lightweight Xfce graphical desktop (instead of the Unity desktop).

Ylmf OS

A Ubuntu-based Linux operating system with a Windows XP user-interface.

Windows 7 Compatibility Center

 Look to this extensive collection of compatibility information when you upgrade to the Windows 7 operating system. And when you're ready for a new PC, you'll find the downloads you need to run your favorite software and devices.

Know what's compatible before you upgrade

Sometimes it's hard to know what's compatible and what's not. To help make it easier, we list thousands of products and clearly label their compatibility status for Windows 7.
To learn more about how compatibility is determined, please read this FAQ.

Set up your new PC with your favorite software and devices

While you could sift through old installation CDs or hunt around on the web for the drivers you need, we hope to make it easier. That's why we offer a central place where you can get the downloads you need to get up and running quickly.

Share your feedback to help us improve the Compatibility Center

If you find an error in our product information or are having a compatibility problem with a particular product, please use the feedback links on product pages to let us know.


We research products before adding them to the site. If we're missing an item you think we should consider, please suggest an additional product.

Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor

Find out if your PC can run Windows 7

To see if your PC is ready for Windows 7, download the free Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. It scans your PC for potential issues with your hardware, devices, and installed programs, and recommends what to do before you upgrade.

If your PC can run Windows Vista, it can probably run Windows 7, but it's still a good idea to use the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor. Use the Compatibility Center to see if your hardware and software will work with Windows 7.

Before scanning your PC with the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor, be sure to plug in and power on any USB devices or other devices, such as printers, external hard disks, and scanners, that you regularly use with the PC you're checking.

Download the Windows 7 Upgrade Advisor