[Wylug-discuss] Running Windows with VirtualBox

[Paul Brook]

> It is presumably possible to install a system installer's OEM DVD
> version of Windows under VMware/KVM/VB, so would this make it more
> 'portable'?

Depends on the particular OEM.

Some spat an already-configured machine-specific image onto the disk.
Some start with a relatively generic image that configures itself on first 
boot. Some are a regular windows DVD with extra crapware slipstreamed in.

Some will happily do their thing anywhere. Some have relatively simple checks 
to see if if the machine is from the right vendor. Some have more detailed 
checks of the machine hardware.

My guess is most fall into the middle category for both.  It's possible to get 
them working after a bit of reverse engineering and manual hacking on the 
image and/or the hypervisor.  Of course this is probably beyond the 
capabilities of most users, and almost certainly gong to cost you more time, 
effort, and general misery than just buying a boxed retail copy of Windows.

> Although I am marginally concerned about the preposterous EULA terms,
> I'm thinking more about the feasibility of reproducing the same
> virtual hardware on different machines.

Virtual hardware is always the same. That's kinda the point of virtualization. 

Your host physical hardware is irelevant.  All the OS inside the VM can see is 
(for example) a VMware PC.  A different hypervisor (e.g. VMware v.s. KVM) will 
result in a different virtual hardware.  But KVM on your laptop should look 
exactly the same as KVM on my server.

The only real exception is architectural CPU features (e.g. SSE4). Most 
hypervisors don't bother emulating these.  You can however get your hypervisor 
to expose a lowest-common-denominator CPU which will work on either.

Paul