VMWare is essentially partitioning for a PC desktop/notebook or
x86-based server. You can run the VMs full-screen or tiled within the
VMWare manager. Probably full screen as well. Or headless &
remote-desktop in.
VMWare comes in a few flavors:
VMWare Enterprise is essentially it's own OS (Linux or BSD
underpinnings) that can run guest OSes like Windows & Linux. Think of
it as the Hypervisor/FSP. Advanced functionality and the best
efficiency, scalability, reliability are in this version. Moderately
priced (expensive but cheaper than adding more boxes).
VMWare Server (formerly GSX) is free but requires Windows Server or
Linux. This is similar to LPARing on 8xx series systems where you had a
controlling partition.
VMWare Desktop for some reason isn't free but is something like $299.
Same basic functionality as VMWare Server but with less extensive
workload management capabilities.
There is also the free VMPlayer which lets you run - but not
create/change - VMs on Windows or Linux. Give it a try:
http://www.vmware.com/products/player/
VMs created on any VMWare platform can be used by any other platform so
a session created with Enterprise can run on Player.
midrange.com
