Run Windows Applications in Ubuntu

VirtualBox is a virtualization software, developed by Sun^TM, that can be installed in Ubuntu to virtualize Windows XP.

1. Installation steps are mentioned here http://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Linux_Downloads, under Debian-based Linux distributions section. Just one caveat, before firing the command apt-get install virtualbox-3.0, fire this command to make sure prior changes are reflected sudo apt-get update

2. Once done, open VirtualBox via Applications>System Tools>VirtualBox. Install XP. It is fairly straight forward. You might want to see this article as well http://johnbokma.com/mexit/2008/11/27/windows-xp-virtual-machine.html.

3. Then run XP in virtual box.

4. Install guest additions. See http://seogadget.co.uk/how-to-install-virtualbox-guest-additions/

5. After installation, reboot XP. You’ll be in for a surprise.

6. Now install ONLY those apps that you don’t have an alternative in Ubuntu. I installed iTunes to sync my iPod Touch and MS Office.

Now few clarifications:

1. It might seem that running 2 OS at the same time will degrade computer’s performance. To get things in perspective, please note that XP has very modest requirements. When I bought my first desktop in 2001, it had XP pre-loaded. And the desktop had only 128MB as primary RAM! Even with this RAM my desktop ran fine. After two years, I upgraded the RAM to 512MB and I felt my machine got wings. Moreover, CPU was a humble Penitum 4. Today my Linux is installed on a Core 2 Duo machine with 4GB RAM. Having said that, installing Vista or Win 7 is not advisable as VM. We need XP just for those rare cases when we need to run a specific Windows software. Also don’t install antivirus, etc on your VM You won’t be surfing in your guest OS.
2. If through vpnc, Ubuntu is already on a VPN, mstsc can be invoked in XP as well to RDC to a remote MS computer.
3. The beauty of Virtual Box is that both XP and Ubuntu share the same devices. So both share the same USB ports, video and audio cards. It means that when you open iTunes and play a song, it is played as if it is being played natively. Moreover, you can store Music in your linux partition and have it accessed in XP. See following screenshots, to alter settings of WinXP guest OS.

Here’s how iTunes looks in XP Guest.