Virtual Machines & Linux: Need advice

[Otonio_Bruno]

Very recently I've started some basic course on how to use Linux and I want to practice what I've learned using a Virtual Machine. But I'm kinda lost what is the best Virtual Machine software and Linux distribution I should try to this. My computer is a Dell laptop running Windows 8.1 with latest security updates, Intel Core i5 4210U running on a Dell motherboard (Intel chipsets) and 8GB of DDR3. So how do I proceed best with this specs on possibly an Ubuntu and/or Slackware distribution. Free software would be preferable. I will be using it for learning purposes only.

[xZoneHunter]

Virtualbox is your best bet when it comes to free hypervisors . VMWare Workstation Pro is better imo as it has more features and it overall more stable in my experience, however it is not free.

Both are pretty easy and intuitive to work with. 

 

Also, when working with testmachines always work with snapshots. Will save you a lot of work when you inadvertedly brick your VM.

 

[DaivRules]

I second Virtualbox (since it's free!) and watching playing around with snapshots to save yourself some sanity.

 

There's a LOT of videos comparing Linux distros, but really, the best one is likely going to be whichever has the best documentation for what you're looking to do.

 

The Vitrualbox boxes can have their hardware assignments changes as needed and you should also experiment with what works for what you're trying to do.

 

A bit of advice would be to actually make a small list of the things you want to learn how to do on your own in Linux and write it down. Then create a machine, install your flavor, complete the tasks, make notes what you struggled with or liked and repeat it over again. You'll be getting some muscle memory built up and getting exposure to any differences.

 

The great thing about this whole exercise is it's all free (financially... it will still cost you your time) so go nuts. Once you've got a handle on what you do/don't like you can start looking up some comparison videos and expand your options.

[Otonio_Bruno]

20 minutes ago, xZoneHunter said:

Virtualbox is your best bet when it comes to free hypervisors . VMWare Workstation Pro is better imo as it has more features and it overall more stable in my experience, however it is not free.

Both are pretty easy and intuitive to work with. 

 

Also, when working with testmachines always work with snapshots. Will save you a lot of work when you inadvertedly brick your VM.

 

 

Thanks for the suggestion. One of searches I did before creating this thread recommended me VMWare Workstation Pro, but if it's paid, I'm going to skip for the time being. And since you and DaivRules recommended Virtualbox, that's the one I'm going for.

 

13 minutes ago, DaivRules said:

I second Virtualbox (since it's free!) and watching playing around with snapshots to save yourself some sanity.

 

There's a LOT of videos comparing Linux distros, but really, the best one is likely going to be whichever has the best documentation for what you're looking to do.

 

The Vitrualbox boxes can have their hardware assignments changes as needed and you should also experiment with what works for what you're trying to do.

 

A bit of advice would be to actually make a small list of the things you want to learn how to do on your own in Linux and write it down. Then create a machine, install your flavor, complete the tasks, make notes what you struggled with or liked and repeat it over again. You'll be getting some muscle memory built up and getting exposure to any differences.

 

The great thing about this whole exercise is it's all free (financially... it will still cost you your time) so go nuts. Once you've got a handle on what you do/don't like you can start looking up some comparison videos and expand your options.

 

That's exactly what I plan to do! I have very little experience working around command lines and using a shell, so I want to take things slowly, baby-steps even and what you wrote it's exactly how I think I should proceed. And since I do have a good bit of free time, why not use it to learn something useful, especially if it's free?

 

Thank you both, your posts are greatly appreciated.