Secret #9: Installing A Virtual OS (Operating Systems p1) - Exploring the Internet

Windows, Mac, Linux; everyone has heard of these Operating Systems (OS). But you probably only have one of these on your computer. Have you ever wanted to try out another OS, without buying a new computer? That is where a Virtual Machine comes in – a virtual computer that allows you to install any OS and do whatever.

Installing a Virtual OS


 

Installing a Virtual Machine (VM) is just as easy as installing Zoom or Firefox; you just pick one you want, head over to the website and install. There are quite of few VMs out there, but what I use, (and what is free) is VirtualBox by Oracle. It can be installed on any OS, and can be used to install any OS.

To install Windows or Linux or Mac, you have to think of a computer as: the device (hardware) + everything it runs (software). The OS is software, so every time any computer starts, there is a moment when the operating system is selected from a file, just like how you have to find Zoom to run it.

So a computer starts, looks for the operating system, then selects from a file off of the hard drive (or flash drive) and starts up Windows or Mac or whatever. It then works and saves all the information the OS is using to a section, or ‘partition’, of the hard drive.

Now what a Virtual Machine does, is take an unused partition of the hard drive, and dedicates half of the computer’s hardware to run from that partition instead. The data of the VM becomes the ‘hardware’, and the OS installed on the VM becomes the software.

 

How to Install a Virtual OS

After you install VirtualBox, there is only one more thing you need to install to run any OS you want on your computer. The file that the computer uses to run the OS: the ISO file. 

If you have windows and want to try out linux, you will need a linux distro iso file; for example: ubuntu20.10.iso. If you want two versions of windows: windows10.iso. Those aren’t the actual names, just examples, but you can download the actual iso files from the links below.

Linux

Windows:

For a Mac iso you will have to do a little more digging, because Mac makes it very difficult to get your hands on without already owning a Mac. I haven't personally gotten it to work yet, but here’s some links you can try:

https://apple.stackexchange.com/questions/128319/official-way-to-obtain-an-os-x-iso-file

https://www.geekrar.com/macos-catalina-download-10-15-iso/

 

 

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