I'm trying to run a Windows 7 virtual machine on this device, and I want to use a host OS that supports VirtualBox. I want to throw on the least resource-intensive (CPU and RAM, HDD space is not a concern) host OS that I can get. I will be dedicating most of the computer's resources to the VM. I want to use the VM, so I can backup snapshots easily. So that if the computer crashed, it would be a simple copy+paste to migrate it to another computer.
My obstacle is, that the device I want to throw it on has a 32-bit ARM processor.
- Is there an ARM compiled distro of Xubuntuor or Lubuntu?
- Is there another Linux OS that supports VirtualBox and has an ARM compilation that would be better to throw on other than an Ubuntu-based distro (one that would eat up less resources)
- From what I understand, Lubuntu and Xubuntu are lightweight/featherweight versions of Ubuntu?
- Will a Windows 7 VM work operating under an ARM processor?
Best Answer
To answer each question:
Yes. Ubuntu - and other distros - can run on ARM (though there might or might not be a port available for your device) and (presumably) you could install XFCE/LXDE on it.
You can't run VirtualBox on ARM CPUs. The closest possible is QEMU, but performance will be hopelessly slow (and next to useless if you are running a full-fledged Windows VM).
Yes: they run a lighter desktop environment, which can run better when less resources are available.
No. VirtualBox is x86/x86-64 only.