It's not a good idea to use a Type 1 hypervisor like VMware ESX/ESXi, Hyper-V, Xen, etc, for a desktop workstation. They are designed for server use, and you will not be able to use USB or Firewire ports or use hardware accelerated 3D graphics.
You would be better off using a hosted virtualisation program. I think VMware Workstation would be ideal for your use, until MokaFive becomes available.
EDIT: There is a trial of MokaFive available on the website.
New Information
You should have a look at Citrix XenClient, which is a component of the XenDesktop suite, but is also available standalone for free, for up to ten clients.
Unfortunately, it seems to be only compatible with certain OEM brands of laptops and workstations (where the hardware is known).
I've not got around to trying it out myself yet, but I plan to use it soon.
Best Option: Hyper-V (free)
I have only just now noticed that you are open to using a separate thin client and server setup. This will allow you to use a Type 1 hypervisor intended for servers, for workstation use through RDP. The VMware ESXi hardware compatibility list is quite restrictive, while Hyper-V can run on just about anything. Hyper-V also has a very big advantage for what you want to do - RemoteFX. This will allow you to use hardware accelerated 3D graphics cards on your Hyper-V host (your graphics cards are supported!) through RDP. I think this will work very well for you. You may want to investigate if a gigabit switch and dual-gigabit NIC teaming will give you even better performance with this setup with powerful graphics cards.
Latest Update
Windows 8 includes a bare metal hypervisor which it runs on top of - Client Hyper-V.
Yep but nope!
ESX does support some graphics and you will be able to use Direct3D, however, it is in no way that good.
ESX is designed for headless servers (with the rare connection from an admin). It is not designed for desktop usage (which it sounds like you want).
It will not be able to utilize your graphics card.
I recommend you look at dual booting - or, VMWare Workstation (on a modern computer, it can be near native performance... but, still won't be that good at gaming).
Best Answer
You want a type-1 hypervisor
From the way you describe the scenario, it sounds like you want a type-1 hypervisor specifically:
(image CC0 by Scsami)
That is, sitting above an OS.
Windows Server with Hyper-V and Desktop roles
To fulfil your requirements of having a type-1 hypervisor and being able to run and switch between Windows and Linux (some flavours thereof), running Windows Server (eg Server 2016) with the
Hyper-V
andDesktop experience
roles should let you manage them locally via console.There is more information on Hyper-V available on its overview page:
And it does support Linux (and FreeBSD) as well.
(Side note: the question of Hyper-V being type-1 has been raised and answered over on Server Fault)
If you use an additional GPU, you could use Xen
Using an eGPU (like one added via USB, for example) would let you pass through one graphics card to a guest (
DomU
, in Xen parlance) and retain the other to access the OS (Dom0
).but note that your laptop must support this:
Xen does support Windows as a DomU (see under 'Windows 7/XP/Vista/Server 2008'), and has a FAQ on drivers which may be worth reading if you go down this route.