From: Mark Allums <mark_at_allums.com>
Date: Mon, 25 Feb 2008 18:58:56 -0600

alex wallis wrote:
>
>> You might consider Microsoft's Virtual PC, it is lighter weight than
>> VMWare.
> I considered virtual pc, and looked into it, but the impression I got
> from the microsoft website was that it could not be run under xp home
> edition, which is what I am running,

Oh yeah, forgot about that. VPC will run on XP Home, but only with a lot
of registry hacking. It's not worth the effort. XP Pro can be had OEM
for approx. US$160.


>> I still think you need to save up for some memory, or a separate
>> machine. You will have good success under VMWare with enough memory,

> But am i right in saying that you can't easily upgrade the ram in
> laptops, in fact the only parts its easy to upgrade are the hard drives?
> This laptop has worked nicely while i've been at university, but its
> warranty will expire soon and as its old i'm thinking should I still
> trust it. So it might be time to replace it.

Laptop RAM is easy to upgrade on most machines, but may require
uninstalling perfectly good memory to make room for higher-capacity
modules. However, if the machine is more than three years old, it is
not worth the investment; it is better to invest that same money in a
new machine.

And be sure to equip that machine properly. For Linux or BSD, I would
suggest a desktop machine, white box if possible. For a multi-use
machine, a bog standard PC, possibly with the exception of an Intel quad
core CPU. For a server-only machine, you want a server-class box. You
might also consider a webhosting deal, with a shell account. The
machine would be provided by the hosting company, and would be
maintained and upgraded regularly as part of the deal. In fact, you
might be hosted on a virtual machine, without even being aware of it.
This is a budget-limited deal.

--Mark Allums
Received on 2008-02-26