Beginner's Guide to PC Gaming

Virtualization/Virtual Machines

Virtualization is the process of running one operating system on top of your main operating system. Your main operating system is referred to as the Host, and the one you wish to run on top of it is referred to as the guest. So let's say you're using a Mac. You can run Windows on top of it by virtualization. Virtualization is made possible by virtual machines. A virtual machine is exactly what it sounds like. A virtual computer, or machine. It's not physically existent. There are many applications to set up a virtual machine, so if you would like to take this route, I will not be covering the process. You will need to find another guide for that. I do not recommend using a virtual machine, as there isn't nearly as much power for gaming as there is on a physical machine. The host requires a certain amount of power to work. So does the guest. But the guest can't start without the host running. So you're using so much power of your system to rub two operating systems at the same time. And any application or game running in each operating system will take up more power, leaving you with less power for games. Games will often not run well on virtual machines due to this. Why would you want to do this? Say your host is Mac OS X or Linux, and you want to run a certain game that is only available for Windows. If the game is just not compatible with WINE, but you still want to play it, this where a virtual machine comes in handy. If you run a game in Windows guest, you will have more compatibility than you would with WINE, as you would be running it in the original intended operating system. WINE is not Windows. It's just very similar, so not everything works with it. Just know that you likely will not be able to fully enjoy the game running in a virtual machine.