Want to run Windows on a Mac or any flavor of Linux on Windows 8? Virtual desktop software is the answer. Here's a look at some of the best virtual desktop solutions for computers and mobile devices.

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Developers and power users often want to test and run different applications created for multiple operating systems on a single machine. Those who have worked in the IT field are usually familiar with how to run many operating systems on a single piece of hardware for just this purpose. In enterprise environments, the primary way to do this is through virtualization. Virtualization is the process of creating a virtual instance of a technology resource such as an operating system, memory, storage, and so on, instead of deploying the actual physical resource.

One of the benefits of virtualization is lower cost, because there's less hardware to deploy. Another is centralized management of multiple resources from one machine or platform. The technique also offers flexibility in creating a computing environment that's hardware-agnostic, since the disparate OSes and applications can run on the same machine.

With desktop virtualization, the average home user can easily run Windows on a Mac system or any flavor of Linux from a Windows desktop.

Requirements for a Virtual Desktop Solution
When selecting a desktop virtualization app, there are a few aspects to keep in mind. First, you want to ensure that the physical host (the actual desktop or mobile device that runs the virtual operating system—known as a virtual machine (VM) or guest operating system) has enough physical memory to handle the virtual operating system.

You also want to ensure you have a capable graphics card especially if you are running a virtual machine that uses a graphics-heavy interface such as Windows Aero. For example, to install the desktop virtualization application VMWare Fusion 5—a minimum of an Nvidia 8600M or ATI 2600 graphics card is required. Always check the desktop virtualization vendor's specs for what is needed to run a particular virtual OS.

Source: www.pcmag.com