General
| Name | Creator | Host CPU | Guest CPU | Host OS(s) | Guest OS(s) | License |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bochs | Kevin Lawton | Any | x86, x86-64 | Windows, Linux, Unix/X11, Mac OS 9, Mac OS X, BeOS, MorphOS, OS/2 | Windows, Linux, DOS, BSD, OS/2 | LGPL |
| Containers, or Zones | Sun Microsystems | x86, x86-64, SPARC (portable: not tied to hardware) | Same as host | Solaris 10, Solaris 11 Express, OpenSolaris 2009.06 | Solaris (8, 9, 10, 11), Linux (BrandZ) | CDDL |
| Cooperative Linux (coLinux) | Dan Aloni, other developers | x86 | Same as host | Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista | Linux | GPL version 2 |
| CHARON | Stromasys | x86, x86_64, IA64 | PDP-11, VAX, Alpha | Windows, Linux, OpenVMS | VMS, OpenVMS, Tru64 UNIX | Proprietary |
| Denali | University of Washington | x86 | x86 | Denali | Ilwaco, NetBSD | ? |
| DOSBox | Peter Veenstra, Sjoerd, community help | Any | x86 | Linux, Windows, Mac OS classic, Mac OS X, BeOS, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, QNX, IRIX, MorphOS, AmigaOS, Maemo, Symbian | Internally emulated DOS shell; classic PC booter games, unofficially Windows 1.0 to 3.11 | GPL |
| DOSEMU | Community project | x86, x86-64 | x86 | Linux | DOS | GPL version 2 |
| FreeBSD Jail | FreeBSD | Any running FreeBSD | Same as host | FreeBSD | FreeBSD, Linux ABI | BSD |
| GXemul | Anders Gavare | Any | ARM, MIPS, M88K, PowerPC, SuperH | Unix-like | NetBSD, OpenBSD, Linux, Ultrix, Sprite | BSD |
| Hercules | Begun by Roger Bowler, as of 2011 maintained by the 1 n only | Any | z/Architecture | Windows, Linux, Mac OS X | Linux on zSeries, z/OS, z/VM, z/VSE, OS/360, DOS/360, DOS/VS, MVS, VM/370, TSS/370 | QPL |
| Hyper-V Server 2008 R2 | Microsoft | x86-64 + hardware-assisted virtualization (Intel VT-x or AMD-V) | x86-64, x86 (up to 8 physical CPUs) | Windows 2008 w/Hyper-V Role, Windows Hyper-V Server | supported drivers for Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows 2008, Windows XP, Windows Vista, Linux (SUSE 10 released, more announced) | Proprietary |
| Hyper-V Server 2012 | Microsoft | x86-64 + hardware-assisted virtualization (Intel VT-x or AMD-V only for RemoteFX) | x86-64, (up to 64 physical CPUs) | Windows 2012 w/Hyper-V Role, | supported drivers for Windows NT, Linux (SUSE 10, RHEL 6, CentOS 6) | Proprietary |
| iCore Virtual Accounts | iCore Software | x86 | x86 | Windows XP | Windows XP | Proprietary |
| Integrity Virtual Machines | Hewlett-Packard | IA-64 | IA-64 | HP-UX | HP-UX, Windows, Linux (OpenVMS announced) | Proprietary |
| JPC (Virtual Machine) | Oxford University | Any running the Java Virtual Machine | x86 | Java Virtual Machine | DOS, Linux, Windows up to 3.0 | GPL version 2 |
| KVM | Qumranet | x86, x86-64, IA-64, with x86 virtualization, s390, PowerPC | Same as host | FreeBSD, Linux, illumos | FreeBSD, Linux, Solaris, Windows, Plan 9 | GPL version 2 |
| Linux-VServer | Community Project | x86, x86-64, IA-64, Alpha, PowerPC 64, PA-RISC 64, SPARC64, ARM, S/390, SH/66, MIPS | Compatible | Linux | Linux variants | GPL version 2 |
| LynxSecure | LynuxWorks | x86, Intel VT-x, Intel VT-d | x86 | No host OS | LynxOS, Linux, Windows | Proprietary |
| LXC | Community project lxc.sourceforge.net | x86, x86-64, IA-64, PowerPC 64, SPARC64 | Same as host | Linux | Linux variants | GPL version 2 |
| Mac-on-Linux | Mac-on-Linux | PowerPC | PowerPC | Linux | Mac OS X, Mac OS 7.5.2 to 9.2.2, Linux | GPL |
| Mac-on-Mac | Sebastian Gregorzyk | PowerPC | PowerPC | Mac OS X, up to Tiger excluded | Mac OS X, Mac OS 7.5.2 to 9.2.2, Linux | GPL |
| OKL4 Microvisor | Open Kernel Labs | ARM | Same as host | No host OS | Linux variants, various RTOSes, Symbian, proprietary, OS-less (native) applications and drivers | Proprietary |
| OpenVZ | Community project, supported by SWsoft, now Parallels, Inc. | x86, x86-64, IA-64, PowerPC 64, SPARC64 | Same as host | Linux | Linux variants | GPL |
| Oracle VM for x86 | Oracle Corporation | x86, x86-64, Intel VT-x, AMD-V | x86, x86-64, Intel VT-x, AMD-V | No host OS | Microsoft Windows, Oracle Enterprise Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Solaris | Oracle VM Server GPL; Manager proprietary |
| Oracle VM Server for SPARC (LDoms) | Oracle Corporation | UltraSPARC T1, UltraSPARC T2, UltraSPARC T2+, SPARC T3, SPARC T4 | Compatible | Solaris 10, Solaris 11 | Supported: Solaris, without Oracle support: Linux, FreeBSD | Proprietary |
| OVPsim | OVP | x86 | OR1K, MIPS32, ARC600/700, ARM; and public API which enables users to write custom processor models, RISC, CISC, DSP, VLIW all possible | Microsoft Windows, Linux | Depends on target machine, for example includes MIPS Malta that runs Linux or SMP-Linux; and includes public API which enables users to write custom peripheral and system models | Proprietary, Apache 2.0 for models |
| Parallels Desktop for Mac | Parallels, Inc. | x86, Intel VT-x | x86 | Mac OS X x86 | DOS, Windows, Linux, Mac OS X Server, FreeBSD, OS/2, eComStation, Solaris | Proprietary |
| Parallels Workstation | Parallels, Inc. | x86, Intel VT-x | x86 | Windows, Linux | Windows, Linux, FreeBSD, OS/2, eComStation, DOS, Solaris | Proprietary |
| PearPC | Sebastian Biallas | x86, x86-64, PowerPC | PowerPC | Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, FreeBSD, NetBSD | Mac OS X, Darwin, Linux | GPL |
| PikeOS | SYSGO AG | PowerPC, x86, ARM, MIPS, SPARC, SuperH | Same as host | No host OS, Linux or Windows as dev.hosts | PikeOS native, Linux, POSIX, AUTOSAR, ANDROID, RTEMS, OSEK, ARINC 653 APEX, ITRON | Proprietary |
| PowerVM | IBM | POWER4, POWER5, POWER6, POWER7, PowerPC 970 | POWER4/5/6/7, PowerPC 970, X86 (PowerVM-Lx86) | No host OS | Linux PowerPC, x86; AIX, i5/OS, IBM i | Proprietary |
| QEMU | Fabrice Bellard, other developers | x86, x86-64, IA-64, PowerPC, SPARC 32/64, ARM, S/390, MIPS | x86, x86-64, Alpha, ARM, CRIS, LM32, M68k, MicroBlaze, MIPS, OpenRisc32, PowerPC, S/390, SH4, SPARC 32/64, Unicore32, Xtensa | Windows, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, BeOS | Changes regularly | GPL/LGPL |
| QEMU w/ kqemu module | Fabrice Bellard | x86, x86-64 | Same as host | Linux, FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Solaris, Windows | Changes regularly | GPL/LGPL |
| QEMU w/ qvm86 module | Paul Brook | x86 | x86 | Linux, NetBSD, Windows | Changes regularly | GPL |
| QuickTransit | Transitive Corp. | x86, x86-64, IA-64, POWER | MIPS, PowerPC, SPARC, x86 | Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris | Linux, Mac OS X, Irix, Solaris | Proprietary |
| RTS Hypervisor | Real-Time Systems | x86 | x86 | No host OS | Windows 7, Windows XP, Windows Embedded, Windows CE, Linux, Android, VxWorks, OS-9, RTOS-32, QNX, RTEMS, T-Kernel, proprietary | Proprietary |
| ScaleMP vSMP Foundation | ScaleMP | x86, x86-64 | Same as host, up to 8,192 CPUs and 64 TB per VM | No host OS | Linux | Proprietary |
| vNUMA | Matthew Chapman | IA-64 | IA-64, combines CPUs and memory from independent nodes into a virtual NUMA machine | No host OS | Linux | Open source/research |
| Safe Virtual Machine, SVM | Altreonic, www.altreonic.com | Any | Any | OpenComRTOS or any other (RT)OS | N.A. | Binary, Open Technology License |
| SIMH | Bob Supnik, The Computer History Simulation Project | Alpha, ARM, HPPA, x86, IA-64, x86-64, M68K, MIPS, MIPSel, POWER, s390, SPARC | Data General Nova, Eclipse; Digital Equipment Corporation PDP-1, PDP-4, PDP-7, PDP-8, PDP-9, PDP-10, PDP-11, PDP-15, VAX; GRI Corporation GRI-909, IBM 1401, 1620, 1130, 7090/7094, System 3; Interdata (Perkin-Elmer) 16b/32b systems; Hewlett-Packard 2114, 2115, 2116, 2100, 21MX; Honeywell H316/H516; MITS Altair 8800 with 8080 and Z80; Royal-Mcbee LGP-30, LGP-21; Scientific Data Systems SDS 940 | BSD, Linux, Solaris, VMS, Windows | Depends on target machine, includes NetBSD/VAX, OpenBSD/VAX, VAX/VMS, Unix v6, Unix v7, TOPS-10, TOPS-20, ITS | BSD-like, unique |
| Simics | Wind River | x86, x86-64 | 8051, 68000, ARM (v4, v5, v6, v7), MIPS32, MIPS64, Cavium cnMIPS, Broadcom XLR MIPS, Frescale Power Architecture 32-bit and 64-bit (e300, e500, e600, e5500, e6500), IBM Power Architecture (POWER, PPC44x, PPC46x, 47x), SPARC v8 (LEON), SPARC v9 (UltraSparc), x86 (from 80286 to Sandy Bridge), x86-64 (from Pentium4 to Sandy Bridge), TI TMS320C64xx, Renesas H8, Renesas SH | Windows 32-bit and 64-bit, Linux 32-bit and 64-bit | Depends on target machine, typically runs unmodified software stacks from the corresponding real target, including VxWorks, VxWorks 653, OSE, QNX, Linux, Solaris, Windows, FreeBSD, RTEMS, TinyOS, Wind River Hypervisor, VMware ESX, and others | Proprietary |
| Sun xVM Server | Sun Microsystems | x86-64, SPARC | Same as host | No host OS | Windows XP, 2003 Server (x86-64 only), Linux, Solaris | GPL version 3 |
| SVISTA 2004 | Serenity Systems International | x86 | x86 | Windows, OS/2, Linux | Windows, Linux, OS/2, BSD | Proprietary |
| TRANGO | TRANGO Virtual Processors, Grenoble, France | ARM, XScale, MIPS, PowerPC | Paravirtualized ARM, MIPS, PowerPC | No host OS, Linux or Windows as dev. hosts | Linux, eCos, µC/OS-II, WindowsCE, Nucleus, VxWorks | Proprietary |
| User Mode Linux | Jeff Dike, other developers | x86, x86-64, PowerPC | Same as host | Linux | Linux | GPL version 2 |
| VirtualBox | Innotek, acquired by Oracle Corporation | x86, x86-64, Intel VT-x, AMD-V | x86, (x86-64 only on VirtualBox 2 and later with hardware virtualization) | Windows, Linux, Mac OS X x86, Solaris, FreeBSD, eComStation | DOS, Linux, Mac OS X Server, FreeBSD, Haiku, OS/2, Solaris, Syllable, Windows | GPL version 2; full version with extra enterprise features is proprietary |
| Virtual Iron 3.1 | Virtual Iron Software, Inc., acquired by Oracle | x86 VT-x, x86-64 AMD-V | x86, x86-64 | No host OS | Windows, Linux | Full product is proprietary, a few components are GPL version 2 |
| Virtual PC 2007 | Connectix | x86, x86-64 | x86 | Windows Vista (Business, Enterprise, Ultimate), XP Pro, XP Tablet PC Edition | DOS, Windows, OS/2, Linux (SUSE, Xubuntu), OpenSolaris (Belenix) | Proprietary |
| Windows Virtual PC | Connectix | x86, x86-64 with Intel VT-x or AMD-V | x86 | Windows 7 | Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2008 | Proprietary |
| Virtual PC 7 for Mac | Connectix | PowerPC | x86 | Mac OS X | Windows, OS/2, Linux | Proprietary |
| VirtualLogix VLX | VirtualLogix | ARM, TI DSP C6000, x86, Intel VT-x, Intel VT-d, PowerPC | Same as host | No host OS | Linux, Windows XP, C5, VxWorks, Nucleus, DSP/BIOS, proprietary | Proprietary |
| Virtual Server 2005 R2 | Connectix | x86, x86-64 | x86 | Windows 2003, XP | Windows NT, 2000, 2003, Linux (Red Hat, SUSE) | Proprietary |
| Synopsys (CoWare) Virtual Platform | CoWare | x86, x86-64, SPARC v9 | Devices including (multi) cores from ARM, MIPS, PowerPC, Toshiba MeP, Renesas SH, Texas Instruments, Tensilica, ZSP | Windows, Linux, Solaris | Depends on guest CPU; includes: Linux (various flavors), µITRON (various flavors), Windows CE, Symbian, more | Proprietary |
| Virtuozzo | SWsoft, now Parallels, Inc. | x86, IA-64, x86-64 | x86, IA-64, x86-64 | Linux, Windows | Linux, Windows | Proprietary |
| VMware ESX Server | VMware | x86, x86-64 | x86, x86-64 | No host OS | Windows, Linux, Solaris, FreeBSD, OSx86 (as FreeBSD), virtual appliances, Netware, OS/2, SCO, BeOS, Darwin, others: runs arbitrary OS | Proprietary |
| VMware ESXi | VMware | x86, x86-64 | x86, x86-64 | No host OS | Same as VMware ESX Server | Proprietary |
| VMware Fusion | VMware | x86, x86-64 | x86, x86-64 | Mac OS X x86 | Same as VMware ESX Server | Proprietary |
| VMware Server | VMware | x86, x86-64 | x86, x86-64 | Windows, Linux | Same as VMware ESX Server | Proprietary |
| VMware Workstation 7.1 | VMware | x86, x86-64 | x86, x86-64 | Windows, Linux | Same as VMware ESX Server | Proprietary |
| VMware Player 3.1 | VMware | x86, x86-64 | x86, x86-64 | Windows, Linux | Same as VMware ESX Server | Proprietary, free of charge for personal non-commercial use |
| Wind River Hypervisor | Wind River | x86, x86-64, PowerPC, ARM | Same as host | No host OS | Linux, VxWorks, unmodified guests (including MS Windows and RTOSes such ach OSE, QNX and others), bare metal virtual board | Proprietary |
| Wind River VxWorks MILS Platform | Wind River | PowerPC | Same as host | No host OS | VxWorks, bare metal virtual board | Proprietary |
| Xen | Xensource | x86, x86-64, IA-64 | Same as host | NetBSD, Linux, Solaris | FreeBSD, NetBSD, Linux, Solaris, Windows XP & 2003 Server (needs vers. 3.0 and an Intel VT-x (Vanderpool) or AMD-V (Pacifica)-capable CPU), Plan 9 | GPL |
| XtratuM | Universidad Politecnica de Valencia | x86, x86; SPARC v8 LEON2/3 | Same as host | No host OS | GPOS: Linux, RTOS: PartiKle, RTEMS | GPL |
| Xvisor | Anup Patel | ARMv5, ARMv7A | Same as host | No host OS | GPOS: Linux (unmodified), RTOS: AtomThreads (unmodified) | GPL |
| z/VM | IBM | z/Architecture | z/Architecture, z/VM does not run on predecessor mainframes | No host OS, itself (single or multiple levels/versions deep, e.g. VM/ESA running in z/VM 4.4 in z/VM 5.2 in z/VM 5.1.) | Linux on zSeries, z/OS, z/VSE, z/TPF, z/VM, VM/CMS, MUSIC/SP, OpenSolaris for System z, predecessors | Proprietary |
| z LPARs | IBM | z/Architecture | z/Architecture | Integrated in firmware of System z mainframes | Linux on zSeries, z/OS, z/VSE, z/TPF, z/VM, MUSIC/SP, and predecessors | Integrated in firmware of System z mainframes |
| Name | Creator | Host CPU | Guest CPU | Host OS(s) | Guest OS(s) | License |
Read more about this topic: Comparison Of Platform Virtual Machines
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