RE: [Xen-users] Run xen with a dual boot system

["Petersson, Mats" <mats.petersson@xxxxxxx>]

There's not a simple answer to this.

 

First of all, this will not work with currently available hardware, at least not with Xen, because the current implementation of Xen on currently available hardware relies on Xen-friendly code in the OS, which is relatively easy on Linux and other Open Source OS's, but becomes near impossible on closed source OS's.

 

With future hardware (processors), yes it's possible to run Windows, OS/2 or Linux from unmodified source code using Virtualization hardware extensions, such as AMD's SVM (aka Pacifica) and Intel's VTX (aka Vanderpool) technologies. This obviously also requires support in the Xen software to intercept and interpret the special functionality that Xen needs to care about (such as writes to special registers, accesses to certain hardware, etc, etc).

 

With this technology in place (hw+sw), you should be able to run WinXP on top of Xen (with Linux as Dom0), and if you want to, run further copies of Linux on the same machine. If you really wanted to, you should be able to run DOS or Solaris for X86 on the same machine too.

 

Regarding licenses, I think you're referring to the fact that the Xen developers did a Windows port of Xen, but it relies on a "Universtiy license", which is a limited source-access license to Microsoft, which does NOT allow any redistribution of the resulting binaries. So, basicly, there is some version of Windows that would run on top of Xen with modified source code, but it's NOT available unless you've already got source code license to Windows [which microsoft do not give away easily].

 

--

Mats 

---

From: xen-users-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:xen-users-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of dclemen@xxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: 25 October 2005 09:59
To: xen-users@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [Xen-users] Run xen with a dual boot system

Hi, I have a system with Debian and Wxp. I like debian, but sometimes I need to run wxp (work issues), and I have to stop debin, reboot and select wxp in grub to start it.

I will like to get wxp on a "virtual machine" over my debian. I don't want a 100% virtual wxp, because, I maybe need to reboor and start only with wxp.

Is this posible with Xen?. I read some problems with windows licences, but in this case, I have my own windows licence installed, so I think this is not a problem.

Thanks.


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