[Xen-users] Noobie questions about Xen

["Randall Hand" <randall.hand@xxxxxxxxx>]

I've done some reading around the net, but I still have a few questions that I just need simple straight answers for.

I have a Dual-core dual-proc Intel Xeon system at my desk with 8G of ram in it.  Sadly, it runs windows XP64.  I'ld like it to run Linux, but I do still need windows for occasionally running Adobe Products or Modelling apps (Maya, Max).  not to mention the horrors of Microsoft outlook...  Most of the work I do is programming, so I live with gcc & such...  So my questions are:

1) What does Xen give me over VMWare? (This is a government site, so $$ is not a problem)
2) With Xen, as I understand it, it essentially operates as an OS.. booting first, then loading Linux and/or windows. Is this right?
3) Will it work with Redhat Enterprise 9.0?  What versions of Redhat will it work with ? (Redhat seems to be the favored distro around here)
4) How will system resources be allocated, and how flexible are they?  Ideally i'ld like an almost alt-tab switch between Windows & Linux, having the bulk of the CPU & Memory available to the currently selected OS.  Can I do that with Xen?  I don't really want to dedicate 4G of ram to Windows that I can't use in Linux.
5) Will Xen work with XP64 ?  I've seen conditional yes's referring to VT-processors and such, so can someone answer that?


Thanks for any help ... 


-- 
Randall Hand
Visualization Scientist, 
ERDC-MSRC Vicksburg, MS
Homepage: http://www.yeraze.com
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