3 Best Free Virtual Machine Software For Windows

Here is a list of best free Virtual Machine Software for Windows. These virtual machine software let you run multiple operating systems on your PC. All these Virtual Machine Software are completely free and can be downloaded to Windows PC. You can create multiple virtual machines and can assign different disk space for every virtual disk separately. You can test new operating systems on your current OS with the help of these programs. States can be saved and reloaded if required. Supported virtual machine file formats are: VMX, VMC, OVA, and OVF.

My favorite free Virtual Machine Software is:

As per my testing, VMware Workstation Player is the best free Virtual Machine Software in this list, as it is simple and easy to understand and has lots of features. For e.g. it supports various virtual machine file formats.

You can also try these best free Android Emulator Software, ISO Maker Software, and Virtual Drive Software.

Here are the Best Free Virtual Machine Software:

VMware Workstation Player

VMware Workstation Player is a well-known virtual machine software. It comes in both 32 bit as well as 64 bit versions. After installing it, you can load the guest OS to it by creating a new virtual machine from ISO or from your CD/DVD. After configuring the guest OS, you can start the virtual machine by clicking “Play virtual machine” button. You can send Ctrl + Alt + Del to virtual machine also by clicking said button on its toolbar. You can save the state of virtual machine by clicking Pause button, and this state can be later resumed. The interface of the player is simple and clean, and you can easily understand the functions in a short period. It has a Full Screen mode also. You can change virtual machine settings like: assign memory (RAM), processor, hard disk space, display, sound card etc. from the Player menu. You can change the focus of keyboard and mouse to parent screen by pressing Alt + Ctrl key from your keyboard. After loading the guest, you can anytime Shutdown, Suspend, or Restart the guest by clicking the desired button from its toolbar. It also has an option to open virtual machine files. Supported virtual machine file formats are: VMX, VMC, OVF, and OVA. This player is free for non-commercial use.

VirtualBox

VirtualBox is an x86 based, open source virtualization software which runs on various platforms like Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux. This free vm software has various features, including advanced ones, and all these are available free. Some of its key features are: Virtual Media Manager, Import/Export Appliance, Clone, Group etc. It also has a “snapshots” feature, which allow you to take a snapshot of a virtual machine’s state and you can revert to that state in the future, if required. You can use it to test new versions of Operating Systems or experiment with other Operating Systems. You can load an OS from ISO file after creating a virtual machine. You can create a new virtual machine by clicking New button on its toolbar. Now give a name to it and choose the Type of OS (if not sure, then choose Other from the drop down list) and similarly for version. After configuring the basic requirements, you can start the virtual machine by clicking Start button on the main toolbar. Settings can be changed at any time, like Base Memory, Boot Order, Chipset Type, Pointing Device, Display, Storage, and many more. It can open OVA and OVF files also. It is available in 28 languages. Portable version is also available. A detailed log can be viewed and saved in the desired location if required. Overall this is a good virtual machine software available free.

Microsoft Virtual PC

Microsoft Virtual PC is another Virtual Machine Software in the list. It is small in size and is easy to install. You can create a new Virtual Machine by using its wizard from File menu or clicking New button. Virtual Disk Wizard is also there in the File menu. The program interface is simple and only 4 buttons are there (New, Settings, Remove, and Start). After creating a virtual machine you can start it by clicking Start button or by clicking Start from Action menu. Settings can be changed at the time of creation of virtual machine or modify later. After loading the Virtual Machine you can use various commands for the guest. Some of the common commands are: Full Screen Mode, send Ctrl+Alt+Del, Pause, Reset, Close etc. Floppy Disk Image as well as ISO images can be loaded to this virtual machine by using the respective menu. It also has a built in help in the Help menu.