Optimum Virtual Machine workstation

[PAH]

Therefore past experience is not valuable. It might suck, but things have moved on a lot recently so it could be totally different.

Yeah, I'm sure it has. Just don't want to fill my Host O/S with lots of trial software while I find the optimum setup, though one of the strengths of VMs is I can reinstall the host once the optimum is known without affecting the VM guests.

It seems weird to have so many VMs to me. Not quite sure what you gain having dev, video on separate VMs.

Primary reason is to isolate tasks so when new versions or alternative software come out I only have to rebuild or replace the affected VM. Keeps everything neatly segregated and uncluttered of older software. I can also be sure that resources aren't being hogged by software I am not currently using, as the other VMs will be turned off when not required, rather than have them all on sitting idle.

Also having many smaller VMs allows me to copy individual ones to my laptop if I want to do a bit of Dev while on the road, without faffing about with syncing stuff.

Got rid of the video related VM as I need to use the host o/s to take full advantage of hardware. The strength of virtualization (emulating generic hardware for maximum compatibility) is also it's primary weakness. The extra resources needed to host multiple guest o/s isn't really an issue now you can get ram and hard drives very cheaply.