While many of us are happily living a monogamous life when it comes to the operating system we use on our computer, there are times when being able to run another OS is helpful. If you're a Mac user, there are several options for running other operating systems virtually.

One of those options is Parallels. Now in its 14th version, it has adapted and grown through several different versions of Windows and provides a great set of tools for running Windows, another macOS, Linux or just about anything that plays nicely on an X86 processor.

Just because you can do something, doesn't mean you should. Like stuffing Windows 95 inside a virtualised JavaScript wrapper so anyone can download it and run it like a regular desktop app. Why would you engage in such insanity? Your guess is as good as mine.

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VMworld, VMware's main customer and partner event, is on at the moment in Las Vegas. I was meant to be go but, alas, other commitments prevented me from attending. I've been keeping track of the news from VMworld. Here are a few of the main announcements.

During the opening keynote on Partner Day at this year's VeeamON event, Danny Allan announced the release of Veeam Backup for Office 365 v 1.5. Allan, who is Veeam's VP Cloud and Alliances Strategy, says the updated product supports multi-repository and multi-tenant architecture. This enables protection of larger Office 365 deployments with a single installation.

Synology keeps adding more to the capability of the NAS line-up. They have launched a new version of the Virtual Machine Manager into beta this week. This lets you run Windows and Linux VMs directly on many models in their range.

RAM drives aren't as popular as they used to be, with the speedy performance of solid-state drives good enough for most. But they still have their uses and with the average PC sporting 8GB of system RAM, sparing a couple of gigabytes is not a problem. The thing is, video cards are starting to pack on memory as well. So, is it possible to use GPU RAM as a virtual drive? Certainly.

Cisco is well known as a network hardware company. But we often forget that they are also a software company with a network operating system, IOS. Cisco is now taking that software out of its embedded place in hardware and moving it into another devices.

VMware has released the latest version of its Fusion product line that brings Windows 10 virtualisation to Apple Macs. Here's what you need to know about VMware Fusion 8 and Fusion 8 Pro.

When virtualisation was first mainstreamed, it changed the way we managed the server room. We saved money by consolidating servers into larger virtual hosts. Hardware-related downtime dropped because we could afford to spend money on redundancy and quality. Even mundane issues such as rack space and datacenter air conditioning became less of an expense. As system administrators, we could suddenly "create" a new server out of thin air.

Last month, VMware launched its vCloud Air platform in Australia. Now it's promising that Horizon Air, its desktop-as-a-service platform, will roll out from that local data centre before the end of June.

Software-defined networking (SDN) has been a buzzword for some time, and now we're increasingly hearing about the virtues of the software-defined data centre (SDDC). However, the vast majority of businesses won't need to think about implementing an SDDC -- that's what cloud providers are for.

Some five months after announcing its plans for an Australian-hosted version of its vCloud Air (vCA) platform, VMware has officially launched the cloud service down under. Will the large base of existing vSphere installations be enough to make it a contender for hybrid cloud installations?

For a while it appeared development on Oracle's virtualisation product, VirtualBox, had all but ceased. The start of April however has seen it given a new lease on life, with the company releasing a beta version of 5.0, packed with new features and improvements.

VMware is due to launch its vCloud Air platform in Australia sometime in the first half of this year. One potentially intriguing addition to the platform: rival service Google Cloud Platform.

The internet is full of sweet apps, but it's also packed with shady software. Before you install something awful, give yourself an infosec education. Here are the best tools to protect yourself when you're experimenting with new programs.

Several years ago, we looked at Cameyo which allowed you to create portable versions of just about any app. The company now offers an even cooler service: running Windows apps in a browser window.

If you want to try out software without installing what could be adware or something risky, use a virtual machine. Virtual machines are particularly useful because of their "snapshot" ability, which captures and quickly restores the VM's state. Here's how to set it up and use it.

Microsoft has updated its Desktop Optimization Pack (MDOP) software. The 2014 R2 release adds improved support for App-V desktop app virtualisation, including simpler settings for deploying Office.

VirtualBox is a lifesaver for anyone who wants to tinker and experiment with different operating systems. Using a CD or disc image is easy in VirtualBox, but it's handy to know how to boot from USB in VirtualBox on Windows as well.