Look! There's a picture inside that picture!

Now, I know what you're thinking, and no, this post is NOT about the well-known feature of digital cable boxes and satellite receivers. I am instead talking about a "virtual machine".

Now, you may ask what the crap this is, and quite frankly, I can't say that I blame you, and therefore, that is why this post exists. 

A virtual machine is a piece of software that emulates a computer or other piece of hardware, much like the a fore-mentioned feature. It has a host it relies on for hardware, so keep that in mind, should you ever decide to venture into this amazing world. Usually if you are doing this, the host machine would have at least two gigabytes of memory, because the host machine needs enough power and other resources to run both operating systems. Trust me, I have tried to do this with less, and unless all you plan to do is play DOS games all day, you are not going to advance very far with your efforts.

Naturally, to get this ball rolling, the first step would be to download software that allows you to set up and run a virtual machine. There are quite a few to choose from, and the top 3 are VMWare (which has several variations), VirtualBox, (made by either Sun or Oracle, depending on the version obtained), and Microsoft/Windows Virtual PC, which, to be honest, is only good for running other versions of Windows, so, it's just best to stay away from it.

The next step would be to allocate system resources to the virtual machine. I know what you're thinking: "I should just be able to load an operating system on to this new machine I made and install Windows, right?" Well, if that's the case. Stop reading now, because you are not ready for this kind of a daunting experience. No, just like any computer, a virtual machine needs hardware and software that it can use. In this "case", we need to allocate resources from the host machine (the hardware that you are doing this project on) to the virtual machine. In order to do this, you will right-click on the virtual machine you created and look for an option to modify its settings. From here, you will be able to adjust the memory, hard disk size, and what types of drives the virtual machine is able to use. Be careful, though, because you need to leave enough resources for the host machine, and your virtualization software will warn you of this.

After all is said and done, you should have a nice empty virtual machine that has no operating system. This is the point in a hardware build where you would power the machine up and see if it will boot to your BIOS Setup Utility. If everything checks out, you should be in the clear to install an operating system. Now would actually be the perfect time to hunt down a CD image (usually with an extension of .ISO) of your favorite operating system or dig through the closet for that old CD/DVD or set of floppy diskettes. 

Once you find your media, set your boot order accordingly, insert the first CD or diskette, and lastly, exit the BIOS and reboot the VM (NOT YOUR HOST PC!) Now the fun should begin....

After the VM reboots, which, shouldn't take more than a few seconds, you should be well on your way to installing an operating system. Whether it be Linux, Windows, or something else, follow your installer's instructions accordingly and you should be on your way to a nice, new desktop while still leaving the existing one intact. If you used an actual disk to install your software, make sure that you tell your virtualization software to "release" your CD drive before you close it, or I'm sure all Hades will break loose somewhere down the road. 

Now that we have all of the instructions out of the way, let's explore some practical uses for a virtual machine. The most obvious would be for transitional purposes. When Windows 7 was released, (which is the OS that I used to type this post), users of the Professional Edition or higher were able to use a feature known as "Windows XP Mode". This allowed the user a fully licensed copy of Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (along with all of the included features) at no extra cost. Ironically, when I first started classes at Sinclair about 4 years ago, they were TEACHING Windows XP, and the computers we used had this exact setup only instead of Microsoft's Virtual PC branded software, they used VMWare Workstation, but the concept is the same.

Another practical use would be to try a new operating system without doing any *reasonably* irreversible damage. I actually recently did this on the computer I use in class and I was able to"successfully" load Android KitKat to its desktop. I use air quotes because although it booted without any issues, when I tried to activate the keyboard and mouse, it pretty much locked up the host machine. But anyway, to those reading, I hope this enlightens you, and if it ain't broke, then you are doing something wrong (or right, if you're a wimp, like me!).  

Happy Virtualizing! :)

This is an example of how a virtual machine looks when it is "powered on". Once your operating system is installed, it will show the desktop of your chosen platform, instead of an install screen.

A groundbreaking game returns to the consumer spotlight (Oh, and the Wii U has photo sharing!):

Now, you're wondering, since this could technically be considered a "flashback" post, why I'm not choosing a classic game like "Super Mario Bros", (and don't get me wrong, that's a great example for this post, except that it does not fit the genre I will be referring to). This genre is a little hard to sum up without proper nouns, so I will just use the prime example that the screen shot will refer to, and that is "Wario Ware".

This game made its debut on the Wii U about 3 days ago, and yesterday, I decided that the urge to replay it just didn't warrant an emulator (plus the Wii U controller is just like a GameBoy Advance). As you can see, I've already completed 7 out of 10 mandatory stages and unlocked 6 bonuses as of this writing, and I've only been playing it for 1-2 days! Talk about addictive!

Anyway, the way this franchise works, is you pick a character/category, and the screen goes through a small cut-scene, and suddenly you are thrown into a challenge with only one command (both shown above). Your controls are the A button, directional pad, and the start button if you want to pause/quit the game like a wimp--oh, and you only have three seconds to complete each "Micro Game" in order to progress to the next game, and eventually, level. All of the levels that are represented by a folder are mandatory, and some of them will earn you bonus games with no time limit, as shown in the above screen shot.

There's also another feature called the "Game Grid", (featured above) in which all of the micro games from the main levels are featured individually with their own high score. To earn the final bonus game, you have to earn all of the "Clear" scores on the game grid for each level. The third button is "options", which honestly isn't that interesting, so I will not include a screen shot for it. The game can be played without the TV running, which is nice, especially if you are used to playing it on a hand-held device, so it feels just like the original GameBoy Advance, except that the smooth edges of the Wii U GamePad are contoured to fit a person's hands.

Now, if you're wondering where the side thought in the post title came from, the Wii U allows you to pause your game in mid-play and do other things, like search for games and browse the internet, which, apparently includes posting photos to facebook (or another photo sharing site), which, I consider to be a plus, especially if you are stuck in the middle of a game and need to look up cheat codes.

Bottom line is, at a cost of only $7.00 (before tax) this game is worth every penny spent, and you will definitely get hours of enjoyment out of it (unless a 3-second adrenaline rush isn't your thing).