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Linux Emulator for Windows: Best We Tested in 2024

5 min. read

Updated onJanuary 8, 2024

updated onJanuary 8, 2024

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4 tools to run Linux on your Windows PC

4 tools to run Linux on your Windows PC

KNOPPIX: Run Linux from a USB stick or CD

KNOPPIX is a great software that allows you to boot in Linux directly from a physical CD/DVD or USB flash drives.

This app contains a great set of GNU/Linux software options, can automatically detect your hardware capabilities, and offers support for a wide range of graphics cards, sound cards, SCSI and also USB devices.

KNOPPIX can be used in order to run Linux on your desktop PC, and can also help you rescue your system in the case that Windows won’t start.

Using this software as a rescue tool allows you to extract all the data you need from your malfunctioning Windows PC, and store them in a secure environment, before reinstalling it.

Download KNOPPIX

— RELATED:Here’s how to fix Windows 10 Bootloader from Linux

WUBI: Install Linux as software

WUBI is a great tool that allows you to easily install Linux as a software on your Windows PC. Using this technique allows for greater processing speeds and it can be uninstalled in the same way that you would uninstall a normal Windows application.

It’s incredibly easy to set up and start installing, all you need to do is choose the right options for your system, and then click install.

Download WUBI

Another way to run a Linux based OS on your Windows PC is by using a virtual machine software. We’ll list some of the best tools below.

Virtual machines for running Linux on Windows PCs

Virtual machines for running Linux on Windows PCs

Virtual Box

VirtualBox is a great software option that allows you to create virtual Linux machines and run them in a window from your Windows desktop. This app is based on a x86 architecture and supports AMD64/Intel64 virtualization.

This software can run on a variety of hosts – Linux, Mac, Windows, Solaris – and also has a large number of guest OS compatibility – all versions of Windows, Linux, etc.

Download Virtual Box

VMware

VMware is another great virtualization software that allows you to create a virtual Linux OS on your PC with ease. This is a more simple alternative than having to install a full Linux OS, but offer a slower perfomance.

You can create multiple virtual machines with as many OS options as you want. There are no limits to the number of virtual machines that you can create, but this feature is limited only by your hardware’s capacity to deal with the request.

You can find a good guide explaining how to use VMware to run Linux on your PC. If you want to run your installation from a CD, clickhere.  If you want to run the installation from an virtual image file (.bin, .iso), you can reffer tothis page.

Download VMware

Conclusion

In this article, we listed some of the best Linux based operating systems and then we talked about the most efficient way to run them on your PC.

We would love to know which solution you chose and how it worked out for you. Feel free to comment below.

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More about the topics:Linux,windows 10

Milan Stanojevic

Windows Toubleshooting Expert

Milan has been enthusiastic about technology ever since his childhood days, and this led him to take interest in all PC-related technologies. He’s a PC enthusiast and he spends most of his time learning about computers and technology.

Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s one of the Troubleshooting experts in our worldwide team, specializing in Windows errors & software issues.

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Milan Stanojevic

Windows Toubleshooting Expert

Before joining WindowsReport, he worked as a front-end web developer. Now, he’s specialized in Windows errors & software issues.