Back to Linux at Work

Not too long ago, I wrote a post about my experiences of using Linux at work. I had to stop using it, since the new software I was using ran out of memory in the virtual machine, so I had to run it off of our dev server. I then couldn't figure out how to mount the samba shares in my virtual machine, so I was out of luck for development (although now it is occurring to me I could have used FTP).

Now though, I've discovered two more awesome things about VirtualBox. First, I can use shared folders to mount the samba share through Windows, then mount it in the virtual box. So now I can go back to the way I was developing before!
Second: This is very awesome. VirtualBox has this mode called seamless mode. Before, I was using fullscreen mode, where the virtual machine takes up your entire monitor, with the virtual desktop, etc. In seamless mode, you can still see the Windows taskbar, and on top of that any Windows programs that you have open. Basically the windows that you have open with X in the virtual machine are inter-mingled with the windows you have open with Windows. You can also see your Windows desktop with the little icons on your host OS desktop, but at the same time you can see the GNOME menu bar at the top. Very convenient!

So if you haven't tried VirtualBox yet, I definitely recommend it. It's been a pleasure working with it so far.