VMware Player is by far the fastest product if you simply want to run windows e.g. on your linux desktop.

Download

http://www.vmware.com/download/player/download.html

For ubuntu, mint linux, debian you can simply download the *.bundle file and install it with:

chmod 755 *.bundle
sudo ./VMware-Player-2.5.3-185404.i386.bundle

Follow the dialog and you are done.

Creating an empty image file for VMWare Player

You’ll need qemu for that:

apt-get install qemu

And then execute the following to create a 20G image file:

qemu-img create -f vmdk win2k.vmdk 20G

Now create create the file “win2k.vmx”:

#!/usr/bin/vmplayer
displayName = "Windows"
guestOS = "winXPPro"

memsize = "512"
ide0:0.fileName = "20GB.vmdk"
ide1:0.fileName = "cdrom.iso"

# DEFAULT SETTINGS UNDER THIS LINE
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "3"

MemAllowAutoScaleDown = "FALSE"
MemTrimRate = "-1"

uuid.location = "56 4d 6a df fc aa 4a f5-a3 4c 18 36 46 50 53 8a"
uuid.bios = "56 4d 6a df fc aa 4a f5-a3 4c 18 36 46 50 53 8a"

uuid.action = "create"
checkpoint.vmState = ""

ethernet0.present = "TRUE"
ethernet0.connectionType = "nat"
ethernet0.addressType = "generated"
ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:50:53:8a"
ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"

usb.present = "FALSE"
sound.present = "FALSE"

scsi0.present = "FALSE"
scsi0:0.present = "FALSE"
scsi0:1.present = "FALSE"

floppy0.present = "FALSE"

ide0:1.present = "FALSE"
ide1:1.present = "FALSE"

ide0:0.present = "TRUE"
ide0:0.deviceType = "disk"
ide0:0.startConnected = "TRUE"

ide1:0.present = "TRUE"
ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-image"
ide1:0.autodetect = "FALSE"
ide1:0.startConnected = "TRUE"

ide0:0.redo = ""

(originally by: http://www.ffnn.nl)

They also have a template for linux guests:

#!/usr/bin/vmplayer
displayName = "Linux 2.6.x Host"
guestOS = "other26xlinux"

memsize = "512"
scsi0:0.fileName = "10G.vmdk"
ide1:0.fileName = "cdrom.iso"

# DEFAULT SETTINGS UNDER THIS LINE
config.version = "8"
virtualHW.version = "4"

MemAllowAutoScaleDown = "FALSE"
MemTrimRate = "-1"

uuid.location = "56 4d 11 ba 20 f6 e6 29-2c a8 49 4c 8d 84 65 86"
uuid.bios = "56 4d 11 ba 20 f6 e6 29-2c a8 49 4c 8d 84 65 86"

uuid.action = "create"
checkpoint.vmState = ""

ethernet0.present = "TRUE"
ethernet0.connectionType = "nat"
ethernet0.addressType = "generated"
ethernet0.generatedAddress = "00:0c:29:84:65:86"
ethernet0.generatedAddressOffset = "0"

usb.present = "FALSE"
sound.present = "FALSE"

scsi0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0.virtualdev = "lsilogic"
scsi0:0.present = "TRUE"
scsi0:0.deviceType = "disk"
scsi0:0.mode = "persistent"
scsi0:0.redo = ""
scsi0:0.writeThrough = "FALSE"
scsi0:0.startConnected = "FALSE"

scsi0:1.present = "FALSE"
floppy0.present = "FALSE"
ide0:0.present = "FALSE"
ide0:1.present = "FALSE"
ide1:1.present = "FALSE"

ide1:0.present = "TRUE"
ide1:0.deviceType = "cdrom-image"
ide1:0.autodetect = "FALSE"
ide1:0.startConnected = "TRUE"

Possible guestOS codes

• winVista
• longhorn
• winNetBusiness
• winNetEnterprise
• winNetStandard
• winNetWeb
• winXPPro
• winXPHome
• win2000AdvServ
• win2000Serv
• win2000Pro
• winNT
• winMe
• win98
• win95
• win31
• windows
• winVista-64
• longhorn-64
• winNetEnterprise-64
• winNetStandard-64
• winXPPro-64
• ubuntu
• redhat
• rhel4
• rhel3
• rhel2
• suse
• sles
• mandrake
• nld9
• sjds
• turbolinux
• other26xlinux
• other24xlinux
• linux
• ubuntu-64
• rhel4-64
• rhel3-64
• sles-64
• suse-64
• other26xlinux-64
• other24xlinux-64
• otherlinux-64

Edit it to match your needs. After that make the file executable and double click it :).