Photoshop performance on VM

English Virtualization
1

Hi.

I’m a photographer and I’m just swiched to Linux from M$ Windows.
I need to use Photoshop/Lightroom so I want to install them on Virtual Machine but the question is: what virtual machine wuold give me near native speed of windows and photoshop?
Is VMware faster than VirtualBox?

Thanks.

2

Typically nowadays, because of hardware assist (ie CPU extensions), performance is very near the same for all paravirtualized technologies which typically include Xen, KVM Virtualbox, VMware, Parallels and Hyper-V on Windows. Less common virtualization like QEMU fully virtualizes which is substantially slower but can provide a completely different architectural environment and wouldn’t apply to your use.

There are other virtualization or isolated options that IMO are less suited for your use.

The main reasons people use to choose between the paravirtualized options I listed are

  • Stability. Although for the most part all are very stable, some feel more comfortable using solutions backed by larger resources. KVM is heavily supported and developed by IBM, Xen is independent but has attracted extremely large amounts of capital, Virtualbox is a community project associated with Oracle, VMware is almost the unquestionable leader in commercial products.
  • User Tools. Although basic virtualization is nearly the same for all paravirtualized technologies, the tools Users are provided are vastly different. All are very capable if you use command line, but the GUI tools that manage, view, monitor and create Guests vary immensely. Some are difficult to work with or lack features compared to others.
  • Related to User Tools, some are more suitable for individual or managing only a small number of machines, maybe even for the most part on a single box. Others are more “Enterprise.” But, you can use any for any use like what you would want to run Photoshop.

When you run virtualization, performance is YMMV. Although most times Guests are set up and run without issue, once in a while people will do something that’s not ordinary and might suffer. In general, running in a paravirtualized VM should incur a penalty no more than about 2%. I and others have sometimes found that a Guest is substantially faster than on bare metal likely because the virtual disk file might be more efficient than how data is distributed across a real, physical disk.

My recommendation for a newbie

  • VMware if you can afford it ($200 for Workstation) or willing to use VMware Player if your needs are very basic which seems to include your case.
  • Virtualbox if your needs are more than very minimal basic.
  • KVM if your needs might be “Business.” The tools provided in the OSS should satisfy most SOHO needs, and can be extended to very large businesses with additional or alternate tools.

TSU

3

@tsu2. Thank you for your replay. I really appreciate it.
So I’m thinking between VirtualBox and VMware Player because I just need to run 2 programs :slight_smile:
Are there any differences in performance between them? Can I just use free VirtualBox or is it worth to pay for VMware?

Thank you.

4

VMware Player is free like Virtualbox. Workstation with its advanced features costs.
Performance should be nearly identical.

TSU

5

Have you checked out DigiKam, Darkroom, Light table and GIMP in Linux? I am a pro photographer, and those are the programs I use, can do anything that Photoshop/Lightroom can do and I get superb results.

They are all installable through Yast, just search each program name. There are also several other usefull photography utilities available.

Give them a try. (Okay, learning curves you probably did not want, but you will probably be pleased, especially with the degree of professional output and the price of the programs – Free.)

6

I have a lot of plugins/presets and modules for LR/PS so I can’t live without it :wink:

7

as a long time darkroom tech ( custom color and B&W hand enlarging)
the current Gimp 2.9.1 DEVELOPMENT supports 16 bit and 32 bit image depth and can be installed along with 2.8.16 ( 8bit depth only)

that and Krita and Gmic ( Cinepaint for some 32 bit floating point images ) are really all one needs

8

If you’re in KDE5, it has been known to overwhelm the VirtualBox GL driver. Regarding whether the cost of VMware Workstation is worth it, I can only say that in general the “paid” versions are more refined (i.e. better OpenGL extensions)…which might be important to you if you’re doing more graphically intensive tasks. If the free VMs are giving you trouble, you can freely evaluate VMware Workstation to see if it fixes your problems. It fixed mine.