Hi, all!
I'd like to get the best possible freeware virtual machine (VM) for Excel 2010 or 2013. 1st criterion is performance, 2nd criterion is overall usability. I've done a little research and tried VMware Workstation 16 and Oracle VM VirtualBox.
VMware beats Oracle on my machine in terms of performance according to this benchmark - Excel speed test comparison against an FX-8350
VirtualBox VM setup: 4 CPU , 4096 MB Memory, network adapter disabled, Hard Disk - SSD, Paravirtualization Interface – Default, Hardware Virtualization - Enable Nested Paging, Executing Engine - VT-x/AMD-V, Paravirtualization Interface - Hyper-V.
VMware Workstation 16 Player VM setup: 4 CPU , 4096 MB Memory, network adapter disabled, Virtualization Engine – un-checked.
I've tried all of VirtualBox Paravirtualization interface options (none, Legacy, Minimal, Hyper-V, KVM). Default (Hyper-V) option provides the best results. Other was significantly slower.
Benchmark results for MS Excel 2010 (14.0.7258.5000):
If you have actual experience with any of mentioned VMs or maybe some other VM, please share your thoughts. If moderators don't mind, we can use this thread for general discussion on the topic.
P.S. I've find helpful this Parallels's blog post on tuning the VM for the best Excel performance.
I'd like to get the best possible freeware virtual machine (VM) for Excel 2010 or 2013. 1st criterion is performance, 2nd criterion is overall usability. I've done a little research and tried VMware Workstation 16 and Oracle VM VirtualBox.
VMware beats Oracle on my machine in terms of performance according to this benchmark - Excel speed test comparison against an FX-8350
VirtualBox VM setup: 4 CPU , 4096 MB Memory, network adapter disabled, Hard Disk - SSD, Paravirtualization Interface – Default, Hardware Virtualization - Enable Nested Paging, Executing Engine - VT-x/AMD-V, Paravirtualization Interface - Hyper-V.
VMware Workstation 16 Player VM setup: 4 CPU , 4096 MB Memory, network adapter disabled, Virtualization Engine – un-checked.
I've tried all of VirtualBox Paravirtualization interface options (none, Legacy, Minimal, Hyper-V, KVM). Default (Hyper-V) option provides the best results. Other was significantly slower.
Benchmark results for MS Excel 2010 (14.0.7258.5000):
| Oracle VM VirtualBox | VMware Workstation 16 Player |
version | VirtualBox-6.1.14-140239-Win | Vmware-player-16.0.0-16894299 |
host OS | Same OS — Windows 10 version 1909 | Same OS — Windows 10 version 1909 |
host hardware | Same PC — CPU i7-7700K 16 GB RAM | Same PC — CPU i7-7700K 16 GB RAM |
guest OS | Windows 7 SP1 Ultimate x64 | Windows 7 SP1 Ultimate x64 |
other conditions | Same — internet disconnected, no background tasks | Same — internet disconnected, no background tasks |
EXCEL-SPEEDTEST-v1-(John-Tauwhare).xlsb BMElapsed | 116.78 | 92.46 |
EXCEL-SPEEDTEST-v1-(John-Tauwhare).xlsb Benchmark | 38.93 | 30.82 |
EXCEL-SPEEDTEST-v2-(John-Tauwhare).xlsb BMElapsed | 324.5 | 239.43 |
EXCEL-SPEEDTEST-v2-(John-Tauwhare).xlsb Benchmark | 108.17 | 79.81 |
P.S. I've find helpful this Parallels's blog post on tuning the VM for the best Excel performance.
