Windows Virtual Machines

Here're the 2 ways to actually get a pre-made Windows Virtual Machine directly from Microsoft. Note that this isn't a permanent solution. 

The first is the Microsoft Edge Developer page under Tools and then VMS. You can choose between Windows 8, 8.1, and 10. For VM platform, we can choose between VirtualBox, Vagrant, VMware, HyperV, and Parallels (Mac).

For Windows 11 VM, we need to head over to the Windows 11 development environment page. Again, we can choose between 4 different virtualization software options. Note the expiration date!

Microsoft recommends to save a "snapshot" of the VM. But this only works for the first method.

Links:

• https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/microsoft-edge/tools/vms/
• https://developer.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/downloads/virtual-machines/
• How to Legally Download a Windows Virtual Machine

Linux Run Levels

Linux changes the run-level:

• (Old Linux distro) SysV init uses run-level number from 0 to 6.
• cmdline: init, telinit, who
  
• (New Linux distro) systemd init uses systemd targets.
• cmdline: systemctl 

 

Linux runlevel defines the state of the OS. 

SysV	Systemd targets	Description
0	runlevel0.target poweroff.target	Halt or shutdown the Linux system
1	runlevel1.target rescue.target	Single-user text mode (useful for maintenance mode)
2	runlevel2.target multi-user.target	Not used
3	runlevel3.target multi-user.target	Full multi-user text mode (used on Linux servers)
4	runlevel4.target multi-user.target	Not used
5	runlevel5.target graphical.target	Full multi-user GUI mode. You can use X-based login screen. Useful for Linux desktop
6	runlevel6.target reboot.target	Reboot Linux system

Comparing the cmdline used.

SysV	Systemd	Description
runelvel who -r	systemctl get-default	Show the current runlevel
init 1	systemctl rescue systemctl emergency	Change the runlevel to single user mode for maintenance
init 3	systemctl multi-user-target	Change to multi-user text mode
init 0	systemctl poweroff	Poweroff
init 6	systemctl reboot	Reboot
	systemctl default	Back to default target
init 5	systemctl graphical.target	Change to GUI mode

Links:

• https://www.cyberciti.biz/tips/linux-changing-run-levels.html