guestOS

A guest operating system, often abbreviated as guestOS, refers to the operating system installed and running within a virtual machine. Virtualization technology allows a single physical computer, known as the host, to run multiple isolated operating systems simultaneously. Each of these operating systems is the guestOS.

The guestOS operates as if it were installed on its own dedicated hardware, unaware of the underlying virtualization layer and the other guestOS instances sharing the same physical resources. It interacts with virtualized hardware components provided by the hypervisor, such as virtual CPUs, memory, storage, and network interfaces.

Key characteristics of a guestOS include its isolation from the host system and other guestOSs, ensuring that issues within one virtual machine do not affect others. It also benefits from the resource management capabilities of the hypervisor, which allocates and controls the physical hardware resources assigned to each guest. Installation and management of a guestOS typically involve using the hypervisor's interface, allowing for creation, configuration, and deployment of virtual machines. Common examples of guestOSs include various versions of Windows, Linux distributions, and macOS.