Read our full Xen Project review (opens in new tab). A key emphasis is on security by using as small a code base as possible, making it not just secure but especially flexible. The service is especially applicable for hyperscale clouds, and can easily be used with AWS, Azure, Rackspace, IBM Softlayer, and Oracle. The Xen Project software is even being used in automotive and aviation systems. This includes but is not restricted to Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) applications, desktop virtualization, and security virtualized.

It is especially used for advanced virtualization, not least for servers, in both commercial and open source environments.

The Xen Project now works with The Linux Foundation in promoting open source applications. Originally developed by Cambridge University, the staff who created it spun it into a company that was later acquired by Citrix. If the VM's performance isn't adequate & can't be improved, you may want to resort to dual-boot - but keep in mind that this is a risk to your system & the data on it.Xen Project is a free and open source virtual machine monitor (VMM), intended to serve as a type-1 hyperviser for multiple operating systems using the same hardware. In your case, I don't know if the system resources will suffice, so I'd suggest you start with a VM & see how it performs, & try tweaking it as needed. All of the above when you're using a virtual network and nodes.Control of the system resources that the VM uses.Easy management of the VM for testing - including cloning, taking snapshots and backup.More security for host data host, as the VM can't access it unless you share it or vulnerabilities are exploited.Better isolation between your host and VM, so that the former isn't impacted by the latter.Possibility of not being able to use some of the hosting system's hardware features, as they may not be supported by the Virtualization platform.Requirement to have a virtualization solution (VMware, VirtualBox, etc.) on the host, which will also use a small portion of resources.Less resources available for the VM, since the host OS will also require a good portion of these.

A small cost-benefit analysis of using a VM. If you're using it on a system that you also use for work, a VM would be the safest approach.

Kali virtual box