[Qemu-devel] QEMU Windows host - user report

[Jean-Michel POURE]

Dear friends,

I tested QEMU Windows version under Windows XP at my neibourgh, who is a 
professionnal Windows and HTML developer.

We downloaded the latest Windows installer from 
http://www.freeoszoo.org/download.php.

The installation went like a charm. Then, I was not able to demonstrate 
qemu.exe in good conditions because:

1) CD-ROM access

We could not access CD-ROM directly (at least, I did not find how to do it). 
Is it a planned feature?

2) Command lines

Entering command lines in MS Windows is not very easy. The Windows shell is 
well hidden and it displays in small letters. It seems that qemu.exe was not 
in the path. We had to cd to the right folder, a nightmare for an average 
Windows user.

3) Virtual disc creation

When we got to the point of being in QEMU folder, we had problems creating a 
virtual disc. Is dd available under Win32? Does it offer the same features? 
Anyway, we stopped the demo at this point.

4) Minimal GUI

Did you take a look at Ronald minimal GUI:
http://daimon55.free.fr/frontend.tgz

The advantage of a small GUI for Windows is that it can be triggered from the 
main "Programs" menu.

It was developed with Wine and seems to work under Windows. Why not bundle it 
with Qemu.exe, at least it would help Windows users? 

Kind regards,
Jean-Michel Pouré