The proliferation of incompatible computer operating systems has created a compelling need for ways to make a single compiled application work on many different operating systems. For this reason, virtualization solutions are a large and growing part of the software market.

Like ordinary  virtual operating system solutions:

• LINA offers the advantages that come with a full-featured operating system
• LINA includes a large number of well-established programming languages.

Unlike ordinary virtual operating system solutions:

• LINA runs invisibly, well integrated into the host.
• LINA is effortless to use, requiring no familiarity with the guest operating system.

Here are the most common approaches to virtualization:

Virtual machines decouple applications from the underlying operating system and hardware without providing all the features of a guest operating system. The virtualization software creates a layer between the applications and the operating system and provides a virtual environment that contains all components needed for execution (config files, registry entries, environment variables etc.). Applications run using an interpreter or just-in-time (JIT) compilation in which the JIT compiler converts the intermediary byte code into code native to the operating system. Examples include Sun's Java Virtual Machine, Microsoft's Common Language Runtime (the VM component of .NET), the Parrot VM, Altiris SVS, Citrix Presentation Server, Microsoft SoftGrid (formerly Softricity), Thinstall, and Trigence.

• Benefit - Virtual machines provide the ability to run a single executable on a variety of platforms in a way such a way that the user is unaware that the virtual layer exists. Programs utilizing virtual machines usually appear to the user just like any other program on the operating system.
• Drawbacks - Virtual machines are not necessarily fully cross-platform - many support only one family of platforms. An even greater constraint is that they typically support either only a single programming language, as in the Java Virtual Machine, or a restricted set of languages and library APIs as in Microsoft's .NET.
• LINA - Like application virtualization, LINA applications run robustly on an invisible virtual layer. Unlike ordinary application virtualization, LINA offers the advantages that come with a full-featured Linux operating system, including a large number of well-established programming languages.

Virtual operating systems differ from virtual machines in that they provide a complete operating system. A virtual operating system appears as if it were an entire foreign operating system running in an application window on the user's host operating system.Virtual operating systems may be one of several types:
Operating System-level Virtualization occurs when the host operating system's kernel is "partitioned". This allows the use of two or more virtual servers, each of which runs in isolation on its own kernel partition and supports a separate virtual operating system. This approach does not allow running different guest operating systems because the underlying kernel is the same. The advantage of this single-kernel approach is performance similar to that without virtualization, allowing a great number of virtual private servers to run very efficiently on a single physical server. Implementations include Linux-VServer, OpenVZ, FreeVPS and Solaris Zones. Future versions of LINA will be optimized using this type of virtualization on Linux hosts, allowing applications to run at near-native speeds.
A Hypervisor or Virtual Machine Monitor is a minimal operating system that includes its own kernel and hardware drivers. It is installed directly on the physical hardware. A hypervisor can run instances of multiple different operating systems simultatneously, as long as they all support the host processor type. Examples are Citrix XenServer and VMWare's ESX server, .
A System Emulator simulates the hardware of another type of computer system, thus enabling any operating system to run any host. The virtualization software is installed directly on the physical hardware. Multiple operating systems that are written for the emulated processor type can run on the host simultaneously. Examples are Bochs, PearPC, Qemu, and VirtualBox. LINA uses system emulation to achieve full virtualization, even on non-x86 hardware.

• Benefits - Virtual guest operating systems are full-featured operating systems, capable of running many processes and services, and supporting many programming languages. This allows them to be used as virtual appliances, which are sets of interoperating applications packaged along with an entire virtual operating system. Complex interdependent applications may be provided as pre-configured virtual appliances that contain all software dependencies, thereby saving hours of set-up time. rPath and VMWare are leading providers of virtual appliances.
• Drawbacks - Applications run inside the virtual operating system as if they were native to the guest operating system rather than the host, requiring users to have knowledge of that OS The guest and the host re not well integrated, typically communicate through network calls or through a shared area on the disk.
• LINA - LINA is like other virtual operating systems in that it offers all the features of a complete operating system. Complex applications can be packaged as instantly usable LINA virtual appliances. But unlike ordinary virtual operating system solutions, LINA runs invisibly, well integrated into the host. LINA is effortless to use, requiring no familiarity with the guest operating system.