How to Display Virtual Machine Applications on Windows

Software Solutions for Displaying Applications from Virtual Machines on Windows Host Systems

There are several software solutions for Windows that allow displaying applications from virtual machines on the main host system. The main approaches include using virtual display drivers, remote desktop technologies, and GUI redirection solutions.

Table of Contents

• Virtual Display Drivers
• RemoteApp and Remote Desktop Technologies
• GUI Redirection Solutions
• Comparison of Hypervisors and Their Capabilities
• Practical Implementation and Installation
• Conclusion

Virtual Display Drivers

Virtual Display Driver is the most direct solution for your task. These drivers create virtual monitors in Windows that can be used to display applications from virtual machines.

Key advantages:

• Create up to 8 virtual monitors without physical hardware
• Support resolutions up to 8K@240Hz
• Full integration with Windows
• Compatibility with OBS, VR, and streaming software

Popular solutions:

1. Virtual Display Driver by VirtualDrivers

   • GitHub repository
   • Supports Windows 10/11
   • Creates virtual monitors that are recognized by the system as real monitors
   • Used for testing multi-display configurations

2. MikeTheTech Virtual Display Driver

   • Official website
   • Built on Microsoft Windows Driver Kit
   • Supports HDR and high resolution
   • Professionally signed for enterprise use

Application in virtualization:
For use in VirtualBox or VMware:

1. Install Virtual Display Driver on the host system
2. Configure the virtual machine to use the virtual display
3. In the guest system, configure desktop extension to the virtual monitor
4. Applications from the virtual machine will be displayed on the host’s virtual monitor

RemoteApp and Remote Desktop Technologies

RemoteApp is a Microsoft technology that allows publishing individual applications from a remote server as local applications on the client computer.

How it works:

• The application remains in the virtual machine
• The user sees it as a local application on the host system
• Integration with the host’s Start menu and taskbar
• Support for multiple monitors

Implementation methods:

1. Windows Virtual Desktop and Azure Virtual Desktop

   • Microsoft documentation
   • Allows publishing applications from virtual machines as RemoteApp
   • Integration with Azure for scalable solutions
   • Support for single sign-on (SSO)

2. Local RemoteApp implementation

   • For Windows Server: configuring Remote Desktop Services
   • For Windows 10/11: using built-in capabilities
   • Detailed guide

RemoteApp configuration:

# Example of publishing an application via PowerShell
New-RDRemoteApp -CollectionName "Session Collection" -DisplayName "Notepad" -FilePath "C:\Windows\System32\Notepad.exe"

GUI Redirection Solutions

X11 Forwarding for Windows

Although X11 Forwarding is primarily associated with Linux, there are solutions for Windows:

X11 Forwarding setup:

1. Install an X server on Windows (Xming, VcXsrv)
2. Configure an SSH client with X11 forwarding support
3. Connect to the virtual machine with X11 forwarding enabled

Example configuration in PuTTY:

• In the Connection → SSH → X11 section, check “Enable X11 forwarding”
• Start SSH connection with the -X flag

ssh -X username@vm_ip "application_name"

WSL (Windows Subsystem for Linux)

Although WSL is designed for Linux, it can be used to run GUI applications:

WSLg technology:

• Uses RDP protocol to display GUI applications
• Integration with Windows Desktop
• Support for native appearance of applications

Configuration:

# In WSL
export DISPLAY=:0
ssh -X username@vm_ip "application_name"

Comparison of Hypervisors and Their Capabilities

GPU Passthrough solutions:

For maximum performance, you can use passthrough technology:

1. QEMU/KVM with GPU passthrough

   • Setup guide
   • Requires VFIO driver configuration
   • Near-native performance

2. VMware with GPU passthrough

   • Best 3D acceleration support
   • Easier setup compared to QEMU

Practical Implementation and Installation

Setting up Virtual Display Driver in VirtualBox

1. Driver installation:

   • Download and install Virtual Display Driver
   • Restart the system
   • Verify that virtual monitors appear in Device Manager

2. Virtual machine configuration:

   xml

   <!-- Example QEMU configuration for virtual display -->
   <qemu:commandline>
     <qemu:arg value='-device'/>
     <qemu:arg value='qxl-vga,ram_size=65536,vram_size=32768,vram64_size_mb=128'/>
   </qemu:commandline>
   

3. Guest system configuration:

   • Install VirtIO drivers
   • Configure screen resolution
   • Extend desktop to virtual monitor

Alternative Solutions

1. Spacedesk

   • Official website
   • Turns tablets and smartphones into additional monitors
   • Can be used to display VM applications

2. ZoneScreen

   • Creates virtual displays over the network
   • Supports remote display
   • Installation guide

Conclusion

There are several effective ways to display applications from virtual machines on the main Windows system:

1. Virtual Display Driver - The most direct and simple way to create virtual monitors for displaying VM applications
2. RemoteApp technologies - Allow integrating applications from virtual machines into the host desktop
3. GPU passthrough - Provides maximum performance for resource-intensive applications

Recommendations for choosing a solution:

• For ease of use: Virtual Display Driver
• For deep integration: RemoteApp with Windows Virtual Desktop
• For maximum performance: GPU passthrough via VMware Workstation

All the solutions discussed allow applications from the virtual machine to be displayed on the host system, appearing as native applications, while they continue to run in the virtual environment.

Sources

1. Virtual Display Driver - GitHub
2. MikeTheTech Virtual Display Driver
3. RemoteApp documentation - Microsoft Learn
4. Windows Virtual Desktop configuration
5. QEMU GPU passthrough guide
6. X11 forwarding on Windows
7. Spacedesk virtual display solution
8. ZoneScreen virtual display driver