# Virtual Machine A virtual machine is software that emulates a computer system. Virtual machines can run programs or full operating systems. There are two major categories of virtual machines: * System virtual machines: They allow several operating systems to coexist on a single computer, strongly isolated from each other. The software layer that runs this virtualization is called a virtual machine monitor or [hypervisor](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypervisor) and, broadly speaking, it can run on the host’s bare hardware or on an operating system. * Process virtual machines: These run as a process inside the operating system by interpreting between the source code and the machine code to run the application, independent of the hardware platform and the operating system. The clearest example is the Java Virtual Machine. --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://docs.transparentedge.eu/getting-started/faq/glosario/virtual-machine.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.