Query regarding Cloudera Quick start VM installation.

[#1]

I want to learn hadoop and spark.

#1.   Should I use install Cloudera QuickStart virtual machines ?

#2.   Can Cloudera QuickStart virtual machines be installed in Windows 7 ?

#3.   I have checked different run-time options from the cloudera website ; for example 

CDH 5 (default) ; Cloudera Express  and Cloudera Enterprise (trial). What are the differences between these and in which situations I need these ?

[#2]

1. Yes. It is a quick and easy way to get it up and running so that you can start using and learning all of the services.
2. No. Some, I have been told, have gotten Hadoop to run on Windows, HD Insight maybe the one I am thinking of, but it is not easy. Windows is not a supported OS for CDH.
3. There are a few but it primarily centers on feature access and service access with support. The last two words are key, as you can run all of CDH for free and have access to all services without support. So if you will be running production word loads you should be looking at Enterprise or above.

[#3]

Regarding point 2 the OS - Should I choose Linux / Ubuntu as the OS ? And Is 6 gb RAM ok for memory of the host system ?

[#4]

On 2, I was talking more of Hadoop in general without consideration that we are talking about the Quickstart VM. If I recall correctly, the VM itself already has Ubuntu installed and CM on top of that. The Quickstart itself comes in either the Virtualbox, VMWare, KVM, or docker. So you will need to load on of those and get the image for that specific one to run the VM. I don't recall all of the support OS but I know virtualbox and VMWare work on Windows.

As for memory, it has been sometime but I vaguely recalling it not starting without at least 8 GB allocated to the VM. This could be reduced by eliminating services (or stopping them from starting on boot) and maybe some config changes. This of course would deviate from the base image, which you would need to manage or track, to make it repeatable, in the event that you need to start over.

[#5]

Thanks for the answer..