Using images

Atmosphere provides a number of images from which you can launch an instance.

• An image is a template for an instance that exists on a virtual machine (VM). Images contain the installed operating system, software, and configuration that is required for use with that setup. Within the Images list, you can view all images, or the list your images, your favorite images, or your image requests. For the list of images and the tools used in each image, see List of Atmosphere Images.
   
• An instance, in the Atmosphere world, is a VM image that has been launched. Each instance is a specific VM that exists on a physical compute node, with its own dedicated RAM, CPUs, and disk space.
  
  You use an instance in Atmosphere just as you use a physical computer for most tasks. Once you have selected the image to use, you launch an instance of the image. For instructions on launching an instance, see Launching a New Instance.