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Tuesday, July 29, 2008
VirtualBox runs many x86 operating systems (guest OS) on x86 computers (host OS). Guest operating systems VirtualBox can run include, but not limited to, Windows (NT 4.0, 2000, XP, Server 2003, Vista), DOS, Windows 3.x (on top of DOS), Linux (2.4 and 2.6), as well as OpenBSD.
Still under development, VirtualBox sits at version 1.6.2 and is actively updated. Sun has asked both developers and users to download its product and give it a try as well for developers to help out with coding. More coders means more features and hopefully more stability. More users will help in these two areas as well since feedback is always a much needed input for developers.
VirtualBox shares many of the same features as VMWare and Parallel’s offerings such as folder sharing, USB device use, and easy guest OS install from an ISO image.
Any Intel or AMD processor will run VirtualBox according to Sun. Most guest OS’s will need at least 512 MB of RAM with 30 MB of hard drive space need for VirtualBox itself. If you’re willing and daring (and just plain cheap), download VirtualBox today.
July 29th, 2008 at 14:47
Sounds cool. Already purchased Parallels but haven’t installed it.
July 29th, 2008 at 18:50
Nice… but to me the “next thing” should be Crossover by http://www.codeweavers.com. With the latest version, that includes Wine 1.0, all of my necessary Windo$e application run well. The kicker is no Windows system required. A “bottle” (the Windows environment in Wine-parlance) takes up 600 Mb for my five Windows applications. Using VirualPC before, having a copy of Windows 2000 (not even XP or Vista!) took up over 2 Gb of space. My son’s copy of VMWare took up the same amount of space.
Give Crossover a decent try with their demo. You may be favorably impressed.
July 29th, 2008 at 21:41
@ManzanilloMacHead good suggestion and I’ve ran Crossover in its early days; however, it didn’t support QuickBooks, the number one reason most run Windows on their Mac. Last I checked, it still didn’t run the latest QB versions and thus is not very usable to me. Additionally, latest additions of Office do not run either. Now you’ve put nearly all the main reasons for Windows use on the table. I’ll have to check Crossover’s site again, but I don’t think its updated to run these programs.
July 30th, 2008 at 3:47
Points well taken. Looking at the compatibility chart it depends on the version of Quickbooks and Quicken.
http://www.codeweavers.com/compatibility/browse/name/?letter=q;
One of the main reasons for the new release was greater compatibility with Office 2007 too. I use Office 2008 on the Mac, so that wasn’t an issue for me.
It is not a solution for everyone and everything Windows, but if it runs your applications there are great advantages to not having a full copy of Windows. Your mileage may vary, etc., etc.
Thank you!
July 30th, 2008 at 5:58
it is an exciting time to be a mac user. Even those who need to interact a MS Office can now use the native port of OpenOffice 3.0. I hope we continue to support the people bringing us this great diversity of options.