Thumbs Up To Sun’s Virtual Box
Virtualization
Virtualization has been increasing in popularity ever since it hit the market, maybe because it’s over hyped as Linus Travolds finds it, but it’s still a useful and hardware-efficient technology.
This morning I was digging Ubuntu Linux, and since I am a newbie, I had it previously installed inside Windows (using Wubi, which is included with the latest version of Ubuntu), but because my PC has a Winmodem, I weren’t able to connect through dial-up from inside Ubuntu, and thus I weren’t able to read online documentation and log into forums to get help, etc.
So I decided to go virtual and install Ubuntu on a virtualization platform inside Windows, and so I went to try Virtual Box after I previously used to use VMware’s Workstation, and I can safely say that I was thrilled by it’s performance. which is surely greater than Microsoft’s Virtual PC, and surprisingly greater than VMware’s Workstation.
Virtual Box is free for personal use[1], cross-platform and made by the giant Sun Microsystems (well, be a company bought by Sun[2], actually).
Benchmarking
Virtual Box’s great performance translates into these numbers: on a Compaq Presario V6000, equipped with an Intel Core 2 Duo T7200 CPU, a guest running Windows XP took (on average) ~35 seconds from power-up into a usable state and (on average) ~20 to shutdown!
Seamless Mode
One of the it’s amazing features is running two the guest OS in Seamless Mode, which describes as follows:
VirtualBox comes with the seamless mode option that can be enabled from the machine menu in a guest OS. If Microsoft Windows is the guest OS, and seamless mode is enabled, you will see the Windows taskbar above your Gnome or KDE task bar. You will not see the Windows desktop. Anything you run from the Windows taskbar will be in a window directly on your Linux desktop.
Seamless mode is for all practical purposes seamless. All your guest OS application are not run on a separate window, they are run in their own independent windows on the host OS desktop. It is truly a seamless blending of two operating system.
Screenshots
Take a look at this screenshot that shows a Windows XP hosting another Windows XP in the Seamless Mode:
XP hosted on an XP
or, this crazier screenshot that show an Ubuntu hosting a Windows XP:
XP hosted on an Ubuntu
Get your Virtual Box today :)
References
Hi :)
I have to test this product , but my question is how far does it support networking operation ???
never the less the Seamless Mode look great ;)
wishes to hear about other things in your blog lawand .
BlackSigma
2008-11-22 at 21:10
Hey buddy, glad to see you here :)
About the networking, what do you mean by “how far” ?
Is there a certain feature or function that you are looking for in VirtualBox?
Speaking for myself, I have only established a simple network connection between me and a Windows XP-running host to share my internet connection, and did the same for another host running Ubuntu 8.10.
lawand
2008-11-22 at 21:54