Sun VirtualBox 3.0.2 is Out!
Sun Virtualbox is out with a major update version 3.0. I have blogged before about how much I like Virtualbox over Vmware when it comes to Linux desktop virtualization. VirtualBox is not only supported on Linux though. VirtualBox has support for Windows, Linux, and OS X. VirtualBox also comes in 32bit and 64bit version.
VirtualBox 3.0 now brings a few goodies to the table. New features include:
- Guest SMP with up to 32 virtual CPUs (with VT-x and AMD-V only)
- The use of Direct3D 8/9 applications and games
- Support for OpenGL 2.0 for Windows, Linux and Solaris guests
And of course there have been many fixes in this version. View the change log.
Sun has really pushed VirtualBox into a greater competitive spot for enterprise acceptance. The VirtualBox Web console is aiming to give administrators the ability to manage the hypervisor which will be based on Python. There is a fee for enterprise usage though, which helps Sun fund the development of VirtualBox. Enterprise support fee information can be found here. VirtualBox is free for personal use and there is an Open Source Edition (OSE) which includes the source code. The OSE version does not include a few features like:
- Remote Display Protocol (RDP) Server
- USB support
- USB over RDP
- Serial ATA controller
All in all its a great alternative to the paid desktop hypervisors out there and is very stable. If you do have any questions about VirtualBox check out the forum page http://forums.virtualbox.org .