Talk:VirtualBox

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B-class review

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With some copy-editing and updating, it can become B again.

1. It is suitably referenced, with in-line citation:

   Too reliant on WP:USERGENERATED and primary sources.

2. It reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain obvious holes:

3. It has a defined structure:

   No proper section about Extention Pack but bits of it everywhere. Features split between release history, virtualization and features section. Overall, a bit chaotic.

4. It is reasonably well-written:

5. It contains supporting materials where appropriate:

   I like the video of running VM :)

6. It presents its content in an appropriately understandable way:

   Too technical for a casual user at times, but it is well-detailed at the same time.

7. Overall:

   Pass/Fail:

Archives

Archive 1

The info box says that the size for VirtualBox is "40 – 90 MB depending on platform." But I'm downloading 4.2.6 on OS X, and it says the download size is 104 MB. And an extracted version of 4.2.4 (so the app itself, not the compressed download DMG) is 250 MB. Seems the infobox should be updated. Althepal (talk) 22:34, 3 January 2013 (UTC)Reply

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_box#Licensing

Says:

Although VirtualBox has experimental support for Mac OS X guests, the end user license agreement of Mac OS X does not permit the operating system to run on non-Apple hardware, enforced within the operating system by calls to the Apple System Management Controller (SMC) in all Apple machines, which verifies the authenticity of the hardware.

This has changed, and at least for Mt Lion 10.8.2 Apple says "you are granted a limited, non-transferable, non-exclusive license:":

(iii) to install, use and run up to two (2) additional copies or instances of the Apple Software within virtual operating system environments on each Mac Computer you own or control that is already running the Apple Software, for purposes of: (a) software development; (b) testing during software development; (c) using OS X Server; or (d) personal, non-commercial use.

From: http://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/OSX1082.pdf , Page 2, Section 2.A.iii

Accessed via: http://www.apple.com/legal/sla/ --> Choose "Operating System, Software Tools, and Server" --> Choose "OS X (Mountain Lion)" --> Choose "OS X (Mountain Lion 10.8.2)"

76.90.15.7 (talk) 10:49, 16 June 2013 (UTC)Reply

I've been using VirtualBox for years, and as long as I can remember it has supported way more than three hard drive image formats (article says it only supports 3).

Currently the supporte formats are: VDI, VMDK, VHD, HDD, QED, and QCOW. — Preceding unsigned comment added by BrainSlugs83 (talk • contribs) 04:19, 10 September 2013 (UTC)Reply

We have:

"In the absence of hardware-assisted virtualization, VirtualBox adopts a software-based virtualization approach." (abridged) (in the Software-based virtualization section)

and, elsewhere,

"VirtualBox supports some guests only on hosts with hardware-assisted virtualization." (abridged) (in Hardware-assisted virtualization)

Doesn't the second statement contradict the former ? —Jerome Potts (talk) 04:23, 18 February 2014 (UTC)Reply

No, there is no contradiction. Some guests are not supported by the software-only mode. Specifically, VT-x or AMD-v is required for all 64bit guests (regardless of whether the host OS is 64bits or not), and for Windows 8.x and Windows Server 2012 and later. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.68.15.142 (talk) 14:40, 16 June 2014 (UTC)Reply

I don't wanna get a virus.YOUNEEDPROTOGENT (talk) 22:52, 30 August 2017 (UTC)Reply

The official site has a page for that: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads — Be aware that sometimes Oracle inserts a question about "free" additional software in their install packages, but it will usually be obvious, not hidden. (I don't remember if they do that with VirtualBox, or just Java.) --Closeapple (talk) 05:16, 31 August 2017 (UTC)Reply

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What part of the article explains what virtual box is or does? 73.32.120.40 (talk) 01:05, 25 December 2021 (UTC)Reply

I had a pretty good idea of what it is and does after the first sentence. Please improve any part of the article that you think needs improvement. DOSGuy (talk) 03:57, 25 December 2021 (UTC)Reply

The first sentence links to type-2 hypervisor which explains in details what VirtualBox is. Artem S. Tashkinov (talk) 09:56, 25 December 2021 (UTC)Reply

Please would an interested editor assess the material added at User:Xhy279/VirtualBox, incorporate what is useful, blank that page as WP:COPYARTICLE, and leave a note here when done? – Fayenatic London 22:49, 27 May 2022 (UTC)Reply

I've the draft and I like the idea of moving the release history to features section. That would require some cleanup, but otherwise this is a smart way to get rid of rather obnoxiously long list of changes. – K4rolB (talk) 10:35, 22 October 2022 (UTC)Reply

The second paragraph starts "VirtualBox was originally created by Innotek GmbH..." with a hyperlink for the company, which redirects to this article, which is not particularly useful. Johnnyboy755 (talk) 07:22, 5 June 2022 (UTC)Reply

Hi, removed the link. We should not use user-generated sources as a reference, so linking to one seems wrong. – K4rolB (talk) 10:21, 22 October 2022 (UTC)Reply

I don't expect the article to know the problems of the newer editions of VirtualBox. The article is good. I have used VirtualBox for years, and what I am about to say is problems with the newer versions 7.0 and above, and how to remedy the situation:

1. In these versions one needs to take out KVM to use the machine, sudo rmmod kvm_intel or sudo rmmod kvm_amd, (if AMD cpu), it needs to be put in the terminal every time they start the machine and want to use VirtualBox. I am using ZorinOS18, in most of my virtual machines I went back to ZorinOS 16, since their version of VirtualBox does not have this problem. It is a problem.
2. Installing the VirtualBox is not as automatic as it was in the previous versions. You are going to need to choose that one before being able to install it. I don't remember the tweak I had to go through in order to put the new OS on the Host, it just was so much easier before the newer versions.

The Guest Addition for Windows NT 4.0 is very good, XP and 7 run very smoothly on the VirtualBox. For me, NT 4.0 and XP can run all the programs of Windows I need to run. NT 4.0 is very good with SP6 and Office 97, Works 2000, 2001, or Office XP on it, and XP is very good with SP3 and Office 2007 on it. I don't run any DOS programs anymore, so these work well for me, along with other programs.

I know I have gone beyond the range of the article, yet I prefer VirtualBox to having a dual boot of Linux with a Windows OS, or Wine with Play in Linux. These articles are good for what they are. Easeltine (talk) 14:05, 4 February 2026 (UTC)Reply

This looks like trivia related to one of a billion Linux distros. If we start doing that for each one, the article will grow out of proportion. Besides, this is about specific software, not its issues, quirks, or operation.

Perhaps one day, when Linux distributions decide they no longer want fragmentation, your issues will cease to exist. But I've lost hope. Artem S. Tashkinov (talk) 11:30, 5 February 2026 (UTC)Reply