You all know that you can run virtual operating systems using vmware. VirtualBox is a free open source alternative to vmware which currently runs on 32-bit versions of Windows and Linux and supports the following guest systems: FreeBSD, OpenBSD, Linux 2.4 / 2.6, Windows NT 4.0, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Server 2003 and Windows Vista.
I would advise to begin by downloading the excellent user manual which should answer most questions about installing and configuring guest systems using Virtualbox. It takes some time to read through the 108 pages of the manual but it is well worth it to understand the functionality.
Just download the 10 megabyte file from the VirtualBox website or as a torrent and install the software. Installation is really easy in Windows (just a double-click) but a little bit more complicated in Linux. Check the user manual for a detailed instruction for Linux.
I do not want to explain a detailed instruction to setup a new guest system because the user manual explains everything in such great detail that it does not feel necessary at all. You basically create a new virtual machine and assign a name, ram and hard drive space to it and select a source for the installation of the guest system. The source can be from hard drive or cd for instance, just make sure you have the source at hand.
Related posts:
Install VirtualBox Guest Additions for Windows 7Install Guest Additions for a better VirtualBox experience
Installing a Windows XP as a virtual machine on VirtualBox
Install VirtualBox with USB support
Installing and configuring VirtualBox for virtual OSes
Connect to a remote virtual machine with rdesktop
A new way of thinking thanks to virtual machines
Adding Windows Vista and Kubuntu to Windows XP
9 Responses to “VirtualBox a Vmware alternative”
Trackbacks/Pingbacks
-
[...] (more…) [...]
-
[...] VirtualBox a Vmware alternative (4) [...]
-
[...] Via – Ghacks [...]
-
[...] Via – GHacks [...]
VirtualBox is great piece of open source software and a testimony to the power of open source. It is certainly fast to run and is generally easy to get up and going in both windows and Linux environments. however its not without its problems (both linux and windows versions), I’ve had a fair few lockups, blue screens and random system restarts using it as well as managing to brick one USB drive completely, losing all the data, using its USB emulation feature. My advice is use but be careful and don’t rely on it to much.
virtualbox sux
its so terrible it cant emulate Windows Neptune, Longhorn or even Vista beta’s
YM2149, Give the guys a break. I’ll bet you couldn’t program half the stuff they did, and they’re doing it…that’s right…for you.
Think before you spew out negatives.
> YM2149, Give the guys a break. I’ll bet you couldn’t program half the stuff they did, and they’re doing it…that’s right…for you.
> Think before you spew out negatives.
That’s the silliest argument I’ve ever heard. Constructive criticism makes you better…it’s a GOOD thing.
So, to sum up your argument: “At least they’re trying!”. Ya, let’s only focus on what works, not what needs to be improved.
Maybe we shouldn’t submit bug reports in case it hurts their feelings.
I have used VMware Server (Free), VMware Workstation ($200), and Lightbox (Free). Comparing the 2 free versions, Lightbox blows VMware Server away. Lightbox offers similar functionality and usability to VMware Workstation but is free! Give it a try.. It is now a 60 MB download rather than 10 MB, but much more lean than VMWare offerings.