07.19.07
Review of VirtualBox for Mac OS X
I was reading about various virtualization solutions today and saw that VirtualBox has a Mac OS X version available. I downloaded the newest version, 1.4.1 beta 2. I installed it, and configured a standard ubuntu server. Installation is dead simple, and the look of the program is nice. About the same as Parallels 3. I like the wizards they use to create a new virtual machine as well as the virtual disk manager, that’s a nice touch. For a free product it’s very polished and nice looking.
Installing Linux was just as easy as it is on Parallels, with the same issues I’ve had with the kernel in Ubuntu Server edition. I figured out how to fix that on Parallels and the same thing applies here, simply install the generic kernel after you install the base OS and you’re good to go. VirtualBox doesn’t support Intel’s VT-x technology, so it doesn’t run quite as nicely as Parallels. As a matter of fact it pegs my CPU usage at close to 100% while any disk activity is happening. This is not a good sign for hardcore use. The performance difference between VirtualBox and Parallels is noticeable. VirtualBox is lacking some functions on OS X, including host networking. Due to VMware and Parallels I’ve come to expect certain functions and features from a virtualization solution, and that puts VirtualBox at a disadvantage.
VirtualBox has potentional to be a good competitor but it lacks performance and features that others have. Reading their website one of the best features they offer in the closed-source version is a built-in RDP server. That is a very interesting and useful feature. That could seriously hurt VMware and Parallels both if VirtualBox can only catch up on the other features. The high cpu usage issue I had would make running multiple virtual machines too much of a strain on a system. I’m optimistic that if they can get their features in line with the competition they will be a major player in the virtualization arena. I’m looking forward to the next release, but I am not going to be using VirtualBox on a regular basis yet.