Oracle VM VirtualBox (formerly
Sun VirtualBox,
Sun xVM VirtualBox and
Innotek VirtualBox) is a virtualization software package for x86 and AMD64/Intel64-based computers from Oracle Corporation. Innotek GmbH first developed the product; Sun Microsystems purchased it in 2008; Oracle has continued development since 2010.
The VirtualBox package installs on an existing host operating system as an application; this host application allows additional guest operating systems, each known as a
Guest OS, to load and run, each with its own virtual environment.
Supported host operating systems include
Linux,
Mac OS X,
Windows XP,
Windows Vista,
Windows 7,
Windows 8,
Solaris, and
OpenSolaris; there are also ports to
FreeBSD[4] and Genode.
[5]
Supported guest operating systems include versions and derivations of
Windows,
Linux,
BSD,
OS/2,
Solaris,
Haiku and other
Since release 3.2.0, VirtualBox also allows limited virtualization of
Mac OS X guests on Apple hardware, though
OSX86 can also be installed using VirtualBox.
Since version 4.3 (released in October 2013
), Microsoft Windows guests on supported hardware can take advantage of the recently implemented
WDDM driver included in the guest additions; this allows
Windows Aero to be enabled along with
Direct3D support.
Guest Additions should be installed in order to achieve the best possible experience.
The Guest Additions can be installed inside a virtual machine after the
installation of the guest operating system. They consist of device
drivers and system applications that optimize the guest operating system
for better performance and usability.