VirtualBox 2.1 supports 64 bit guest operating systems on 32-bit hosts

Filed under: Utilities, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Open Source, Windows x64

VirtualBox 2.1 supports 64 bit guest operating systems on 32-bit hosts

by Brad Linder Dec 22nd 2008

VirtualBox is an open source virtualization application that lets you run one operating system inside another. For free. Say, for example you want to check out a new Linux distribution but you don't want to go through the trouble of rebooting your computer. Simple. Just download the disc image for Ubuntu, Fedora, or whatever OS you want to try out, fire up VirtualBox and run create a virtual machine that will let you run the disc image in a window on your desktop.

VirtualBox 2.1 was released last week, and it adds a bunch of new features, including:

Ability to load 64-bit guest operating systems on host machines running 32-bit operating systems
Experimental 3D acceleration via OpenGL on 32-bit Windows guest systems
Easier setup for networking on Windows and Linux host systems

You can find a complete list of new features and bug fixes in the changelog. VirtualBox 2.1 is available as a free download for Windows, OS X, Linux, and OpenSolaris.

[via Tombuntu]

Tags: virtualbox, virtualbox-2.1, virtualization

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Wes said 12:22PM on 12-22-2008

If only it could run OSX as a guest

Ayle said 1:42PM on 12-22-2008

You can use vmware server for that....

Drew Green said 1:37PM on 12-22-2008

I assume the host machine has to have a 64 bit processor though, right?

Mark said 2:06PM on 12-22-2008

That is correct.

zach al said 2:49PM on 12-26-2008

No, the new version means that you can run Windows Vista Ultimate x64 inside a virtual machine on your 32-bit PC.

Drew Green said 10:52PM on 12-22-2008

@zach al: 32-bit PC, meaning 32bit physical machine, or 32bit host OS. To run a 64bit guest OS on a 32bit physical PC would mean that 64 bit processing would have to be emulated. I would imagine that this would be a difficult task for any normal pc.

Geir said 11:21PM on 12-25-2008

@zach al, a 32-bit PC won't do, you need a 64-bit PC to run a 64-bit guest OS with VirtualBox, and not just any 64-bit PC either --it needs VT-x/AMD-V support.

Sam Styeinhauser said 7:26PM on 12-22-2008

I can't get it to i9nstallany x64 Linux versions on my x64 machine.

Geir said 11:21PM on 12-25-2008

It is not enough to have a 64-bit CPU, it needs to support VT-x/AMD-V as well. Not sure if this is your issue, but is what I would check first.

Adly Antoine said 8:19AM on 1-05-2009

That's good

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