Just a few weeks after launching VirtualBox 3.0 beta, Sun has removed the beta label from the next version of the open source, cross-platform virtualization application. VirtualBox 3.0 includes a number of updates, including:

• Support for OpenGL 2.0 for Windows, Linux, and Solaris guests
• Ability to use Direct3D 8/9 applications on Windows guests
• Support for Linux kernel 2.6.31
• Up to 32 virtual CPUs

VirtualBox 3.0 also includes a number of bug fixes and improvements, and overall improved 3D graphics support. You can find more details in the changelog. Virtualbox is available as a download for Windows, OS X, Linux, or Solaris hosts.

VirtualBox is a free virtualization application for Windows, OS X, or Linux. Like VirtualPC, or VMWare, VirtualBox lets you run an operating system within an operating system. Say, for example, you want to test out Ubuntu Linux without installing it or even logging out of Windows. Just download the Ubuntu installation disc image, fire up VirtualBox, and load the disc image.

Today VirtualBox 3.0 beta 1 was released. The update brings:

• Support for up to 32 virtual CPUs
• Direct3D 8/9 applications on Windows guests
• Support for OpenGL 2.0 for Windows, Linux, and Solaris guests

There are also a number of bug fixes including better virtual mouse drivers, improved suspend/resume functionality on Solaris hosts, and GUI enhancements. You can read a more detailed list in the release notes.

VirtualBox 3.0 beta is pre-release software, and it could contain some bugs. I wouldn't recommend using it if you're afraid of mucking up your system, but the beta does provide a sneak peek at where this program is heading. The beta is available for download for a number of platforms including Windows, OS X, Solaris, and a whole slew of Linux distributions.

We're pretty excited about Windows 7, and we know that users are too. After all, with any luck, Windows 7 will be what Vista was supposed to be. Lee has done a bang-up job covering Windows 7 tips and tricks for PC users, but Mac users who use Windows for work or for compatibility testing don't have to be left out. Hey, I might not ever switch back to using a PC full time (and I'm certainly not going to buy a laptop that doesn't have the word "Mac" in it), but that doesn't mean that I'm uninterested or unexcited about Windows 7.

Although Intel Macs can run Windows 7 in Boot Camp, for most users, the easiest and most hassle-free method will be to use virtualization. This way, you can test out all the features of Windows 7, without having to dual-boot. The big pitfall for virtualization: gaming and HD-video playback, are less an issue in Windows 7 because those areas are still being tweaked and aren't ready for prime time anyway.

The three big players out there for virtualization on the Mac are:

• VMWare Fusion
• Parallels Desktop
• Sun's VirtualBox

I've installed Windows 7 in the latest version of each program and tweaked the settings to get the best results.

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]

I do a lot of troubleshooting on various operating systems for customers, and I've got to provide a lot of phone support. Without VirtualBox, I'd need a whole lot more hardware than I care to cram into my workspace.

On a single XP Pro desktop, I've got Windows 98, 2000, Vista, Server 2003, and Ubuntu virtual machines at the ready. Giant hard drives are cheap, ram is cheap, and my CPU has plenty of juice to do a little virtualization.

I find VirtualBox a little less confusing and just about as powerful as VMWare. It has all the functionality I'm looking for anyways, and it's totally free. It would be nice if the SATA controller and RDP support were included in the Open Source edition, but that's not problematic since I'm not using VirtualBox for enterprise-grade situations.

Because VirtualBox operating system installs are damn near as responsive as your real OS, it's an awesome way to fix one giant issue with some new laptops. Several companies don't bother with XP drivers on some of their laptop models which can make downgrading a royal pain in the ass. Leave Vista in place, decrapify it, and then do your XP install in a virtual machine.

No driver issues to worry about, and all you've really got to teach someone is how to launch VirtualBox, start the machine, and how to use the hotkeys. It amounts to about 5 lines of instructions, and I've guided some pretty technologically challenged individuals through it without any trouble.

I also love that it's open source, modular, cross-platform, and that Sun gets a little loose on their screenshots page, declaring that "Damn Small Linux runs damn well" in VirtualBox.

Sun has released a major update to VirtualBox, a free virtualization application that lets you run one operating system inside another. VirtualBox 2.0 runs on Mac, Linux, and Windows machines and lets you run guest operating systems inside your computer's native environment.

For example, if you're a Linux user but you occasionally want to run a Windows application that doesn't perform well under WINE, you can load up VirtualBox and run Windows (assuming you have a valid license key).

The latest update brings improved performance for machines with AMD processors and support for 64 bit guest operating systems as long as your host OS is also 64 bit, and support for VHD disk images created using Microsoft Virtual PC. VirtualDisk 2.0 also adds support for the Ubuntu 8.10 and Fedora 9 Linux distributions. You can find a complete list of bug fixes and updates in the release notes.

[via Tombuntu]

Sure, the name makes you sound like you have some kind of horrible ocular infection, but vee-Dee Eyes has a massive collection of prefab Linux distros ready for you to run in VirtualBox.

VMware has been ruling the virtual machine game for quite a while, but Sun has made great strides with Virtual Box of late. Performance is very good (there's really no appreciable lag, even on our virtualized Windows Vista install), and it is free, after all.

You could also download five or six Linux iso images and install them yourself, but that requires a lot of additional time and effort. Since we're all about slack efficiency here, we figure why not take advantage of the virtualization community's efforts and grab some .vdi's that are ready to rock.

It's a great way to check out new alpha and beta releases and lesser knowns like Mandriva 2009.

In an unexpected move, Sun recently snatched up yet another provider of Open Source software: Innotech, the creator of the popular VirtualBox program. As we previously covered, VirtualBox is a high quality virtual machine solution available under the GNU GPL. It is similar to competitors VMware and Parallels in both speed and features.

With this latest feather in its cap, Sun has an increasingly compelling stable of Open Source solutions, including a powerful operating system (OpenSolaris), a portable programming language (Java), a fully featured office suite (OpenOffice) and an already widely used database system (MySQL).

Virtualization was big in '06, and it's shaping up to be huge in '07. The first company to make big news in the new year is one we're not so familiar with: Germany's InnoTek. What's the fuss? InnoTek has unexpectedly open sourced its VirtualBox virtualization software. VirtualBox looks like a pretty mature virtualization tool that runs on Windows and Linux and supports Windows (including Vista), Linux, OS/2 Warp, OpenBSD, and FreeBSD as guest operating systems. Like many companies have done, InnoTek has split its product into two editions: An open source version and a "full" version with additional features aimed at enterprise customers. The latter is still free for personal use, but its source is closed. From the screenshots, it looks like VirtualBox has a pretty featureful GUI, which is something I miss with VMware Player.