PaytonPlace » Computing

VirtualBox 2.1 Now Available

~SP — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 18:30:00 +0000

All platforms: Free and open source virtualization software VirtualBox gets a "major upgrade" to version 2.1 which is now available for download.

Besides a gaggle of fixes, the changelog details new features:

Support for hardware virtualization (VT-x and AMD-V) on Mac OS X hosts
Support for 64-bit guests on 32-bit host operating systems (experimental; see user manual, chapter 1.6, 64-bit guests, page 16)
Added support for Intel Nehalem virtualization enhancements (EPT and VPID; see user manual, chapter 1.2, Software vs. hardware virtualization (VT-x and AMD-V), page 10))
Experimental 3D acceleration via OpenGL (see user manual, chapter 4.8, Hardware 3D acceleration (OpenGL), page 66)
Experimental LsiLogic and BusLogic SCSI controllers (see user manual, chapter 5.1, Hard disk controllers: IDE, SATA (AHCI), SCSI, page 70)
Full VMDK/VHD support including snapshots (see user manual, chapter 5.2, Disk image files (VDI, VMDK, VHD), page 72)
New NAT engine with significantly better performance, reliability and ICMP echo (ping) support (bugs #1046, #2438, #2223, #1247)
New Host Interface Networking implementations for Windows and Linux hosts with easier setup (replaces TUN/TAP on Linux and manual bridging on Windows)

We've already shown you how to run Windows apps seamlessly inside Linux with VirtualBox; what OS combinations are you using it with? VirtualBox is a free download for Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

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A recent article at TechRepublic reports Dell web site qualifications of a PCs running Windows Vista. It appears a new branding category is emerging as a method to sell legacy hardware for use with Vista. Dell’s interpretation of “Windows Vista Capable” definition adds the following description for such hardware: “… the ability to boot the …

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~SP — Fri, 18 Mar 2005 15:59:37 +0000

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