Thanks to VirtualBox, I have been able to test different systems under controlled conditions. I was able to quickly test the minimum requirements of specific applications by simply changing the settings affecting the virtual machine before using it. It has also allowed me to get comfortable with other operating systems that I don't use regularly and to open native applications flawlessly as opposed to trying to emulate those with an incompatible system. It has saved me many times when deploying destructive scripts for testing purposes that would otherwise have wiped out my real hard drive or infected my machine directly. I feel this is a very well built software and I would be confident in recommending its use to anyone who is looking into virtualization.

The ability to install almost any operating system with great support for USB, ACPI and SMP without the risk of breaking the machine that is being used for virtualization is a strong advantage of VirtualBox. Apart from the fact that it is free and backed by a legendary company, one of its great features resides in the guest additions, which makes it possible to get better performance and communication with the host, such as adding drag & drop and copy/paste abilities. It also supports a wide range of hardware and has always worked very well for my testing purposes as long as enough memory and CPU can be allocated to the virtual machine without affecting the host. Because it is also possible to take snapshots of the virtual machine at any point, it is easy and convenient to test almost anything without having to reformat and waste many hours to set things up again: it suffices to go back in time to retrieve a working version of the instance. I use it mainly on Linux machines, but its great portability and cross-platform nature is an asset when it comes to deploying it on other systems.

When not used to the software, it is confusing why some functions might not be available without the guest additions. On some systems, using a desktop environment with fixed sized windows may distort the aspect ratio of the virtual machine. Instead of auto-scaling, it is then necessary to switch the window into "floating mode" to resize manually. Depending on the resources available, the virtual machine will certainly feel slower than the host, especially with no hardware acceleration. By the nature of virtualization, one needs a lot of system resources to take full advantage of both the host and the virtual machine at the same time. On the positive side, it is easy with VirtualBox to adjust the resources allocated to the virtual machine. It cannot be changed on the fly while using the virtual environment, but it is nevertheless indispensable to be able to do so otherwise.

The ability to spin up and test instances of our application and also new flavours is the primary business purpose and virtual box ticks all thos boxes is a great asset to have to meet the business goals.

Have been using VirtualBox to spam new distributions of linux and other open source operating systems and also use Virtual box to deploy our application as well and we use it as a benchmarking mechanism tool.

The least thing we like about this is the amount of compute it takes to run the application on the slight less specked machine and it does a take on the battery life, otherwise the application is good.

I faithfully prefer VMWare Workstation (Windows host) or Parallels (MAC host) to support OS virtualization. Much more advanced features that can overcome the limitations in VirtualBox.

VirtualBox was an Open source OS virtualization software that Oracle bought to support its cloud client virtualization platform. VirtualBox is easy to deploy and use. I use it on Windows to run Linux servers to test networking and cryptography packages. If needed for basic OS virtualization, then this would be a very cost efficient solution.

The main limitations in VirtualBox is the lack of support of Graphics acceleration in Guest OSes and in the lack of automatic support of high resolutions in the Guest OS desktop. The copy-and-paste functionality is also crippled between the host and guest OSes. I many times needed to send files by email to emulate this simple task. Moreover, sharing drives between the host and guest is not always supported. USB sticks need a lot of configuration to be mounted in to the guest OS to make it work. I wonder how can Oracle produce or manage this low quality softaware.

Virtualbox has been an amazing tool for us. We’ve never encountered any errors/problems and we were able to use their virtualization software just fine!

The simplicity, and ease of use caught my eye. I was looking for a great tool to run virtual machines, and Virtualbox was the one!

There aren’t alot of cons, because this software is so professional and efficient!

I use Virtual Box to provide multiple services while retaining a single server. For the classroom VirutalBox provides students with an environment where they can experiment while keeping the base operating system secure and locked. The ability to preserve aging software is critical to many companies I deal with. Inability to upgrade or lack of migration options often means that they need to keep these programs running while replacing broken or old hardware. Snapshots help me to keep perfect copies of system content and provide 100% restores.

The ability to quick install and work inside a virtual operating system with having to build an entirely new system. No messing around with hard disks and bios. Its great when you want to test out Operating System alternatives or when testing current systems via hard disk imaging.

No "out of the box" compatibility with Apple IOS operating system. This is obviously no fault of its creators as Apple has made use of its Operating System near impossible with its hardware but from a teaching perspective its a wasted opportunity especially for those learning helpdesk skills.

My biggest use case is to have a backup copy of a system that I am working to replace. Once the newer system has become well established and it is clear there is no need for information from the previous hardware I can clear out the old virtual machine. This doesn't support every use case when there was legacy hardware that was used for physical I/O as the host system would need the same I/O. Drivers don't carry over in those instances.

There is a wide array of virtual hardware supported in VirtualBox. This makes it very easy to have backup copies of archaic hardware that is no longer available but the software on them is still needed. The virtualization is fairly seamless for occasional use.

There isn't much to not like about this software. The number of prompts when installing a new version and the 'extra' packages for USB support can be tiresome when it could just as well be automatic, but that is a minor issue.

Mainly we use it to test on all major Operating systems as its portable to any System structure form UNIX to Windows

Due to its open source nature and ease to use this is a best tool for any one from business to normal users allows use of any OS inside Windows (mainly) which makes testing easy on other OS like Linux (all flavors)

Not much any cons about this tool but it could be built more ease to use though its good but can be improved and all connections should be automatically detected inside virtual machine such though they work doesn't feel like real OS can adopt "NEW DESKTOP"like tech and improve it.

Virtualbox allows us to simulate environments using virtualization in a practical way, accelerating implementations and configurations in services

It is cross-platform, which allows easy installation on different operating systems.

In some occasions it is necessary to have hardware that supports virtualization

I am somewhat experienced with VMWare Workstation, so I wasn't sure about switching to VirtualBox. Although it did require a little bit of getting used to, after learning the ropes I found that all of the features I knew and used were available to me, and for a significantly cheaper price.

One important distinction between VirtualBox and its more well-known counterpart, VMWare Workstation, is the noticeably lower price-tag on the former. VirtualBox does not share the almost absurd price of VMWare, yet possesses most, if not all, of the same features.

It is slightly less intuitive than VM Workstation, leading to a steeper learning curve for those who are less familiar with virtual machine programs. It's not severe, but it is worth mentioning.

Ease of deploying VM's with multi platform capability.

You do want to look at VMware since it does have better control over memory and CPU utilization.

When it comes to software testing, this tool has served me to implement several virtual servers at the same time, being able to obtain the information and the desired behavior of the software.

The virtual machines created are perceived to be faster and lighter than in other products, and it is also easy to import them to other platforms.

Configurations such as the network or the transfer of files between the host and the virtual one is somewhat complicated.

Nice free virtual machine tool to keep my primary workstation from getting too "cluttered"

VB is a great little tool to spin up additional OS environments on my workstation. I use this for 2 reasons. First, to be able to spin up other operating systems to do cross-platform testing (Linux, Windows (multiple versions), ChromeOS, etc). Secondly, I use it to have separate environments for clients. We have a multitude of clients that each require different (or worse, sometimes the same) VPN tools, software, etc. When you try to install all these tools on your regular desktop, we were constantly running into conflicts (one client needed to be v5.1 to connect to the VPN and a different client needed v4.7). It just became too much clutter. So I started spinning up a different Windows (or Linux) environment for each client install their tools separately. It has worked wonders!

The only downside is related to the /way/ I use the software. Because I spin up different environments for each client, if I have to work with a couple clients simultaneously (not often, but it happens), it can be incredibly slow because my workstations resources now have to be split 2, 3 or 4 ways (each envirnment usually gets 1/3 of my RAM allocated). Running 1 at a time is perfectly fine. Running 2 is usually OK, but once I hit 3, I've pretty much maxed out my host and it can be slow. That being said, I could accommodate for that by simply installing more RAM or allocating less to each.

To test operating systems. To use software that is not available in our operating system. Create and simulate a network of servers.

It allows me to test different programs without altering my operating system. I can create multiple servers to simulate different networks and test the operation of a server before putting it into operation. I can enter with different programs without altering my operating system. can be installed in any operating system and be able to use all programs, either private or free, since you have no restrictions for use. VirtualBox supports the virtualization of the following operating systems: Microsoft Windows GNU / Linux Mac OS X OS / 2 Warp Solaris / OpenSolaris FreeBSD MS-DOS Android etc.

You need a powerful computer. We have to take into account that if we use 2 operating systems simultaneously we are using twice as many resources. Operating systems and programs will run slower in virtual machines. This is because the virtual machines can not get an ideal performance of the hardware that we have in our team. The more powerful our computer is, the loss of performance will be noticed. If we have a problem with the computer hosting the host operating system, the service may fall on the entire virtual machine. Therefore the computer that runs the virtual machine is a critical part.

The virtual machine is a fast, convenient, and secure method of running software that we normally can't use on our native operating system. It really shows its value in professional client-level applications, this makes it an invaluable tool when trying to support more than one operating system simultaneously. In addition, VirtualBox is constantly making updates to its code, which improve performance and increase existing features.

One of the greatest advantages of using a virtual machine like VirtualBox is being able to have software that is in charge of emulating certain hardware, taking advantage of the real resources of our computer and, on top of it, allowing us to install an operating system as if it were a real computer. The virtualized operating system works as if it were a main operating system, so all its functions and features are available from it.

VirtualBox makes the job easier when it comes to running applications that can only run on a specific operating system, the important thing is that we allocate adequate memory and storage resources to be able to have both VirtualBox and the primary operating system of the computer. After having considered this, we can have two environments, apparently heterogeneous, simultaneously without any problem.

Considering the product is open source and free, it is easy to install on windows or linux clients and spin up test virtual machines in a few minutes. It also, allows for rapid testing and ever setting up of small networks to simulate a prodution server environement of a desktop machine if needed. Would highly recommend for programmers, sysadmin, or even home hobbyists that have a need to run multiple machines but do not have the hardware available to do so.

This has been my go to cross platform virtualization software for testing and development. It is easy to acquire and install. Supports a wide breadth of hosts (Linux, Windows and Macs) and Guest OSs( even dating back to DOS and Windows 3.1!) . It can even he run headless with a simple web interface and does not require dedicated hardware like ESX. Also, Apps can be run seamlessly within the host operating system.

Even though it is easy to use, I do not think it runs as thin as VMware. Also, to autostart machines requires third party hacks rather than a intergrated service within the product. Undestanding that Virtualbox is meant to be more of a client based virtualized product, it would still be nice to see the autostart of the guest machines baked into the product.

With VirtualBox I am solving problems like tuff installing windows 10 on my computer which I don't know if its gonna turn well for me , I just simulate it and see how is my computer reacting on it , its like I am going around all hard and complicated installations and just installing it on easy way, that's also my main benefit.

What I like most about this software is his flexibility. You can choose it to simulate every computer software you like , from Windows (XP Vista, 7, 8, 10) to Linux and more. I would recommend it to every programmer or ethical hacker who is still learning about hacking, installation of all packages is really fast and easy. They are guiding you to every step and there is no chance you can make mistake. The simulations are very likely to original software which I found very amazing. Thank you VirtualBox!

What I least like about this software is that sometimes some simulations are very slow to install and use ,I don't know if its because of my computer or because VirtualBox system, its like I am having 25 FPS when I am on Linux Software, and internet can be very slow there, also In the beginning I couldn't find way to exit VirtualBox simulation, which I found very troubling.

Of course we have big margin of profit from services we provide to our customers. We are solving compatibility issues with legacy programs.

First and most of all, I like the fact that it's free because in our line of business we buy many apps and programs to support our customers and many programs are hard to own because of the cost. VirtualBox does all the work for free, leaving us able to get some profit. VirtualBox helps us with legacy software that cannot execute in newer OS, or software not compatible with Windows. So, we can provide our customers a middle solution to get updated with a newer OS and keep abandoned or unsupported old programs available and isolated from the main OS as well as isolated from the internet. In this way we keep our customers safe too, while the succeed in their job.

Some features require a little more knowledge or configuration to do in comparison to other paid software, but this is not a problem at all for advanced users.

I often use Virtual Box to run Linux in parallel to windows for testing of applications and try out new operating systems or new versions.

It is easy to install and setup with a simplistic interface. It is available free of cost. It occupies less disk space for it self comparatively. It is lighter to consume less system resources and keeps system performance stable. It enables me to try, implement, evaluate and use other operating systems.

It lacks in features. It doesn't support virtualization of all operating systems. The performance of virtual machines seeks improvement.

I've been using Virtual Box for years now and for different OS. Recently last week I got even Mac OS X Mojave to work on a VM on a windows machine! It's always been really, really powerful and the snapshots feature it's a godsend. I'm a software engineer and we have to test different kind of apps and on different kind of systems and VMWare for me, again is a godsend because I can keep multiple systems running with different OS or different versions of the app and make them work with each other. The resource management is great and even on the free version! I honestly cannot recommend it enough.

There were some issues with Windows 10 lately and VMWare where some of the VM extensions wouldn't register properly and over the years, it feels that when using Linux Systems, the VMWare tools aren't too good and you have to resort to tutorials or scripts online to get them to work.

VirtualBox helps me build and test applications that I build for other operating systems. With it, I do not have to have another computer around me with a separate installation; I can just access it all from one place. This makes my life a whole lot easier.

What I like most about VirtualBox is its ease of use. As soon as you start up the program you are greeted with a very simplistic layout. Making a new virtual machine is as simple as clicking the new button. This makes the software very inviting for new users. Tweaking the settings of a virtual machine is also extremely easy in VirtualBox, since everything is sectioned out nice and neat; everything is easy to find.

I feel like graphics performance is a big struggle for any virtualization software. If there was a way to pass through graphics cards on Windows installations without the use of other software, VirtualBox would be perfect in my opinion. The only way, as of now, to pass through dedicated cards is through a base Linux installation virtualizing another operating system.

I am using this software since 2008. It is light weight Virtualization Software available on market. It is easy to setup and works easily without any glitches. Using this Software to check the operating of website on different Operating Systems. Using this to works on developing cross platform applications.

Well it works great but unlike VMWare VSphere. It only works on one machine and not providing any remote access to operate virtual machines on network.

VirtualBox permits me to have only one computer (MAC OS), with all the software I need, without the obligation to restart every time I need to access other OS System. I can work and share work between machines (virtual and physical) without any problem!

For those that work with multiple software know that a Virtual Machine is a must-have software. For those that work with MAC OS, is even more important. Many of the software I use on an investigation in social sciences are made for the Windows environment. VirtualBox is a very handy and powerful tool. The fact that it's free, is even better! There are other offers on the market, with more elaborated tools. But for the price (free), VirtualBox is the key!

There are some tricks you need to handle. For example, when you work with virtual disks, with space allocated dynamically, it's easy to increase size, but it's very hard to decrease after a cleanup. It should be possible to do both things with the same effort.

Using VirtualBox has been instrumental in solving various business problems. It allows me to test software on different platforms, isolate development environments, and run legacy applications effortlessly. The flexibility and versatility of VirtualBox have resulted in significant time and cost savings for my organization.

VirtualBox provides excellent virtualization capabilities, allowing me to run multiple operating systems seamlessly on my computer.The product is user-friendly and offers a straightforward installation process. Setting up virtual machines is a breeze.Integration with my existing business processes was smooth and hassle-free. It seamlessly integrates with other tools and applications I use.

The user interface could benefit from some improvements to enhance usability and make certain features more intuitive.While VirtualBox offers a wide range of features, there are a few advanced functionalities that could be added to further enhance the virtualization experience.

Without purchasing any Licensed tool or without any hassle of trial versions or commercial versions, we can Virtualbox as which is totally free and we don't need to spend anything for running a Kali or Ubuntu machines in your host machine.

I love 2 things when coming to this Virtualbox. 1. It is totally free and we can install and run virtual machines in MAC, windows and Linux as well. 2. It is totally user friendly. If you are looking for a good virtualization software you can simply go for it. The software is very much stable.

I am having only 1 con i.e, we may face issues with internal NAT network adapter sometimes. Which will consume some time for troubleshooting and fixing it. But other than that, everything else is perfectly fine and good.