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Latest VirtualBox 1.5 runs Windows apps directly on your Linux desktop
venturecake.com — The new VirtualBox brings seamless virtualization to Linux. This puts Linux on par with the Mac - users can run their preferred native desktop but still launch the odd Windows-only program when they need to. The VirtualBox site doesn ’t have much detail on the new feature, so here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly of VirtualBox 1.5.
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- holydope, on 10/10/2007, -1/+22VirtualBox is amazing for testing other operating systems on your machine. I wish their bridged networking support was better though.
- Salgat, on 10/10/2007, -1/+22I don't think people realize how profound this is. If this is stable, it eliminates almost all excuses concerning programs not able to run under Linux. All that is left is Gamers.
- LilyFoxglove, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1That argument hasn't worked too well on the OSX side.
- Salgat, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Try it yourself, its actually stable, at least for me.
- LilyFoxglove, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3I bet it does, but that doesn't change the fact that "I can run Windows apps on my desktop" has proven to be a mostly ineffective argument for using any given OS in favour of Windows.
Sad, but true. - Salgat, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4You kidding? If someones willing to go over to Linux but is reluctant due to a few programs, this eliminates that concern. I'm not seeing the logic behind your claim.
- LilyFoxglove, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3I bet it does, but that doesn't change the fact that "I can run Windows apps on my desktop" has proven to be a mostly ineffective argument for using any given OS in favour of Windows.
- Salgat, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Try it yourself, its actually stable, at least for me.
- EbilPhish, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2This 'applications on desktop' was been done befoure Virtual Box. Unfortunatly for me I don't really want to run any windows software. DVDShrink is about the only app I can think of and I havn't used that in ages anyway.
Games is where its at, and unfortunatly Cedega and WINE just don't cut it and won't untill I can expect the latest game to be working almost native speeds under Linux. Currently even games that are 5+ years old have a horrible time running. ☠ Pirates! for instance need to be restarted when I enter a town and Guild wars wouldnt work with the mouse, worst part is these are minor bugs that make them unplayable.
How long until BioShock is playable under Linux?- Giga, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2"worst part is these are minor bugs that make them unplayable"
Wouldn't that make it a major bug then?
- Giga, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2"worst part is these are minor bugs that make them unplayable"
- LilyFoxglove, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1That argument hasn't worked too well on the OSX side.
- maybeway36, on 10/10/2007, -8/+1besides legality?
- Salgat, on 10/10/2007, -1/+22I don't think people realize how profound this is. If this is stable, it eliminates almost all excuses concerning programs not able to run under Linux. All that is left is Gamers.
- cstrippie, on 10/10/2007, -3/+11My biggest turn-off for Virtualbox was the lack of widescreen support, but if seamless is working well that shouldn't matter any more.
- BHSPitMonkey, on 10/10/2007, -0/+14How is widescreen unsupported in VBox? I seem to be able to use any resolution I like on the guest OS.
- toasterwaffle, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I know on my Macbook, VirtualBox beta2 required me to mount an ISO under linux with driver installers on it. Widescreen worked after that.
- Xilon, on 10/10/2007, -3/+13"There are no packages for the VirtualBox Open Source edition"
That's a bit ignorant. Archlinux has and has had packages for a long time.- nailer, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Archlinux, while a fine distro, is not a popular distribution. VirtualBox don't provide packages of the OSE for any distro, and from what I read neither Ubuntu, Fedora or Suse include it.
- mollach, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0there are packages available for opensuse 10.2 and 10.3 does see http://en.opensuse.org/VirtualBox for details...
- BHSPitMonkey, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6They're referring to Innotek's releases, and version 1.5. Not distro-maintained packages, in this case.
- thepxc, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Gentoo (and thereby Sabayon) both have Virtualbox OSE packages as well. These distros, especially in combination, would be considered popular by any reasonable person. Check Distrowatch.com and see for yourself.
- nailer, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Archlinux, while a fine distro, is not a popular distribution. VirtualBox don't provide packages of the OSE for any distro, and from what I read neither Ubuntu, Fedora or Suse include it.
- schestowitz, on 10/10/2007, -13/+16FTA: "Now where’s a simple, good looking Xen GUI?"
Xen is over for Linux. Microsoft used its proxy Citrix to hijack it without getting the FTC's attention and without being subjected to the GPL. Xen no longer talks about Linux and it's now run by ex-Softie GMs.
Turn to KVM. it's already in the kernel. Another option is to fork Xen and ignore XenSource. This was suggested before.- biggbrother, on 10/10/2007, -7/+12Xen is GPL software. To find out more about how this license works, visit http://gnu.org
Your post indicates that you do not understand the basics of free/open source software.- EbilPhish, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Just because the code is open, doesn't mean it magically develops itself. If the company that develops the code decides to stop working on the Linux side of things then unless there is a major effort to fork it as the grandparent posted then it will die out, yes people have the legal right to take the code and continue working on it (that is the fork) but it needs people to actually do it.
Your post indicates that you do not understand the basics of real world vs theoretical situations.
- EbilPhish, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Just because the code is open, doesn't mean it magically develops itself. If the company that develops the code decides to stop working on the Linux side of things then unless there is a major effort to fork it as the grandparent posted then it will die out, yes people have the legal right to take the code and continue working on it (that is the fork) but it needs people to actually do it.
- thepxc, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1Excuse me: those were a lot of words, but what the ***** did you just say?
- biggbrother, on 10/10/2007, -7/+12Xen is GPL software. To find out more about how this license works, visit http://gnu.org
- rpgmaker, on 10/10/2007, -2/+10Is only me or VMware Server runs extremely slow on Linux?
- Mejogid, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10It shouldn't do. Make sure you install the vmware kernel module for the Linux host if it works with your kernel, switch to binary video drivers, download the latest vmware Workstation and get the tools from there (I've had issues with the included ones) and make sure you have an SMP (ie. multi-processor) enabled kernel. If you're not already, try installing the latest version from VMWare's own site (the Ubuntu packages are generally pretty poor).
- Salgat, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1VMServer does lack some features that VMPlayer has(I believe its due to remote support?), thats all I can say about it.
- Ashex, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2The most common reason for experiencing massive slowdowns is from running the VM on the same disk as the system. I had a VM of windows running on my system drive and it wasn't very speedym had huge slowdowns when I was using visual studio. I moved it over to a seperate disk (I have that disk mounted as /home) and performance increased by quite a bit. I've moved it over to a server and just use the console to connect to it and I still get awesome performance too.
- Stonekeeper, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3you are right, like i've said before on digg, run a ubuntu server CD in vmware and VBox and you'll see vmware is just plain slow.....
- rpgmaker, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Exactly, that's my experience with vmware... even though it wasn't that slow before....
- Werrismys, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0It's just you. I run vmware server on fast win2003 server and a slower RHEL server. The VM's feel snappier under RHEL.
- Mejogid, on 10/10/2007, -0/+10It shouldn't do. Make sure you install the vmware kernel module for the Linux host if it works with your kernel, switch to binary video drivers, download the latest vmware Workstation and get the tools from there (I've had issues with the included ones) and make sure you have an SMP (ie. multi-processor) enabled kernel. If you're not already, try installing the latest version from VMWare's own site (the Ubuntu packages are generally pretty poor).
- over90000, on 10/10/2007, -13/+1I always wondered why Linux or Mac users would want to use Windows applications.
- gattone, on 10/10/2007, -0/+7I have to test web applications... and IE6 is still widely used :(
- 35263526, on 10/10/2007, -1/+7There are [unfortunately] some pieces of Windows software which simply don't have equally-powerful alternatives on Linux. Photoshop is a big example of such, as is the Office suite (even while I use OO.org often, it can't do some stuff that Office can, which can be annoying).
- Tippis, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8Because relying on a single OS is sooo last millenium... The OS is just a toolbox -- you still need to pick the right tool for the job, and the box doesn't matter.
- p0tent1al, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Maybe it is a Windows user, who really wants to ditch windows, and decides to move over to linux, who would probably be happy with this.
Honestly, I have no idea how to work linux, but if there becomes a seamless way to run XP/Vista, then I will switch today. Although I still didn't understand this article, so I'm not switching yet. When more diggers start doing this, I will jump on board then.
- FunkyWitDaSysTm, on 10/23/2007, -6/+46god looked down upon it and saw that it was good, and on the eighth day, god switched to linux.
- pwnies, on 10/23/2007, -3/+18Amen.
- Frost9999, on 10/23/2007, -12/+3Not if God was using photoshop.
- StealthTomato, on 10/23/2007, -3/+12God has the know-how to use the GIMP.
- bradmoreland, on 10/23/2007, -3/+3Obviously, God doesn't use GIMP to earn a living.
- Mejogid, on 10/10/2007, -2/+5Clearly not, being an omnipotent being he rarely finds that necessary.
- bradmoreland, on 10/23/2007, -3/+3Obviously, God doesn't use GIMP to earn a living.
- SeBBBe, on 10/28/2007, -1/+10Dude, that's the dumbest comment ever. This story is all about running Windows apps under Linux..
- StealthTomato, on 10/23/2007, -3/+12God has the know-how to use the GIMP.
- FreakyT, on 10/23/2007, -17/+6Interesting stuff, but I guess my question is: why do this, and not just run Windows?
*prepares to get dugg down*- ritzcracker, on 01/10/2008, -3/+15obviously you have never tried linux
- burty89, on 10/10/2007, -1/+9Stability: if windows crashes or locks up you can restart it simply without restarting the computer
Security: any viruses or malware windows picks up won't affect your Linux installation, just the windows apps you use, which can be restored easily
Choice: by running windows in a virtual environment you can use native Linux applications for most things, whilst still having access to any windows-only stuff you need
I can't think of more off the top of my head, but I'm sure there are some more reasons. - Gavagai80, on 10/10/2007, -1/+5Some people want programs from both OSes, or are simply more comfortable and familiar with Linux, or feel it's safer. Or they may be trying to immerse themselves in linux for the sake of curiosity and learning, or to qualify for a better job or the like.
- biggbrother, on 10/10/2007, -2/+4Why not just run Linux?
- RollFizzlebeef, on 10/10/2007, -7/+3Yeah, I imagine that'll work about as well as IE Tab does in Firefox.
- clperez390, on 10/10/2007, -0/+6Works good for me.
- grexeo, on 10/10/2007, -3/+30"VirtualBox looks a little 1995. It’s a bit Gangsta’s Paradise, a bit Batman Forever, a bit, well, naff looking. If they can’t use GTK themes like every other app, they should at least make it prettier."
Rubbish. VirtualBox is one of the most professional looking apps for Linux. Methinks the author just couldn't resist the "Ugly" sub-heading.- mbiesz, on 10/10/2007, -4/+15Seems the author's never heard of QT before (or is one of those GNOME zealots that denies the existence of anything else).
- nailer, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2I think you aren't aware how little toolkits matter to users.
While GTK is clearly a more popular choice for apps these days, even if you use QT, you don’t need to stick with the default look - Amarok and Opera don’t look like crap when launched in GNOME (currently the default desktop in Ubuntu, Fedora, and OpenSuse), so why should VirtualBox?
Toolkits are irrelevant to end users, and if an app can’t be consistent with a users desktop, then it should at least look good.
- nailer, on 10/23/2007, -0/+2I think you aren't aware how little toolkits matter to users.
- maybeway36, on 10/10/2007, -2/+3It fits in perfectly with all my KDE apps :)
- Werrismys, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0It looks very professional and fits well in ubuntu beryl-emerald theme.
- mbiesz, on 10/10/2007, -4/+15Seems the author's never heard of QT before (or is one of those GNOME zealots that denies the existence of anything else).
- erkokite, on 10/10/2007, -4/+4The howto sucks.
- BHSPitMonkey, on 10/10/2007, -1/+8This is cool. I had already updated to 1.5, but I hadn't heard about the seamless integration feature until this article hit the *nix FP.
It isn't, however, too seamless; if you open a linux app alongside your windows app(s), your linux app will either be in front of *all* the Windows apps (taskbar included), or it will be behind *all* the Windows apps.
Let's see what 1.5.1 brings us, shall we?- bradmoreland, on 10/10/2007, -2/+0If you want seamless, use WINE.
- BHSPitMonkey, on 10/23/2007, -11/+1This is cool. I had already updated to 1.5, but I hadn't heard about the seamless integration feature until this article hit the *nix FP.
It isn't, however, too seamless; if you open a linux app alongside your windows app(s), your linux app will either be in front of *all* the Windows apps (taskbar included), or it will be behind *all* the Windows apps.
Let's see what 1.5.1 brings us, shall we?- rpgmaker, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Welcome to digg bro.
- compgeek, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1hrmmm that could be useful for getting some members of my family switched over. just show them ok click this to run a windows shell and then run your windows apps inside it for everything else it's included in the distro already
- superyounan1, on 10/10/2007, -0/+4virtual box is my favorite virtualization app, but the seamless feature isn't that good yet. Its a good step and I'm sure it will get better, but the integration is only cosmetic, you can't drag and drop files, the windows menu bar stays on one of your desktops, you cant move windows to other desktops, etc.. Its basically just like running in normal mode except you can use your host OS more quickly, or just think of it as if your windows desktop was transparent.
- misterdiggles, on 10/23/2007, -17/+1I'm not an apple fanboy, but Linux "On Par" with the mac? HAHAHAHHAAHHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHA
- Acglaphotis, on 10/10/2007, -0/+9On par in virtualization terms. On everything else linux is obviously forward. And, if i may ask, why do you contradict yourself? The 'im not an apple fanboy' and 'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA' seems pretty fanboyish to me.
- Acglaphotis, on 10/10/2007, -3/+6On par in virtualization terms. On everything else linux is obviously forward. And, if i may ask, why do you contradict yourself? The 'im not an apple fanboy' and 'HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA' seems pretty fanboyish to me.
- biggbrother, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3No kidding. The Mac is obviously inferior to both Linux and Windows.
HAHAHAHHAAHHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHHAHAHA
I think you typed the wrong address into ur browser. You were supposed to type slashdot.org.
- podperson, on 10/10/2007, -2/+2Oh cool -- I hadn't heard of VirtualBox. How does it compare to Parallels and VMWare? (Aside from the obvious advantage of being free ;-) )
One incredibly nice feature of Parallels is that it presses all the buttons for a Windows install for you ... so you can start an install, walk away, and come back to a virtual machine ready to go -- much easier than installing Windows on a PC.- KAMiKAZOW, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_virtual_machines
- kris33, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3It can't compare on speed right now, but it is getting better every day.
- oobuntu, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1someone told me it was really fast.....they lied. i'll revisit soon to check on progress though.
- TeatherWind, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1The only thing from holding me back from making the complete jump to linux is Itunes, and VPN for work. Perhaps they will roll this on to a live cd so I can give it a whack.
- Kalimotxo, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Can't help you with iTunes. Lookup cisco vpn client for linux (both 32 and 64bit versions are available), and lookup rdp (rdesktop). These should cover your vpn needs, I use em and love em.
- zombies187, on 10/10/2007, -0/+0Check out Songbird. It's alittle buggy still, but is next generation compared with itunes.
- neodorian, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Really? There are much better solutions than iTunes. I wouldn't let that hold you back unless you got stuck with DRM tunes from the Apple store but I'm sure there are ways to get rid of that garbage. Once you convert any of that stuff you should be fine with Amarok or whatever media player/organizer you want. If you bought a non-open mp3 player, there are plenty of ways to access and sync in linux as well.
- newwatch51, on 03/15/2008, -0/+1yeah, but one NEEDS itunes to activate an ipod touch.
- thekungfuman, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Sorry if this was answered, can someone tell me if the seamless appearance extends to desktop integration. Meaning, if I use Photoshop to make an images in windows, and save it as a .png can I drag it onto my Ubuntu desktop? Or, conversely, can my virtual machine see my data partition and access those files? That would make this on par with parallels for me.
- ispep, on 10/23/2007, -6/+1I wonder how long it will be until some ubuntu fanboy posts "Run Windows apps directly on your ubuntu desktop".
- thekungfuman, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1I came dangerously close in my question. I should have left my original "linux desktop" phrasing, but I happen to use Ubuntu. At least I didn't say anything like "Now no one has an excuse not to use Ubuntu!" ^_^
- Smegzor, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Run Windows apps directly on your ubuntu desktop
- brokencrystal, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I call that WINE.
- Disfnord, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Funny, I believe that was the exact wording for an article a few months back. It used VMWare and RPD to do it, but it was a similar idea...
- maybeway36, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1VirtualBox NAT has always worked for me. I love this program; now I can run Win2000 on Kubuntu!
- toasterwaffle, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1VirtualBox is great but don't expect to get FreeBSD (and PCBSD) working on OS X ("beta2") until they fix that.
- maybeway36, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Don't expect to get PCBSD (Xorg -configure) on VBox for any platform. It just doesn't work.
- Syphon8, on 10/10/2007, -3/+1On par?
- thekungfuman, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1On par. It means 'equal to' or 'as good as.' Here used to mean that virtual box is no on par (as good as) parallels. Well, for my uses anyway.
- crash0, on 10/10/2007, -1/+3two things:
1. this is old news. so it's not even news. it's "olds".
2. to answer the windows fans - why would a linux user want to use windows programs? because some of us have to use crap software (for our jobs, for example) which run only on windows.- maybeway36, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1dugg for being olds
- nailer, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2Virtualbox 1.5 was released on September 3. It's now September 6. No reviews have been posted to Digg before. What are you smoking?
- Disfnord, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2September 6? It's the 9th where I live. What are YOU smoking?
- Ratteler, on 10/10/2007, -3/+22 Major problems.
1 No hardware Acceleration for Gamers/3d Software.
2 Still riquires you run a M$ product.- Salgat, on 10/10/2007, -1/+2Of course choosing to virtualize Windows requires you to use a M$ product, what's your point?
- neodorian, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1For gaming that is true, so it's still dual boot for that.
And seriously is this 1996 AOL or something? When will people stop finding it funny to spell Microsoft with $ instead of S. Lollzersz tehy liek money and stuffz!!!11 Get over it. The fact that you seem interested in games should make you glad that they seem to still be the best gaming OS on personal computers so far.
- fsuarez2005, on 10/10/2007, -3/+3It's okay, but you still need to buy Windows. I think Wine is a better idea. http://www.winehq.org/
- Smegzor, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2I used VMWare before VirtualBox, but recently I found a hack for VirtualBox that makes it portable. I have it running on a memory stick hosting Knoppix and Damn Small Linux.
Link to the hack.. http://z0rz.com/blog/archives/73 - WakeRider, on 10/10/2007, -2/+1I use Ubuntu 7.04 Feisty and I installed Vmware Server to run Windows applications. I found some scripts on the internet which would let me use the Windows files from the Windows installation on my hard drive rather than creating a virtual machine from scratch. This means that when I make adjustments in VMware and boot back natively into Windows, the changes I made will show up and vice versa.
VMware Server Edition does not support sound, and it won't run any heavy duty applications such as games (Battlefield 2 fully crashed it). It runs with a slight lag and it is very difficult to connect any USB devices such as flash drives or printers to it.
From my experience with virtualization, I have found that it is more hassle than what it is worth, it is just easier to just have a dual-boot set-up and boot into either Windows or Linux depending on which applications you want to run.- maybeway36, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3That's why you use VirtualBox...
- Disfnord, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1Sound works for me with what ever version is in the repo's for Kubuntu 7.04, it just wasn't enabled by default.
- bytor4232, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3Awesome. Now I can shop the iTunes Store and finally use my NetFlix Watch Now feature, which I just tested and it runs flawlessly.
VirtualBox. For those two applications you simply can't live without ;) - xspinkickx, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3I may have to switch back to virtual box.
- xspinkickx, on 10/10/2007, -0/+3anyone hacked this to work with a compositing manager (compiz or compiz-fusion)??
- Werrismys, on 10/10/2007, -0/+01.4.0 users should not upgrade just yet. I get daily crashes running XP Pro guest under Ubuntu host (1.5.0 version). 1.4.0 was solid, it just lost network connectivity once every couple of weeks. So it's not production-quality just yet (but if you can live with XP occasionally reseting itself, it's fine - much snappier than VMware).
- Werrismys, on 10/10/2007, -1/+1For seamless win windows, consider running VMware Server on the background and connecting to it using the seamlessrdp hack. This way you can move single application windows from the (hidden) VM to your real desktop using RDP, Citrix-style.
- cresny, on 10/10/2007, -0/+1True, this gives something approaching true seamless experience. But things like cleartype do not work with rdp 5, nor do laptop arrow keys, a killer if you need to use excel.
- mpower512, on 10/10/2007, -0/+2"I don't think people realize how profound this is. If this is stable, it eliminates almost all excuses concerning programs not able to run under Linux. All that is left is Gamers."
Unless, you know.. some people actually _want_ to use Windows...
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