Oracle's Latest VirtualBox Handles Heavier Workloads

Oracle on Dec. 22 released a new version of its freely available virtual machine distribution software that enables desktop or laptop computers to run several operating systems simultaneously.

Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.0, which supports several host operating systems-including Windows, Mac OS X, most flavors of Linux (including Oracle Linux) and Oracle Solaris-now features an easier-to-use interface and improved virtual appliance capabilities, said Wim Coekaerts, senior vice president of Oracle Linux and Virtualization Engineering.

VirtualBox 4.0 also supports IT's latest virtual hardware, such as chipsets supporting PCI Express, Coekaerts said. All these improvements give VirtualBox greater capacity to handle larger workloads, he said.

Coekaerts said that the continuing investment Oracle is making in its Sun Microsystems-related open source-based products such as VirtualBox and OpenOffice is quite apparent.

"Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.0 is the third major product release in just over a year," Coekaerts said. "This illustrates the importance that Oracle places on providing a comprehensive desktop to our data center virtualization solution.

"Customers will find Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.0 provides a richer user experience [than previous versions]."

Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.0 for Windows (32- and 64-bit), Mac OS and Solaris is available for free download here (75MB file for Windows). It is also available for Oracle Linux customers via the Unbreakable Linux Network.