Talk:VirtualBox

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the VirtualBox article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Computing: Software / Free and open-source software Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Computing, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of computers, computing, and information technology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ComputingWikipedia:WikiProject ComputingTemplate:WikiProject ComputingComputing
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by WikiProject Software (assessed as Low-importance).
	This article is supported by Free and open-source software (assessed as Mid-importance).

Apple Inc. Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Apple Inc., a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of Apple, Mac, iOS and related topics on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.Apple Inc.Wikipedia:WikiProject Apple Inc.Template:WikiProject Apple Inc.Apple Inc.
Low	This article has been rated as Low-importance on the project's importance scale.

Untitled

B-class review

With some copy-editing and updating, it can become B again.

It is suitably referenced, with in-line citation:
Too reliant on WP:USERGENERATED and primary sources.
It reasonably covers the topic, and does not contain obvious holes:
It has a defined structure:
No proper section about Extention Pack but bits of it everywhere. Features split between release history, virtualization and features section. Overall, a bit chaotic.
It is reasonably well-written:
It contains supporting materials where appropriate:
I like the video of running VM :)
It presents its content in an appropriately understandable way:
Too technical for a casual user at times, but it is well-detailed at the same time.
Overall:
Pass/Fail:

Archives

Archive 1

Infobox Size info seems way off

The info box says that the size for VirtualBox is "40 – 90 MB depending on platform." But I'm downloading 4.2.6 on OS X, and it says the download size is 104 MB. And an extracted version of 4.2.4 (so the app itself, not the compressed download DMG) is 250 MB. Seems the infobox should be updated. Althepal (talk) 22:34, 3 January 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Article is out of date

From: http://wiki.riteme.site/wiki/Virtual_box#Licensing

Says:

Although VirtualBox has experimental support for Mac OS X guests, the end user license agreement of Mac OS X does not permit the operating system to run on non-Apple hardware, enforced within the operating system by calls to the Apple System Management Controller (SMC) in all Apple machines, which verifies the authenticity of the hardware.

This has changed, and at least for Mt Lion 10.8.2 Apple says "you are granted a limited, non-transferable, non-exclusive license:":

(iii) to install, use and run up to two (2) additional copies or instances of the Apple Software within virtual operating system environments on each Mac Computer you own or control that is already running the Apple Software, for purposes of: (a) software development; (b) testing during software development; (c) using OS X Server; or (d) personal, non-commercial use.

From: http://www.apple.com/legal/sla/docs/OSX1082.pdf , Page 2, Section 2.A.iii

Accessed via: http://www.apple.com/legal/sla/ --> Choose "Operating System, Software Tools, and Server" --> Choose "OS X (Mountain Lion)" --> Choose "OS X (Mountain Lion 10.8.2)"

76.90.15.7 (talk) 10:49, 16 June 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Article is RIDICULOUSLY out of date

I've been using VirtualBox for years, and as long as I can remember it has supported way more than three hard drive image formats (article says it only supports 3).

Currently the supporte formats are: VDI, VMDK, VHD, HDD, QED, and QCOW. — Preceding unsigned comment added by BrainSlugs83 (talk • contribs) 04:19, 10 September 2013 (UTC)[reply]

Hardware-assisted and software-based virtualization

We have:

"In the absence of hardware-assisted virtualization, VirtualBox adopts a software-based virtualization approach." (abridged) (in the Software-based virtualization section)

and, elsewhere,

"VirtualBox supports some guests only on hosts with hardware-assisted virtualization." (abridged) (in Hardware-assisted virtualization)

Doesn't the second statement contradict the former ? —Jerome Potts (talk) 04:23, 18 February 2014 (UTC)[reply]

No, there is no contradiction. Some guests are not supported by the software-only mode. Specifically, VT-x or AMD-v is required for all 64bit guests (regardless of whether the host OS is 64bits or not), and for Windows 8.x and Windows Server 2012 and later. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 82.68.15.142 (talk) 14:40, 16 June 2014 (UTC)[reply]

where is a legit virtualbox download?

I don't wanna get a virus.YOUNEEDPROTOGENT (talk) 22:52, 30 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

The official site has a page for that: https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads — Be aware that sometimes Oracle inserts a question about "free" additional software in their install packages, but it will usually be obvious, not hidden. (I don't remember if they do that with VirtualBox, or just Java.) --Closeapple (talk) 05:16, 31 August 2017 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified 2 external links on VirtualBox. Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 21:03, 20 September 2017 (UTC)[reply]

Horrible article.

What part of the article explains what virtual box is or does? 73.32.120.40 (talk) 01:05, 25 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I had a pretty good idea of what it is and does after the first sentence. Please improve any part of the article that you think needs improvement. DOSGuy (talk) 03:57, 25 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The first sentence links to type-2 hypervisor which explains in details what VirtualBox is. Artem S. Tashkinov (talk) 09:56, 25 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Abandoned user draft

Please would an interested editor assess the material added at User:Xhy279/VirtualBox, incorporate what is useful, blank that page as WP:COPYARTICLE, and leave a note here when done? – Fayenatic London 22:49, 27 May 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I've the draft and I like the idea of moving the release history to features section. That would require some cleanup, but otherwise this is a smart way to get rid of rather obnoxiously long list of changes. – K4rolB (talk) 10:35, 22 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Innotek GmbH

The second paragraph starts "VirtualBox was originally created by Innotek GmbH..." with a hyperlink for the company, which redirects to this article, which is not particularly useful. Johnnyboy755 (talk) 07:22, 5 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Hi, removed the link. We should not use user-generated sources as a reference, so linking to one seems wrong. – K4rolB (talk) 10:21, 22 October 2022 (UTC)[reply]