VirtualBox 1.5.0
Published by Mircea Ungureanu [rastilin] on 2007/10/31 (9461 reads)
It's true that the latest VirtualBox version is 1.5.2, however, 1.5 is the version present in my repositories. Virtualbox has no 3D support at the time unlike Vmware and isn't planning to include it in their next version like Parallels. Although there are plans to include support for DirectX and opengl as well as the first few patches to the code to make that possible. However, one doesn't need 3d support to play good games and virtualbox is in nearly every way superior to the alternatives.
Firstly I'll explain why VirtualBox is superior, then go into the specifics of the games which run on it and I'll finish with a description of it's 3D support.
Virtualbox - Excellence
Virtualbox only supports one processor and no 3d. However, it's response time is far above that of any competing software. Which means that for many products it's nearly impossible to tell you're using a VM. Without waxing on endlessly, I need to mention that this is the holy grail for desktop based virtualization. Especially for games, one needs very fast response times and having played software games in both DOS and Windows in both Parallels and Vmware, I believe that their lack of fast response to events is their single biggest flaw.
Beyond that, VirtualBox has some features that other software lacks. For example you can change the MAC address of your virtual card, if it becomes necessary. Although this is also possible in vmware, there doesn't appear to be an easy way to do so.
As previously mentioned, 3D support is still in the works. Well, there was a burst of activity a while back which seems to have tapered off upon completition of parts of the opengl section. They are still looking for contributors, if there are any programmers who are willing to donate time.
Gaming
Even though there isn't 3D support, there are games which work perfectly. For example the classic Civilization II and III work brilliantly, with sound. Unlike wine, they just work, no bugs, none, perfection.
Another possible system that works perfectly is DOS. If you have a copy of Windows 95 or 98 standing around, you can use it to generate a working boot disk that for this virtual machine. It's true that dosbox does the same thing, it is however far more efficient in terms of speed of virtualization. Sometimes this may be undesirable however, especially if the game lacks any form of speed limiting function.
3D Support
By this point I've gone over all the basics of the 3D work. It's being worked on as we speak, however currently only Direct Draw is working, not Direct3D. This means that even games that support 1.0 pixel shaders like S.T.A.L.K.E.R in DX8 mode won't work properly. Games that don't need pixel shaders such as Max Payne 1 or 2 won't work either, because of Direct3D.
Summary
It's far more responsive and polished than VmWare and Parallels for linux at this point. So if you want to play 2D Windows games on linux, this is the best method for 100% compatability. However, it's not perfect and more work is needed.
Firstly I'll explain why VirtualBox is superior, then go into the specifics of the games which run on it and I'll finish with a description of it's 3D support.
Virtualbox - Excellence
Virtualbox only supports one processor and no 3d. However, it's response time is far above that of any competing software. Which means that for many products it's nearly impossible to tell you're using a VM. Without waxing on endlessly, I need to mention that this is the holy grail for desktop based virtualization. Especially for games, one needs very fast response times and having played software games in both DOS and Windows in both Parallels and Vmware, I believe that their lack of fast response to events is their single biggest flaw.
Beyond that, VirtualBox has some features that other software lacks. For example you can change the MAC address of your virtual card, if it becomes necessary. Although this is also possible in vmware, there doesn't appear to be an easy way to do so.
As previously mentioned, 3D support is still in the works. Well, there was a burst of activity a while back which seems to have tapered off upon completition of parts of the opengl section. They are still looking for contributors, if there are any programmers who are willing to donate time.
Gaming
Even though there isn't 3D support, there are games which work perfectly. For example the classic Civilization II and III work brilliantly, with sound. Unlike wine, they just work, no bugs, none, perfection.
Another possible system that works perfectly is DOS. If you have a copy of Windows 95 or 98 standing around, you can use it to generate a working boot disk that for this virtual machine. It's true that dosbox does the same thing, it is however far more efficient in terms of speed of virtualization. Sometimes this may be undesirable however, especially if the game lacks any form of speed limiting function.
3D Support
By this point I've gone over all the basics of the 3D work. It's being worked on as we speak, however currently only Direct Draw is working, not Direct3D. This means that even games that support 1.0 pixel shaders like S.T.A.L.K.E.R in DX8 mode won't work properly. Games that don't need pixel shaders such as Max Payne 1 or 2 won't work either, because of Direct3D.
Summary
It's far more responsive and polished than VmWare and Parallels for linux at this point. So if you want to play 2D Windows games on linux, this is the best method for 100% compatability. However, it's not perfect and more work is needed.
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