The experience is completely different from what you'll get with Parallels Desktop, where the app effortlessly installs Windows for you. I'll give you an idea of what you're in for if you want to install and run Windows 11 in VirtualBox. How to Install VirtualBox Part I: It's Not Easy In contrast, Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion support DirectX 11. Keep in mind that if you want to run a Windows game under VirtualBox, you'll be limited to DirectX 8/9 support. If you're reading this, you probably want to run Windows under VirtualBox, and that's what I'll focus on in the rest of this review. It does its best running Linux and Windows, and does its worst with macOS guests, where it offers slow performance and limited features compared with Parallels and VMware.

VirtualBox can create what it calls 'guest machines' that emulate almost any common Intel-based operating system, including Windows, Linux, macOS, and others. But VirtualBox merely displays a clunky-looking menu, with an unhelpful cartoon picture of a penguin with a toolbox, and leaves you to figure out what to do next. Parallels even gives you download links for Windows and open-source systems. Both guide you through the steps needed to create a new virtual machine. Then you must restart and run VirtualBox again.īy contrast, rival apps Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion have different setup systems. The installer sends you to the Apple System Preferences app to grant permission to a VirtualBox extension that lets your guest Windows system exchange data with your host Mac system. Next, you run the installer package from the downloaded disk image. To get the app, you download the installation disk image from. VirtualBox's code is maintained by Oracle, hence the complete name Oracle VM VirtualBox. I'll list some alternative methods for running Windows apps on Apple Silicon at the end of this review. If you have an Apple Silicon Mac, don't even think about using VirtualBox, because it won't run at all on an M1-based Mac, not even with Apple's Rosetta 2 translation layer that makes many Intel-based apps run on Apple Silicon. Best Hosted Endpoint Protection and Security Software.

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