VirtualBox 7.2 Finally adds Full ARM-on-ARM Virtualization
VirtualBox, the Virtual Machine Manager free and open-source, has just received another update. Virtualbox 7.2 has just arrived with better host and ARM guest media, interface improvements, etc.
First of all, VirtualBox 7.2 moves certain buttons and controls out of the main hamburger menu (the icon with three lines). They were divided into a overall task bar on the left side of the window and a series of tabs horizontally above the right panel. VirtualBox’s interface is not the most user -friendly design in the world, so it is great to see certain improvements in usability in this area.
Most of the other improvements are linked to the management of the ARM processor, which VirtualBox has been slower to adopt compared to office parallel, VMware and Qemu as UTM. VirtualBox added the experimental management of Mac computers with Apple silicon fleas based on ARM in 2022, but only for X86 emulation, and not the virtualization of the arms on the arms. Virtualbox 7.2 finally adds the management of the virtualization of ARMs on ARM hosts, so if you have a Mac M1 PC or later, you can finally configure ARM virtual machines with fast performance.
VirtualBox is now fully supported by Windows 11 virtualization for ARM hosts on ARM PCs, including the invited addition package. Meanwhile, regular X86 Linux hosts now have an acceleration of video decoding when 3D management is activated.
Mac computers now have experimental 3D graphics acceleration using DXMT, the Metal Implementation of Direct3D 11 that crossover and other software already uses. VirtualBox previously used a “non-work solution using DXVK above Moltenvk”. At the same time, the management of 3D acceleration on Mac Intel has been completely deleted, you may want to avoid upgrading if you are counting on this functionality.
Finally, there are many billed bug corrections and smaller improvements in this update. The nested virtualization is fixed on the Intel processors, some audio accidents have been resolved, there is an initial support for the Linux 6.16 and 6.17 core, and the installation of the Windows driver on the hosts has been improved. Certain problems with specific CPU features and journalization have also been resolved.
It’s great to see VirtualBox get better ARM host and guest support, because the options are always limited, especially if you are not on a Mac. As with other virtualization and emulation software, ARM PCs will only obtain rapid virtualized performance with ARM -based operating systems. The emulation of X86 Windows or Linux will always be a slow experience on most ARM PCs.
Download VirtualBox
You can download VirtualBox from the official website, with binaries available for Windows, Intel Mac, Apple Silicon Mac, Linux, Solaris and Solaris 11 IPS. The update must also be deployed to various software standards, so if VirtualBox is installed via your Package Manager in Linux, you will have to continue to wait if you do not already have it.
Source: Virtualbox via Phoronix
