WDDM driver

[Joel]

Hello,

I (and probably many other people) would like a WDDM driver for VirtualBox so we can run Aero. Windows 7/Vista don't look very good without Aero.

[Sasquatch]

Aero is a DirectX feature, which VB doesn't support (yet?). Sorry, but it can't be done now. Learn to live with it. You've done it so far up to Windows XP.

[Joel]

Aero is a DirectX feature, which VB doesn't support (yet?). Sorry, but it can't be done now. Learn to live with it. You've done it so far up to Windows XP.

Oh, I thought that 3D acceleration was DirectX acceleration. I guess the feature I want then is DirectX support, then WDDM drivers. I could live with it in XP because the user experience was not noticeably different without DirectX. Also the Windows Basic theme is a form of punishment; they disable Aero for people who are suspected of piracy.

[Sasquatch]

Aero is only eye-candy. Some users don't like that. If you really want some eye-candy, you can try the Wine 3D option. Check the Windows Guests forum for more info on that subject.

[coyotama]

Hello,

I (and probably many other people) would like a WDDM driver for VirtualBox so we can run Aero. Windows 7/Vista don't look very good without Aero.

I (and probably many other people in addition to myself) am excited about the Experimental WDDM Driver for Win7 Guests.

My personal reason for this is because I do not trust Windows DRM getting direct access to the hardware. I'm a linux fan, but I enjoy Windows-based games.

VBox OSE is the protection I need (like a condom) to keep potentially nasty things like Windows from really getting access to my expensive hardware.

My suggestion is very strong and I'm placing the full weight of my will upon this: Focus a little more on the Windows WDDM Driver.

The reason is simple: Many of my friends share my distrust of Windows, but cannot easily be weaned from Windows Games.

DRM is a widespread problem for gamers, and we, the people, do not want Steam, Windows, or any other form of DRM directly accessing the hardware.

I have spoken with many of the developers for VBox in the #vbox/FreeNode IRC channel, and their general response is

Windows? Why are you even using that? Eww, gross. You want Aero and Games? Well isn't that just tough?"

I am personally willing to donate a LOT of money to see this feature implemented, and I might just form a ChipIn account just to come up with enough money to persuade you that this really is a priority, and a huge reason people are willing to deal with the less than welcoming people maintaining competing projects.

I'm sorry if I sound a bit brusque, but the attitude of those maintaining my favorite virtual machine platform is disappointing. I really really hope that the developers and contributers for this project change their mind about this.

Thank you for your time, and thank you in advance.


-- Coyo

[Technologov]

...
My suggestion is very strong and I'm placing the full weight of my will upon this: Focus a little more on the Windows WDDM Driver.
...
I am personally willing to donate a LOT of money to...

DirectX is low priority for Oracle, because VirtualBox is a general-purpose virtualizer, rather than a games-virtualizer.

It can surely be improved, but in order to do so, *you* will have to code yourself and send patches here -or- *hire* developers, who can do this job. They must have very good understanding of C++, Windows Drivers development, Direct3D and OpenGL. Note: the latter option will be costly, and can easily cost over $200,000 and take several years to develop quality Direct3D / WDDM drivers for VirtualBox.
NVIDIA and AMD spend *millions* to bring quality Direct3D drivers.
Current VirtualBox Direct3D drivers fail in both "3D Mark 11" and in WHQL tests, and it will require a _complete_ rewrite rather than some small bug fix to improve this situation.

When I ported GNS3 Network Simulator one year ago to VirtualBox engine I faced the same problem: VirtualBox 4.0 was general-purpose, while I needed more network features. (UDP Tunnel and Wireshark Live Capture). Those were added in VirtualBox 4.1.
But networking is 1000-times easier than 3D graphics.

That said: me too would like to see quality Direct3D drivers for VirtualBox, and I will participate in testing those, but not in development.

Only because VirtualBox software is Open-Source it lets you code the Direct3D driver yourself -or hire people to work on it.
If it was proprietary (such as VirtualPC) - you would have to develop *everything* from scratch.

-Technologov

[SMaster2341]

Hello. I recently decided to install Windows 7 and Windows Vista on the Virtual Box. I successfully installed them. Then I put the guest adapter on them, and then installed the VDDM driver. And I ran into a few problems. With aero glass on Windows 7 all programs and applications installed on it stop working. This is more likely to apply to Internet browsers, because I have not tested other programs. But it's still half the trouble. As for Windows Vista, everything is much worse! After installing it on the VDDM driver, it even starts, but when you try to load the user, it just stays on the "Welcome" screen! I tried to wait a little longer, but nothing happens! Therefore, I have to use WMVare to enjoy the aero glass effect... It's a shame to see such bugs from your favorite program for virtual machines, and I hope that you will fix them...
Windows Vista/7 Ultimate x86

[mpack]

Please don't wake the dead. The thread you are commenting on was opened in 2009. I'm sure you'll understand that things have moved on since then.

Please start your own topic to describe your problem. And, while your feelings and regrets may be of much importance to you, discussions here is usually more productive if you include concrete evidence, such as log files and screenshots.