virtualbox.org

I am considering using VirtualBox on my home PC. I expect to use the latest Ubuntu Linux for most purposes, and Windows XP for specialty apps and computer games.

Past attempts at virtualization left me very disappointed. VMWare was unable to use native O/S hardware drivers and therefore would not make proper use of the top of the line ATI video card on my PC (bad for games). And to boot, it was using up resources and noticeably slowing down the computer even when I shut down the other O/S. VirtualPC is even worse... they dropped Linux support! VirtualBox is my last hope...

Questions:

1) From your personal experience, will VirtualBox fully utilize the O/S drivers and give me access to all the features of my video card? Or am I better off forgetting about virtualization and stick to dual boot?

2) Since my hardware can handle it, will I have problems using a 64-bit O/S as the base and mount 32-bit O/S virtually?

3) Which is a better choice for a base O/S: 64-bit Ubuntu Linux, or 32-bit XP? Please keep in mind the bit about playing games on XP.

4) I currently have only 2Gb of RAM and it has been more than enough for my uses with a single O/S. Time to add RAM? How much?

Thank you for your input.

B.

bmelloni,

From your questions it appears to me that your emphasis is on good gaming. With that in mind stick to a dual boot system.

I don't know the answer to all of your questions but for #1 Virtual Box uses it's own built-in video driver, so you will not be using the windows drivers. 3d support and what that means for games is in it's infancy and has a ways to go before it will be able to work satifactorily.

As to a comparasion between Vmware and Virtual Box, I found that Vbox operated faster for me on my hardware, but I do have other problems with it, which I hope will be addressed in the future. I use it to use AutoCad and while it is a demanding program it does work for me so far.

And for the record 2gig of ram is fast becoming the minimum needed to run the newer programs.

Hope this is of some help,
MCP

1) From your personal experience, will VirtualBox fully utilize the O/S drivers and give me access to all the features of my video card? Or am I better off forgetting about virtualization and stick to dual boot?

Ans: No. Your guests will only get basic / generic video features.

[2) Since my hardware can handle it, will I have problems using a 64-bit O/S as the base and mount 32-bit O/S virtually?

No. It works for me!

3) Which is a better choice for a base O/S: 64-bit Ubuntu Linux, or 32-bit XP? Please keep in mind the bit about playing games on XP.

Use Win as the host. Really, if you need to exploit all the power and/or features of a system for your applications, use that as the host.

4) I currently have only 2Gb of RAM and it has been more than enough for my uses with a single O/S. Time to add RAM? How much?

As much as you can (OK, that's particularly unhelpful.) At least anther GB. If your box will run stable with 4GB, use that. Some motherboards say they support 4GB, but the O/S requires a "hole" for certain drivers, so you may lose up to half a GB. Some say they support 4GB but become unreliable or crashy. Some say they support 4GB(or more) and are telling the truth! How will you know? Either try it - if you've been messin' with overclocking there's probably no other way to be sure if what you've done, with the new memory you plan to use, will run satisfactorily. If you've got a quality M/B and you plan to use quality memory, there may be others who have written about their experiences - try google.

pete_l wrote:

3) ...base O/S: 64-bit Ubuntu Linux, or 32-bit XP? ...

Use Win as the host. ...

4) ... Time to add RAM? How much?

As much as you can (OK, that's particularly unhelpful.) At least anther GB. If your box will run stable with 4GB, use that. ...

and dont forget that 32bit XP cant address more than 4GB, remapped to above 4GB PCI-address RAM between about 3,2 to 4GB is lost - and anyway no program running under 32bit XP (e.g. Virtualbox) can get more than 2GB

fill RAM to the max and use it for virtualisation under Linux 64bit - dualboot to XP for games... just my 0,02ct