VirtualBox, the free and open-source virtual machine manager, just got another update. VirtualBox 7.2 just arrived with better ARM host and guest support, interface improvements, and more.
First, VirtualBox 7.2 moves some buttons and controls out of the main hamburger menu (the icon with three lines). They have been divided into a global tools taskbar on the left side of the window, and a series of tabs horizontally above the right hand panel. VirtualBox’s interface isn’t the most user-friendly design around, so it’s great to see some usability improvements in that area.
Most of the other improvements are related to ARM processor support, which VirtualBox has been slower to adopt compared toParallels Desktop, VMWare, and QEMU frontends likeUTM. VirtualBox added experimental support for Mac computers with ARM-based Apple Silicon chipsback in 2022, but only for x86 emulation, not ARM-on-ARM virtualization. VirtualBox 7.2 finally adds support for ARM virtualization on ARM hosts, so if you have an M1 or later Mac or ARM Windows PC, you can finally set up ARM virtual machines with fast performance.
VirtualBox now fully supports virtualization ofWindows 11 for ARMon ARM PC hosts, including the Guest additions package. Meanwhile, regular x86 Linux hosts now have video decoding acceleration when 3D support is enabled.
Mac computers also now have experimental 3D graphics acceleration usingDXMT, the Metal-based implementation of Direct3D 11 that CrossOver and other software already uses. VirtualBox previously used a “non working solution using DXVK on top of MoltenVK.” At the same time, support for 3D acceleration on Intel Macs has been fully removed, so you might want to avoid upgrading if you rely on that functionality.
Finally, there are many smaller bug fixes and improvements in this update. Nested virtualization is fixed on Intel CPUs, some audio crashes have been resolved, there’s initial support for Linux kernel 6.16 and 6.17, and Windows driver installation on hosts has been improved. Some issues with specific CPU features and logging have also been addressed.
It’s great to see VirtualBox get better ARM host and guest support, since the options there are still limited, especially if you’re not on a Mac. As with other virtualization and emulation software, ARM PCs will only get fast virtualized performance with ARM-based operating systems. Emulating x86 Windows or Linux will still be a slow experience on most ARM PCs.
You candownload VirtualBoxfrom the official website, with binaries available for Windows, Intel Macs, Apple Silicon Macs, Linux, Solaris, and Solaris 11 IPS. The update should also be rolling out to various software repositories, so if you have VirtualBox installed through your package manager on Linux, you’ll have to keep waiting if you don’t have it already.
