WIZZARD1  The one good file that I did manage to download now works. I have to run the uninstall twice with a reboot in between. I think the uninstall also leaves files behind that don't work with 3.0 as well. As well, it does not install well upgrading 2.2.4. Since the dev does not use standard file locations and 'fixes' some file locations it is probably good to run the uninstall twice with a reboot.

This however does not explain the 400 bad request at 98.53% when attempting to download from their site. Don't think it is an overload situation but a server reboot might clear the issue.  
(Version 3.0)

WIZZARD1  Someone needs to contact whoever posts for download at VirtualBox/Sun. I have been trying to download 3.0 since it was released. Either it downloads and the app will not be start (bounces once) or it will not finish a download - gets to 98.53% and then hits 400 bad requests. I have tried to get ahold of them to make them aware but so far have been unsuccesful.

There is nothing wrong with my connection at all as I have no issues downloading anything else including stuff from Sun and also much larger files. There is nothing blocking this.

Please correct and repost a good build or fix your download servers.  
(Version 3.0)

E_COMMERCE  Still throwing files all over the disk when it has no business doing so.

- "/Library/Extensions" is not a standard location (but at least it's not in /System).

- StartupItems have been deprecated for over four years.

- Mixing in VirtualBox items in /usr/bin instead of /usr/local/bin is annoying.

All of this makes it hard to remove, hard to migrate to a new system, and hard to backup (it you're not running Time Machine). What's annoying is that none of this is necessary - kernel extensions can be dynamically loaded from inside the application bundle, the StartupItem can be changed to a launchd agent and loaded dynamically, and the command line utilities are optional (and could be installed by the app on first run if requested).

All this detrius is unnecessary and sloppy.  
(Version 3.0)

BCWINTERS  I needed to do some work on a Windows-only database, and decided to give VirtualBox a try before shelling out for Fusion. And boy am I glad I did.

This program has a surprisingly terrific level of polish and excellent (if somewhat techy) documentation.

While the UI isn't truly native it's very intuitive and quite nicely finished, and anyway you only touch the UI for a little while when setting up a new guest OS.

I had XP and my development tools installed in less time than it would have taken on a real PC (thanks to disk images instead of CDs!), and only needed to tweak one setting in the prefs to get access to my office's PPTP VPN--I think it was switching the "Attached To" setting to "Bridged" instead of "NAT," IIRC.

From there on out, it was smooth, speedy sailing. I love you, VirtualBox.  
(Version 2.2.4)

PISSNAROUND  3d acceleration seems to be problematic for all guests.   
(Version 2.2.4)

UNXADM  Frequent updates and stability make this a great free alternative to Parallels. They can't even get an update out that supports Ubuntu 9.04. Virtualbox has had already 2 updates since Ubuntu 9.04 came out. Highly recommend it.  
(Version 2.2.4)

ONE78MAN  Do you need to execute other OS inside your Mac? this is a good solution, i really love it.

Of course you will not be able to run heavy software (video games for example) but for test and simple software (browser internet, specific/old application) it's a perfect solution.  
(Version 2.2.2)

PCHARLES67  Once I figured out how to get the VMWare drive opened in VirtualBox I then had to figure out what network setting to use because the defaults did not work on my MacBook. After about an hour or so of messing with this, Windows told me that the activated virtual machine was nolonger activated and I needed a new serial. Same for Office and a couple of other activated applications, so back to VMWare, which is still a lot more polished.

Good for free though, particularly if you are starting from scratch. VMware was less of a headache to get running on my machine and has not presented activation problems when upgrading. I was running Parallels on my iMac and had problems with activation when trying to upgrade from 3 to 4, so moved to VMWare and have been much happier.  
(Version 2.2.2)

IMINI  Very interesting, fast, ahead of the competition in some areas (compiz in Linux kind of works). Behind in some others (lack od DriectX).

But also very unstable and unreliable - hangs, kernel panics, VM sudden exits, no pointer in compiz, graphics refresh problems, etc.

So far staying with VMWare witch is is visibly slower, but rock solid. But I will try new VirtualBox versions and observe the progress.  
(Version 2.2)

DENDE O  As a very early adopter of virtualization in the corporate world (running Vmware's Virtual Infrastructure product) and being very impressed by it, I never bothered to really try Parallels, I went straight for VMware Fusion on my late 2007 MBP, it ran great with no problems, and I loved it. On my early 2009 MBP with 4Gb and a speedy 7200 rpm drive Fusion still ran great. However, Im in the Technology R&D profession, and I find the best way to evaluate any product it to use it in your day to day life, and thats what I did when I tried Virtual Box.

I made a copy of my VMware Fusion's vmdk and converted my windows XP VM to virtualbox and ran it for a number of weeks. The speed difference between virutalbox and fusion was immediately clear. Virtualbox ran circles around Fusion in performance. Fusion was always a very stabled product and so is virtualbox, (though in some early iderations of vb things werent quite as stabled as they are now), I am also amazed how much lighter the vb footprint is on my system. When I ran fusion, I would only start fusion up when I wanted to exclusively use windowsXP because I knew all my other mac sessions would perform poorly...and I can just about forget about launching photoshop and bridge together. With Virtualbox, I start windows and leave it running in a different space (on leopard) and sometimes forget its running. When I close the cover of my mpb, virtualbox automatically sleep the vm and wake it back up when I open the lid.

I am still a very big advocate for VMware in the corporate world, but for all my home users there is no better virtualization product than Virtualbox  
(Version 2.2)