Sun’s Virtual Box allows you to run x86 OSes inside MacOS.  This isn’t something new or revolutionary.  I’ve

been using Parallels since day 1 and have had relatively smooth sailings since.  What’s different about Virtual Box is that it’s open source and free to use.  We have a intel based mac-mini here so I decided to give it a whirl.  Here’s are my initial impressions

1. Installation:  A breeze.  I popped open the DMG and installed.  The process was quick and when asked to pop in a Windows install disk, it did the rest.  The only problem was…I was installing Windows.
2. Speed:  It’s not too shabby.  I haven’t used VMWare but compared to Parallels 3, Virtual Box seems to hold its own quite well.  Not to mention it only took up 50ish mbs on my comp.  It’s got a small footprint and wasn’t too resource intensive.  It can only get better in subsequent versions I imagine.
3. Stability:  No crash, No spinning beachball, No disappointments
4. Price:  It’s free.  Can’t beat it.
5. Features:  It has the basics of what I need.  It handles HD size, memory usage, hardware mounts, and more.  The only thing I’ve noticed so far that’s missing is the ability to use an existing Boot Camp partition for virtualizing.  Hopefully it’ll be in the next version but I’m not holding my breath.

The quick summary:  After spending about 1/2 hour doing the setup and install, it seemed quite quick and relatively easy to use.  If you’re a light Windows user or work for a dev shop that has to test on Windows browsers, this free alternative solution seems like a real bargain.  Grab a copy at http://www.virtualbox.org