VirtualBox is a popular free software program owned by Oracle that lets users run virtual machines on Windows, macOS, and Linux. This week, Oracle released VirtualBox 7.0, which not only brings multiple new features and enhancements but also adds beta support for Apple Silicon Macs for the first time.
VirtualBox now works with M1 and M2 Macs
When the first Apple Silicon Macs were announced in 2020, running virtual machines on them wasn’t exactly an easy task – especially when it came to Windows virtual machines. Thankfully, major macOS virtual machine programs have already been updated to work with the latest Macs, and now VirtualBox is part of that list.
With VirtualBox 7.0, users can finally create and run virtual machines on a Mac equipped with an Apple Silicon chip, which includes the M1 and M2 chips. However, as noted by Oracle in the official release notes for the update, this is still a beta feature under development. In other words, it may not work as expected for now.
The latest VirtualBox update also brings some other important enhancements. For instance, virtual machines can now be fully encrypted and cloud virtual machines can be managed as local machines. It also adds DirectX 11 support for better 3D graphics on Windows and drops support for old kernel extensions on macOS in favor of more modern APIs.
A huge list of bugs has also been fixed with the 7.0 update. Oracle says the new version also makes the cloud network functionality more reliable for local virtual machines. Users can download VirtualBox 7.0 on the platform’s official website. If you have a Mac with an M1 or M2 chip, be sure to download the Developer Preview for Arm64 Macs.
It’s worth noting that there are other alternatives for running virtual machines on macOS, such as the well-known Parallels Desktop and VMWare Fusion.
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