{"slug": "virtualbox", "name": "VirtualBox", "category": "infra", "category_name": "Infrastructure and DevOps", "description": "", "recommenders": 1, "commenters": 8, "warners": 2, "score": 0.568, "rising": -0.33, "first": "2025-11-28", "latest": "2026-10-31", "why": "Have you tried VirtualBox? That\u2019s my go-to for running un-trusted code.", "why_is_quote": true, "has_verdict": false, "sentiment": {"recommend": 1, "neutral": 4, "compare": 1, "warn": 2}, "spark": [0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 0, 0, 0], "listed": false, "loved": [], "caveat": "", "short_quote": "Have you tried VirtualBox? That\u2019s my go-to for running un-trusted code.", "icon": false, "domain": null, "github_repo": null, "official_url": "", "pricing": "", "aliases": ["VirtualBox"], "verdict": null, "praise": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 785217472, "item_id": 49076092, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49076092", "by": "ebcode", "date": "2026-07-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Have you tried VirtualBox? That\u2019s my go-to for running un-trusted code.", "excerpt": "Have you tried VirtualBox? That\u2019s my go-to for running un-trusted code. Start with a clean VM/fresh install, and don\u2019t put any secrets in it.", "context": "", "use_case": "running untrusted code", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How to deal with security implications of running/installing projects?"}]}], "caveats": [{"label": "", "summary": "", "quotes": [{"id": 757895920, "item_id": 47368495, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47368495", "by": "alwillis", "date": "2026-03-13", "stance": "warn", "quote": "it's become pretty bloated over the years", "excerpt": "> Last I checked VirtualBox on Apple Silicon only permits the running of ARM64 guests. I used to use VirtualBox a lot back in the day. I tried it recently on my Mac; it's become pretty bloated over the years. On the other hand, this GUI for Quem is pretty nice [1]. [1]: https://mac.getutm.app", "context": "", "use_case": "running VMs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Parallels Confirms MacBook Neo Can Run Windows in a Virtual Machine"}, {"id": 745100338, "item_id": 46568771, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46568771", "by": "Lvl999Noob", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Virtualbox doesn't support gpu passthrough", "excerpt": "I recently switched to linux from windows. The only reason I was sticking with windows was because hoyoverse refuses to support linux. I finally decided I need some break from them anyways and took the plunge. First, I tried to install fedora atomic cosmic. It kind of worked but I could not get it to work with my dock + external monitors at all. Now that I am used to that setup, I can't go back. Not wanting to spend ", "context": "", "use_case": "running games in a VM", "switched_from": "", "story": "I replaced Windows with Linux and everything's going great"}]}], "who": [{"by": "andrewf", "context": "retrocomputing hobbyist", "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49519228", "date": "2026-09-01"}], "tags": [], "use_cases": ["isolating accounts in vms", "single-machine alternative", "desktop virtualization", "building dos code", "running untrusted code", "running vms"], "compared": [{"slug": "utm", "name": "UTM", "co": 2, "switched_from": 0, "switched_to": 1}], "makers": [], "threads": [{"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50316531", "title": "Malware uses LLMs to rank victims by how much they're worth", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50198675", "title": "OpenShell \u2013 A safe, private runtime for fleets of autonomous AI agents", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49602699", "title": "Leaving VMware just got harder after Broadcom pulled VDDK downloads", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49424322", "title": "Claude \u00d7 retrocomputing: emulating a QIC-117 tape drive", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49075417", "title": "Ask HN: How to deal with security implications of running/installing projects?", "mentions": 1}, {"url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47364729", "title": "Parallels Confirms MacBook Neo Can Run Windows in a Virtual Machine", "mentions": 1}], "sentiment_by_month": {"2025-11": {"neutral": 1}, "2025-12": {}, "2026-01": {"warn": 1}, "2026-02": {}, "2026-03": {"warn": 1}, "2026-04": {}, "2026-05": {}, "2026-06": {}, "2026-07": {"recommend": 1}, "2026-08": {}, "2026-09": {"neutral": 2}, "2026-10": {"compare": 1, "neutral": 1}}, "quotes": [{"id": 805100496, "item_id": 50318781, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50318781", "by": "tetraodonpuffer", "date": "2026-10-31", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I actually go so far as having virtualbox VMs for some of those within the same computer", "excerpt": "this is what I do, and it's fairly cheap nowadays if you just buy 2nd hand, I actually go so far as having virtualbox VMs for some of those within the same computer (say I have my \"important accounts\" computer that has some virtualbox VMs with each a browser with only some of those). Gaming is a windows PC that has only games (so who cares) and a ps5 (so I can rent games at the library for free), development is a lin", "context": "", "use_case": "isolating accounts in VMs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Malware uses LLMs to rank victims by how much they're worth"}, {"id": 803429046, "item_id": 50214315, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=50214315", "by": "walrus01", "date": "2026-10-23", "stance": "compare", "quote": "running virtualbox on your laptop, make a disk image file", "excerpt": "In my case it's a fairly boring proxmox server. The KVM VM started as a bare bones debian install and then I added xorg and xfce4 and the tiger vnc server. I have a GUI on it for when I want to use it that way (in screen dimensions that are a 1:1 mapping of the native resolution of my laptop for full screen VNC session), or of course I also talk to it by regular SSH session, and screen or tmux. The VNC server listens", "context": "Runs a headless VM reached via VNC/SSH", "use_case": "single-machine alternative", "switched_from": "", "story": "OpenShell \u2013 A safe, private runtime for fleets of autonomous AI agents"}, {"id": 793674274, "item_id": 49604642, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49604642", "by": "SanjayMehta", "date": "2026-09-08", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "As a user of VMware Desktop who switched to VirtualBox", "excerpt": "As a user of VMware Desktop who switched to VirtualBox, my experience was VMware was just so much easier to use. I now use UTM to host Windows 11 Pro on my mac for exactly one Windows application. With the exception of suspend, it does the job.", "context": "", "use_case": "desktop virtualization", "switched_from": "VMware Desktop", "story": "Leaving VMware just got harder after Broadcom pulled VDDK downloads"}, {"id": 792307650, "item_id": 49519228, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49519228", "by": "andrewf", "date": "2026-09-01", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "Windows XP (2001) VirtualBox (2007) using its' Shared Folder feature", "excerpt": "I've a retrocomputing project which has been gathering dust since before I used an LLM. The idea is to render an isometric view with Quake-style lightmaps; if scrolling is slow enough I only need to render a small slice of the screen each time. I got as far as a proof of concept on a simulated 286 which indicates the pixels-per-second I can achieve is fast enough. Testing on a real 286 would be the next step. All the", "context": "retrocomputing hobbyist", "use_case": "building DOS code", "switched_from": "", "story": "Claude \u00d7 retrocomputing: emulating a QIC-117 tape drive"}, {"id": 785217472, "item_id": 49076092, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49076092", "by": "ebcode", "date": "2026-07-27", "stance": "recommend", "quote": "Have you tried VirtualBox? That\u2019s my go-to for running un-trusted code.", "excerpt": "Have you tried VirtualBox? That\u2019s my go-to for running un-trusted code. Start with a clean VM/fresh install, and don\u2019t put any secrets in it.", "context": "", "use_case": "running untrusted code", "switched_from": "", "story": "Ask HN: How to deal with security implications of running/installing projects?"}, {"id": 757895920, "item_id": 47368495, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=47368495", "by": "alwillis", "date": "2026-03-13", "stance": "warn", "quote": "it's become pretty bloated over the years", "excerpt": "> Last I checked VirtualBox on Apple Silicon only permits the running of ARM64 guests. I used to use VirtualBox a lot back in the day. I tried it recently on my Mac; it's become pretty bloated over the years. On the other hand, this GUI for Quem is pretty nice [1]. [1]: https://mac.getutm.app", "context": "", "use_case": "running VMs", "switched_from": "", "story": "Parallels Confirms MacBook Neo Can Run Windows in a Virtual Machine"}, {"id": 745100338, "item_id": 46568771, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46568771", "by": "Lvl999Noob", "date": "2026-01-10", "stance": "warn", "quote": "Virtualbox doesn't support gpu passthrough", "excerpt": "I recently switched to linux from windows. The only reason I was sticking with windows was because hoyoverse refuses to support linux. I finally decided I need some break from them anyways and took the plunge. First, I tried to install fedora atomic cosmic. It kind of worked but I could not get it to work with my dock + external monitors at all. Now that I am used to that setup, I can't go back. Not wanting to spend ", "context": "", "use_case": "running games in a VM", "switched_from": "", "story": "I replaced Windows with Linux and everything's going great"}, {"id": 737367105, "item_id": 46085444, "url": "https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46085444", "by": "andai", "date": "2025-11-28", "stance": "neutral", "quote": "I remember playing with something similar in Virtualbox, it had a seamless mode too. It was a bit janky", "excerpt": "Thought \"isn't that just Wine\" but no! They are virtualizing it! And integrating them seamlessly with Linux desktop somehow! Looks pretty cool. I remember playing with something similar in Virtualbox, it had a seamless mode too. It was a bit janky, and I think they removed it recently. I used it in the old days, to have MSN messenger on Ubuntu :)", "context": "", "use_case": "seamless Windows apps on Linux", "switched_from": "", "story": "WinApps: Run Windows apps as if they were a part of the native Linux OS"}]}