Virtualization continues to be a big topic among Mac users with Intel-powered Macs. Products from Parallels and VMware allow you to easily run many different operating systems on your Mac, each within its own protected virtual environment. Recently, a third player entered the market--Sun, with its VirtualBox product.

In this Macworld video, I'll give a brief overview of VirtualBox, including the process of installing an operating system, a look at how well it runs with XP Pro, and a quick performance comparison using some HD video playback on VirtualBox and VMware Fusion.

Download Macworld Video #59

Format: MPEG-4/H.264

Resolution: 320 x 240 (iPhone & iPod compatible)

Size: 12.4MB

Length: 6:45

Show Notes

When installing an operating system for this video demo, I opted for OpenSolaris. The video-quality test featured sample clips downloaded from Microsoft's WMV HD content showcase.

If you're interested in more virtualization talk, I recently looked at the beta for VMware Fusion 2. And a year ago, I reviewed Parallels Desktop 3. And you can find more articles about running Windows on your Mac at Macworld.com.

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