virtualbox vs vmware workstation performance

In the instructions below, I show you how to change your adapter type and get it working for better network performance. You will also need to load drivers into Windows before you can use this adapter type. Unfortunately, it’s not quite as simple as just changing the Adapter Type field to Paravirtualized Network under Advanced in your VM’s network settings. But I discovered this is the root of the performance issue. By default, if you use the out-of-the-box settings, VirtualBox uses an emulated Intel PRO/1000 MT adapter for Windows VMs. Oracle’s documentation suggests the best way to get optimal network performance is to use the Paravirtualized Network (virtio-net) adapter type. Install a Paravirtualized Network AdapterĪfter some digging around, it seems that VirtualBox is optimized for Linux guests. Using the default network configuration, browsing the web and transferring files is frustratingly sluggish. And to be fair to Hyper-V, it is a server solution that is provided in Windows 10 for the convenience of IT professionals rather than as a user-friendly virtualization solution for everyone.īut while I’ve found performance in VirtualBox to be excellent, one aspect hasn’t lived up to expectations.

Also, 64-bit VMs aren’t supported in VirtualBox if another hypervisor, like Hyper-V, is also installed on the system. For instance, trying to get a high screen resolution inside virtual machines (VM) seems almost impossible. VirtualBox might be easier to use than Hyper-V but not everything is great.

USB passthrough support is also more seamless than Hyper-V. For example, VirtualBox supports file drag and drop between host and source, and vice versa. But the main reason I’m still using VirtualBox is that it is more user-friendly if you need to interact with the VM.

Initially, I was doubtful that VirtualBox could provide the same performance as Hyper-V but in practice, I’ve found the difference between the two to be negligible.

I was curious as to why some people preferred it over Hyper-V. Then earlier this year, I decided to give VirtualBox a spin. For years I used VMWare Workstation and then switched to Hyper-V when it became part of Windows 8, largely because it was free and promised better performance as a type-1 hypervisor. Oracle VirtualBox is a type-2 hypervisor that is popular on Windows, macOS, Linux, and Solaris.

Virtualbox vs vmware workstation performance