MAMEWorld Forums - EmuChat - Re: How good is VirtualBox?

> > How does it compare to DosBox, how is the performance, and are there any emulation
> > issues? It looks like it takes much more time to set up. But if you're trying to
> play
> > an old Windows game, VirtualBox is probably the only option.
>
> Your best bet is to just try it. VirtualBox is ok for XP and up. But if it uses
> anything more fancy than directx frame buffers (ie 3D) it stinks and is very hit or
> miss. You would be better off with vmware. DOSBox is very good for DOS games. The
> solutions for win95 are fairly hit or miss. DOSBox can handle win3x pretty good.
> However win95 compat is all over the place. If you can get it to run the speed is
> pretty good on both. With vb you can sometimes run into odd issues where you can not
> even install win9x. There are whole websites out there dedicated to just getting
> win9x running and patched.
>
> As for setup virtualbox is about the equiv of installing an OS then getting the
> software to install. There are plenty of tutorials out there (including the vb site).
> DOSBox is more like setting up an application and then running the dos application
> installer. Both can be kinda quirky but nothing you cant figure out with a bit of
> google.

Yep, I agree with lharms. I am a long time DOSBox and VirtualBox user and have tried lots of things under VirtualBox: a dozen or more flavours of Linux, every version of DOS from v1.x, every version of Windows since v1.x, BE OS, OS/2, and various others. I do 95% if my daily work in various VirtualBox VM's.

For games, VirtualBox can be "iffy", especially if they require 3D or they "push the hardware". Simple games like PokerStars, Monopoly, Bad Piggies, Plants Vs Zombies, etc work fine, but anything more advanced can have issues. e.g. Hearthstone (the collectible card game) is unstable and crashes fairly often in a VM.

Your best is to give it a try and see if it works for whatever you want to do.

Moose