VirtualBox 7.2.0 is a major stable release of Oracle’s open‑source virtualization software, introduced on August 14, 2025 Oracle DocumentationCyber Security News. It builds upon its predecessors with several important enhancements especially in UI design, ARM architecture support, performance, and compatibility. VirtualBox is a hosted hypervisor a virtualization tool allowing you to run multiple operating systems (known as guest OSes) concurrently on one physical machine (the host). It supports a wide range of platforms including Windows, macOS, Linux, and Solaris
Key New Features & Upgrades
1. User Interface Overhaul
- The traditional hamburger menus have been replaced with a left-side vertical global tools taskbar, featuring quick links: Home, Machines, Extensions, Media, Network, Cloud, Resources.
- In the VM-specific view, tools are now accessible via horizontal tabs above the right-hand panel.
- Additional enhancements include polished Preferences and Settings pages, a global Shared Folder checkbox, and improved handling of keyboard LEDs in the Soft Keyboard.
2. ARM Platform Expansion
- Added ARM virtualization support for Windows hosts, enabling ARM VM operation within the unified Windows installer.
- Supports running Windows 11 on ARM guests across Windows, Linux, and macOS ARM hosts.
- Includes Guest Additions and a WDDM graphics driver (2D and 3D modes) for Windows/ARM guests, plus shared folders and ACPI support.
- On macOS ARM hosts, introduces experimental 3D acceleration using DXMT (abandoning previous DXVK‑MoltenVK setup). 3D acceleration is no longer supported on Intel‑based macOS hosts.
3. Performance & Host Support
- Linux hosts now benefit from hardware-accelerated video decoding when 3D is enabled — boosts video playback performance inside VMs.
- Initial compatibility with Linux kernels 6.16 and 6.17, supporting recent distributions.
4. Storage & NVMe Controller
- NVMe storage controller emulation is now integrated into the open-source base package (no longer requires a proprietary extension).
- Fixed corruption issues when resizing VMDK images.
5. Virtual Machine Monitor (VMM) & Hyper-V Improvements
- Enhanced CPU feature reporting for x86_64 and ARM when using Windows Hyper-V as the backend.
- Added handling for xsave/xrestor instructions, enabling guest access to x86_64‑v3 instructions (e.g., AVX, AVX2).
- Fixed Nested Virtualization issues on Intel CPUs
Download Links
VirtualBox 7.2.0 platform packages
- Windows hosts
- macOS / Intel hosts
- macOS / Apple Silicon hosts
- Linux distributions
- Solaris hosts
- Solaris 11 IPS hosts
80% Awesome
- Design