VirtualBox 2.0 for OSX vs. Parallels Desktop

I know - it's been a long time since I've been blogging. There are new kids on the blog (tsk) that requires my attention. In more than one way that is.

And on to the point of this post..

I use OSX Leopard. Because of my work, I have to use Windows as well (for certain developer tools unavailable for OSX as well as Outlook).

Until recently I've used Parallels Desktop 3.0, because of the tight desktop integration compared to VMWare Fusion.

But the last couple of weeks I've used VirtualBox 1.6.4. The only thing I've had against VirtualBox during this period was the lack of host interface networking (bridged networking). This is a feature that has been present in the Windows, solaris and Linux versions, but not OSX (I need it because of some local servers on our network, on which I've needed to access LAN-only ports).

With VirtualBox 2.0 this is no longer a problem for OSX hosts - VirtualBox 2.0.0 supports host interface/bridged networking for OSX hosts! :-)

So I can only recommend VirtualBox for current Parallels Desktop/VMWare Fusion users! VirtualBox is free (as in free beer), and new features/bugfixes are coming up fast.

There are still a few things I miss from Parallels Desktop, but not enough to make me consider re-installing Parallels:

1. The possibility to have the Windows taskbar present in all Spaces in seamless mode
2. The possibility to have (selected) Windows applications appear in the Dock
3. The possiblity to use CMD-TAB to be able to tab between open OSX applications, without having to press the "host" button first (which per default is also the CMD key)
4. This is almost the same request as the above: The ability to switch between Spaces using a CMD-based shortcut, without having to press the "host" button first.

The two last points could perhaps be merged to a feature, that makes it possible to use certain (selected?) OSX only keyboard shortcuts/gestures - if they aren't used in the virtualized operating system, without having to "uncapture" the keyboard and/or mouse first.

Congratulations Sun - VirtualBox is truly an amazing Open Source offer, on par with the best commercial products. Where VirtualBox lacks minor nice-to-haves, VirtualBox seems significantly faster than - at least - Parallels Desktop 3.0. For most personal/business users this is much more important than a couple of nice-to-haves. Including myself ;)

No matter if you are using Windows, Linux, OpenSolaris or Mac OSX as your host operating system - go ahead: Use VirtualBox for your virtualization needs (and please comment if you don't agree, have additional facts or else you want to share).

UPDATE:
Another feature would be nice to have: Drag-and-drop between the virtualized and host desktops.