1 New Features for Release 7.2

The new features and changes in Oracle VirtualBox 7.2 are listed here.

For details of all changes, for each maintenance release, see Change Log.

Windows on Arm

Windows on Arm Guests

This release adds the ability to install Windows 11 as a guest OS on a VM with a virtual Arm processor. Guest additions are available.

The Arm64 host can be running either macOS or Windows 11 (Experimental Feature).

Note:

Arm VMs will not run on an x86_64 host.

See Host and Guest Combinations.

Windows on Arm Hosts (Experimental Feature)

This release extends the Windows installation package for Oracle VirtualBox to include hosts running Windows 11 on an Arm64 processor, as an experimental feature.

Using Oracle VirtualBox on an Arm64 processor running Windows 11 is not covered by Oracle Premier Support. If you plan to use this feature, contact Oracle Sales with an indication of the number of hosts so that we can estimate demand for support of this feature.

The guest OS on VMs running on an Arm64 host can be Oracle Linux for Arm64 or Windows 11 for Arm64.

Note:

x86_64 VMs will not run on an Arm64 host.

See Host and Guest Combinations.

Arm Hosts

vboxwebsrv is now included in the installation packages.

Saved States and Snapshots of Arm VMs

We've improved the way that saved states and snapshots are stored. This makes them incompatible with previous versions of VirtualBox.

Note:

The saved state of an Arm VM from VirtualBox 7.1 is incompatible with VirtualBox 7.2. To preserve a saved state for an Arm VM, first open it and then shut down the VM in the required state before upgrading to 7.2.

Snapshots of Arm VMs, with associated saved states, created with 7.1 will not work in 7.2.

Graphics Changes

We've made improvements to the display and integration of graphics on VirtualBox VMs.

  • Video decoding acceleration is now available when 3D is enabled on Linux hosts.

  • Added WDDM Graphics driver, for 2D mode only.

Networking Changes

NAT Network has been updated for consistency with NAT.

VirtualBox Manager Changes

We've made improvements to the VirtualBox Manager user interface in this release:

  • The global tools are now available from a sidebar on the left hand side, making them easier to find.

    The VM tools now appear, as appropriate, on tabs above the right hand pane. This makes them easier to find and use.

  • A new Home screen aids navigation and improves access to common tasks in VirtualBox.
  • The guided process to create a VM has been updated and improved.
  • Shared Folders can now be made Global. This means they are shared with all VMs on a host. See Shared Folders for details.

VBoxManage Command Line Changes

The following VBoxManage command changes have been introduced:

  • VBoxManage sharedfolder now has a global option to make a shared folder global, rather than shared with a named VM. This means it is shared with all VMs on a host. See Shared Folders for details.

Software Development Kit Changes

No significant changes to the SDK have been introduced in this release.

See the SDK Programming Guide and Reference for the latest SDK.