VirtualBox 7.1.2 adds support for 3D acceleration in ARM virtual machines

Oracle has released a new maintenance update for VirtualBox, its open source virtualization software.

VirtualBox 7.1.2 is the first punctual release since the debut of the VirtualBox 7.1 series earlier this month. It naturally builds on this major release with a ton of big fixes, performance finesses, and UI improvements, while also adding some new features.

Among them, it adds the latest version multi-window layout supportgives users the opportunity select a method to secure the remote displayAND 3D acceleration fixes-oddities associated with this, including black screens on Windows VMs and minor rendering issues.

Bug fixes are provided for virtual machines created using the new one Unattended installation features have been properly removed, while macOS (ARM) builds no longer display the beta label as the native Apple Silicon build is considered stable as of VirtualBox 7.1.

Sticking with macOS, the native version of VirtualBox for ARM-based Apple Silicon now supports (optionally) 3D acceleration for guests. This add-on can provide a significant performance boost for your Linux and Windows VMs.

Still no native VirtualBox ARM build for Linux – come on, Oracle!

Several other changes include faster NAT performance on Windows hostsFixed DHCP issues for some guests (only when domain is empty) and better error handling when enabling auto update Guest extras.

Finally, VirtualBox can now load saves created for VirtualBox 7.0.x series virtual machines – so those who upgraded expecting it to work and found out it didn’t, don’t have to worry about losing any previous (important) ) recorded states.

More details in the official changelog.

VirtualBox 7.1.2 is free and open source software for Windows, macOS (including Apple Silicon), Linux and Solaris. You can download the latest version from the official website (which has been redesigned to include the new VirtualBox logo and branding).

If the latest features and UI changes are not as important as convenience, an older version of VirtualBox is available to install from the Ubuntu repositories on all supported versions, just run sudo apt install virtualbox to get it.