| Feature | VirtualBox | Parallels Workstation / Desktop | VMware Fusion / Workstation / vSphere
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| Supported host operating systems | Windows XP, 2003, Vista, 2008 Server, Windows 7, 2012 Server, Windows 8, Linux, Mac OS X, Solaris 10U5+, OpenSolaris, FreeBSD | Windows XP, Vista, 7, Linux, OS X | Windows 2000, XP, 2003, Vista, Linux (32bit and 64bit), Mac OS X
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| Supported guest operating systems | DOS, Windows 3.1, 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP, Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8, Windows Server 2003/2008/2012, Linux, OpenBSD, FreeBSD, OS/2, Solaris, OpenSolaris, others | DOS, Windows 3.1, 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP, Vista, Linux, OS/2 | DOS, Windows 3.1, 95, 98, NT, 2000, XP, Vista, Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris
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| 64bit host OS support | yes | yes | yes
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| 64bit guest OS support | yes | yes | yes
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| Intel VT-x support (CPU virtualization extensions) | yes | yes | yes
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| AMD-V support (CPU virtualization extensions) | yes | yes | yes
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| Virtual network cards | up to 36 | up to 5 | up to 4
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| Virtual Disk Controller | IDE or SATA (up to 32 disks in a guest) or SCSI | IDE (up to 4) | IDE or SCSI
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| USB support | yes | yes | yes
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| iSCSI support (VMs can directly access storage servers over iSCSI) | yes | no | no
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| Serial ports | up to 4 | up to 4 | yes
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| Parallel ports | up to 2 | up to 3 | yes
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| CD/DVD writing | yes | no | no
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| 3D acceleration | yes (OpenGL 1.5) | no | limited
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| Support of VMware images | yes | no | n/a
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| Headless operation | yes | no | yes
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| Remote VM access | Integrated RDP server | no | limited
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| Remote USB support | Yes, arbitrary devices | no | no
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| Seamless Windows | yes | yes | yes
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| Shared Folders | yes | yes | yes
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| Guest power status reporting | yes | no | yes
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| API | Full API, 100% scriptable | no | yes
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| Open source | yes (dual licensed, some enterprise features are closed source) | no | no
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| Customizations | yes, upon request | no | no
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| License costs | Free | Workstation for Windows/Linux - $49.99, Desktop for Mac OS X - $79.99 | Workstation for Windows/Linux around $199, Fusion for Mac - $79.99, vSphere starting at $900
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