Oracle continues its goals around open source cloud services, as they announced the availability of cross-platform virtualization software dubbed as Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.0. The new products are expected to deliver an improved usability, performance and scalability.

Virtualization-wise, VM VirtualBox will allow desktop and laptop computers to run multiple guest operating systems all together. It supports major host operating systems such as Windows, Mac OS X, the best from Linux including Oracle Linux, and Oracle Solaris. Additionally, it also supports the latest virtual hardware including chipsets supporting PCI Express, as well as boasting its new open architecture to allow Oracle and community developers to build extensions that aren’t currently existing.

Improved performance is noticeable with a new asynchronous I/O model for networked and local storage. For demo purposes, it also allows datacenter-class workloads to be executed on 32.bit Windows.  Moreover, standards-compliant OVF appliances support and OVA format, allowing all information about the VM to be stored in a single folder for immediate sharing among VMs.

“Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.0 is the third major product release in just over a year, and adds to the many new product releases across the Oracle Virtualization product line, illustrating the investment and importance that Oracle places on providing a comprehensive desktop to datacenter virtualization solution,” said Wim Coekaerts, senior vice president, Linux and Virtualization Engineering, Oracle. “With an improved user interface and added virtual hardware support, customers will find Oracle VM VirtualBox 4.0 provides a richer user experience.”