Boxes For Linux

When it comes to virtualization software, it's safe to say that Linux users are not at a disadvantage when compared to those of other popular OSes.

Oracle's VirtualBox, KMV, RHV (Red Hat Virtualization), QEMU, and VMware Workstation are just some examples of excellent virtualization apps for Linux.

Part of makes the aforementioned apps so good is the fact that they provide users with a plethora of advanced options and features. That's great if you're a god-like user or a developer, but what about beginner users who might want to install an OS with just a few clicks?

The answer comes in the form of Boxes (or GNOME Boxes, to be more exact).

Boxes is a super streamlined, super-easy-to-use virtualization software that does most of the work for you. It doesn't offer any advanced options, but it more than makes up for this in simplicity, user friendliness and speed.

In short, it's a virtualization software that targets desktop end-users and offers next to no settings for micromanaging your VMs.

The app is built on top of the very competent KVM+QEMU/libvirt virtualization stack, so you can expect a smooth experience and surprisingly high performance from this app.

As mentioned before, simplicity and speed are Boxes' main attributes. Another great aspect of the app is that it provides you with two main ways of installing operating systems.

You can either opt to download and install OSes automatically, or you can manually load ISOs images and get a more hands-on feel for the whole thing (they're both really simple, to be honest).

Some examples of OSes that can be downloaded and installed automatically include CentOS, Debian, Fedora, OpenSUSE, Red Hat Enterprise Linux, Ubuntu, and even Microsoft Windows.

In terms of features, you get the option of limiting  the resources used by the VM (memory and storage), a quick snapshot tool (to restore problematic VMs to pervious states), redirect USB drives from your physical machine into virtual machines, and 3D acceleration (only works for a few supported OSes).

Another aspect that makes it remarkably user friendly is that it doesn't require the need of extra "things" to work. Hence, you can resize virtual machines' displays to any size without issues, you get shared clipboard between your main system and the virtual one, you get quick file sharing (simply drop files from your file manager into the Boxes window), and even the ability to set shared folders between your system and the VM.

One could argue that Boxes' amazing design philosphy is both the best thing about Boxes, and the worst thing about it. Why is that?

In short, because Boxes relies on libosinfo's osinfo-db to detect what you're installing and to provide you with the perfect settings for doing so, it also means that some OS installations (especially those non-mainstream OSes) may be a bit problematic.

For instance, it took a couple of years after the release of Windows 10 for Boxes to have perfectly working audio drivers for Windows (this is a very rare thing to happen, but it's worth mentioning nonetheless). Boxes also had a bit of problems dealing with Windows 11 installations in the first couple of months after its release (mainly since KVM did not support snapshotting UEFI VMs).

Despite various past hiccups, Boxes is an amazing virtualization software that fills the gaps left in the marketplace brilliantly.

Boxes is perfectly aimed at beginner users who don't have the knowledge, time, or patience to learn VM installations with more advanced software, and it does a damn good job at providing both speed and simplicity.

Usually, Boxes will successfully install most popular VMs, especially Linux ones, and when everything is working as intended, the app is simply a joy to use.