VirtualBox Hypervising Two Virtualized OSs (Ubuntu, Windows 7) on Windows 8

W7, Ubuntu on W8 via VirtualBox

There is much excitement about Docker Containers - an new form of VM where its footprint  is greatly reduced -  because the Guest OS is now shrunk/removed from the VM. But to support this, the Hypervisor needed by the VMs is now replaced by a Docker Engine.  The disadvantage to Container is that multiple different Host OS's will not be supported anymore. The server community don't care about this limitation and is rejoicing because they can squeeze more linux app into a given hardware. But the development community that relies on virtualization to host multiple target OSs (MacOS, Windows, Linux, etc) will not benefit from the Container trend. Perhaps small businesses will also not make the switch so fast. Here is why.

Here is a screen shot of a Hypervisor (VirtualBox) running on Windows 8. One Virtual Machine is running with Guest OS Windows 7, whilst the other Virtual Machine is running with Guest OS Ubuntu. For those curious as to why I need Windows 7 virtualized on Windows 8, the reason is that  there are critical programs and data that only run on Windows 7 and won't run on Windows 8. Container does nothing for this small business owner.

When the Container takes the IT world by storm, many small users will be clinging on to their little trusty Hypervisor.