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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Oracle VirtualBox

    Score8.2 out of 10
    N/AOracle VirtualBox is an open source, cross-platform, virtualization software, enables developers to deliver code faster by running multiple operating systems on a single device.

    $0

    per month

    Microsoft Visio

    Score7.8 out of 10
    N/AMicrosoft offers Visio, a diagramming tool for building flowcharts, diagrams (e.g. network diagrams), org charts and floor plans, available online as a subscription and also in enterprise level packages (e.g. Visio Professional).

    $5

    per month per user

    Pricing
    Oracle VirtualBoxMicrosoft Visio
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Visio Plan 1
    $5.00
    per month per user
    Visio Plan 2
    $15.00
    per month per user
    Visio Standard 2024
    $309.99
    one-time fee On-premises diagramming solution, licensed for one PC
    Visio Professional 2024
    $579.99
    one-time fee On-premises diagramming solution, licensed for one PC
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    Oracle VirtualBoxMicrosoft Visio
    Free Trial
    NoNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    YesYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    NoNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional Details——
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    Oracle VirtualBoxMicrosoft Visio
    Considered Both Products
    Oracle
    No answer on this topic
    Microsoft
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    95%
    Would buy again
    18 Answers
    90%
    Would buy again
    54 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    100%
    Delivers good value for the price
    19 Answers
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    53 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    100%
    Happy with the feature set
    19 Answers
    93%
    Happy with the feature set
    56 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    85%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    11 Answers
    97%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    36 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    100%
    Implementation went as expected
    17 Answers
    97%
    Implementation went as expected
    36 Answers
    Features
    Oracle VirtualBoxMicrosoft Visio
    Server Virtualization
    Comparison of Server Virtualization features of Oracle VirtualBox and Microsoft Visio
    Feature
    Oracle VirtualBox
    8.2
    50 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Microsoft Visio
    -
    Ratings
    Virtual machine automated provisioning8.036 Ratings00 Ratings
    Management console8.846 Ratings00 Ratings
    Live virtual machine backup8.236 Ratings00 Ratings
    Live virtual machine migration7.033 Ratings00 Ratings
    Hypervisor-level security9.029 Ratings00 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    Oracle VirtualBoxMicrosoft Visio
    Small Businesses
    Proxmox VE
    Score9.2 out of 10
    OmniGraffle
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    VMware vSOM (discontinued)
    Score10 out of 10
    OmniGraffle
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    IBM PowerVM
    Score9.6 out of 10
    OmniGraffle
    Score9.8 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    Oracle VirtualBoxMicrosoft Visio
    Likelihood to Recommend
    7.5
    (53 ratings)
    8.1
    (79 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (4 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Usability
    10.0
    (7 ratings)
    7.8
    (14 ratings)
    Availability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Support Rating
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    7.3
    (14 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.0
    (1 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    Oracle VirtualBoxMicrosoft Visio
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Oracle
    It is best suited when you want to have different operating systems on your laptop or desktop. You can easily switch between operating systems without the need to uninstall one. In another scenario, if you expect some application to damage your device, it would be best to run the application on the VM such that the damage can only be done to the virtual machine. It is less appropriate when time synchronization is very important. At times the VMs run their own times differently from the host time and this may cause some losses if what you doing is critical. Another important thing to take note of is the licensing of the application you want to run your VM. Some licenses do not allow the applications to be run on virtual servers so it is not appropriate to use the VM at this time.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Visio is by far and away the best tool that I have used to do Value Stream Mapping sessions with the warehouse I support. It has all of the shapes needed built in to be able to represent all areas of the processes. I also like how you are able to make the drawing as big as needed and when printing it out of Visio you have the ability to use the necessary paper size. The biggest complaint that I have with the software if how it can be cumbersome for non-Visio users (that is, people without a license in the orgnaization) to interact with the Visio Map. We normally have to dedicate one Visio SME to be able to make the changes that Process SME's find since they do not have access to the software.
    Incentivized
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    Pros
    Oracle
    • It is simple to install - there is no advanced knowledge required to begin building virtual computers
    • It is easy to use - adding new virtual machines is simple with wizard-based deployment
    • It enables easy portability - moving virtual machines from one host to another is straight-forward and simple
    • It is free
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • Microsoft Visio is excellent for organizing thought processes related to our more complex research.
    • The diagrams created with Microsoft Visio are ideal for graphically displaying the internal organization of work and research groups through flow diagrams.
    • Microsoft Visio is a great tool for managing our students' activities by creating flowcharts that help us graphically visualize the steps of their group work.
    Read full review
    Cons
    Oracle
    • I have had issues in the past when it has come to resizing VM disk storage. The issue is entirely detailed here: https://www.virtualbox.org/ticket/9103 -- the problem was caused because of having existing snapshots (which error message output was not detailing). I haven't had to deal with the issue due to my dynamic disk sizes not being small from the start anymore (this is mostly an issue for my Windows VMs where the base disk may need significant size for the OS). It looks like, for a resize, that a merge of all snapshots has to occur first -- one user on that list details a workaround to maintain snapshots by cloning the VM. (Note: 5.2 was just released a few weeks ago, and looks like it should prevent the problem happening in the future by properly informing users that it isn't possible with snapshots).
    • Certain scenarios, like resizing disks, required dropping into a terminal as there were no options to previously do so via the GUI. According to some recent posts, I've seen that v5.2 has added disk management stuff like that to the GUI (or will be adding it). I'm comfortable with dropping into the terminal, but in a teaching scenario or when evaluating the learnability of the tools, it complicates things.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • When navigating through swim lanes, the user must be careful between switching from the point to the connection features as it can be difficult to remember which mode you’re in.
    • When drawing “decision points,” it can be difficult to type words like “yes” or “no” between the connection lines.
    • The exporting options aren’t ideal. They are hard to create in PDF format.
    Incentivized
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    Likelihood to Renew
    Oracle
    I give this rating because virtual box is inexpensive but there is another product such as vm ware that can also be used
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    We use Microsoft Visio to keep our diagrams updated and to that end we will need the subscription to keep using the software. Otherwise we will be left with PDF versions of the diagrams.
    Incentivized
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    Usability
    Oracle
    I love using the Graphical User Interface. The VirtualBox Manager is very easy to understand and use. You can quickly create, configure and manage all your virtual machines in one window. It makes operating virtual machines easy and simple. When using VBoxManage it gives the user comprehensive control over VirtualBox so that you can use automation and scripting at the command-line interface
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    Microsoft
    I have always struggled with some basics, such as connection points, object alignment, font consistency, arranging layers and their order (bring forward, send backward), and managing overlap. I usually need to create an initial rough draft and then do a separate cleanup pass to bring the diagram up to my quality standards. If I skip that step, the result generally does not look very good. And once a diagram becomes busy or the file gets large, Visio has been unstable for me in the past, including occasional crashes that caused non-recoverable edits.
    Incentivized
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    Reliability and Availability
    Oracle
    Dependency on the Host OS means it is as reliable as it is possible to be. Application errors are beyond the purview of the application.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    Oracle
    No issues, especially with the extensions addons.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    Oracle
    Oracle have a very fast response rate and a strong user community. One can geet help from many sources if they choose to research for themselves.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Overall, I feel that Microsoft's support is weak. They are now such a behemoth that their model of putting documentation online for their users to sift through is totally outgrown. Given the amount of money you pay for these licenses, Microsoft should provide easy one-on-one support for their products via email or chat. The idea of paying their rates for support incidents is ridiculous. If you have an enormous amount of time on your hands, use their support websites and you will eventually find a solution most of the time.
    Incentivized
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    Implementation Rating
    Oracle
    We really enjoy using virtual box. We do not require to buy expensive hardware but instead we can minimize costs and maximize profits.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Alternatives Considered
    Oracle
    VirutalBox is very similar to using Vmware with the slight difference in appearance and what might be considered a less polished look. However, what it lacks in polish and looks it makes up for in functionality, easy of use and the wide range of operating systems and features it supports without the need of buying the full professional edition
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    Even though it’s a more expensive solution, Vizio is built for the enterprise. Therefore, it integrates perfectly with our existing Microsoft stack, and quite frankly, because it’s such a more mature product, it provides exactly the functionality we need and expect.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Oracle
    The only problem I have found is that the deployment is dependent and intrinsically linked to the Host OS. This is different from bare metal solutions which remove that dependency on a Host OS. The latter is more reliable and removes a layer of potential failure.
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    Oracle
    • Minimal-to-no support needed from the DevOps team.
    • Provides a direct and an easy way to access multiple VMs inside the same machines which enables performing various testing and QA tasks without the need to switch hardware.
    • Automatic provisioning using tools (esp. Vagrant) which enables developing a base image once, and allows for exporting/importing anywhere across the developers team.
    • Very cost-effective (no fees or monthly subscriptions).
    Incentivized
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    Microsoft
    • Reduces the amount of time I need to create process flow diagrams. In the past I would use Powerpoint or Word which required a lot more effort and time and never looked as good. Visio just takes that headache away.
    • Only negative is that I personally believe it should always have been part and parcel of the Office suite, thus giving more users the opportunity to use it rather than specifically having to justify its separate purchase within our organisation. Different now with Office 365 of course!
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots