This version is a major update. The following major new features were added:
Support for hardware virtualization (VT-x and AMD-V) on Mac OS X hosts
Support for 64-bit guests on 32-bit host operating systems (experimental; see Sectionа1.6, “64-bit guests” )
Added support for Intel Nehalem virtualization enhancements (EPT and VPID; see Sectionа1.2, “Software vs. hardware virtualization (VT-x and AMD-V)” )
Experimental 3D acceleration via OpenGL (see Sectionа4.8, “Hardware 3D acceleration (OpenGL)” )
Experimental LsiLogic and BusLogic SCSI controllers (see Sectionа5.1, “Hard disk controllers: IDE, SATA (AHCI), SCSI” )
Full VMDK/VHD support including snapshots (see Sectionа5.2, “Disk image files (VDI, VMDK, VHD)” )
New NAT engine with significantly better performance, reliability and ICMP echo (ping) support (bugs #1046, #2438, #2223, #1247)
New Host Interface Networking implementations for Windows and Linux hosts with easier setup (replaces TUN/TAP on Linux and manual bridging on Windows)
In addition, the following items were fixed and/or added:
VMM: significant performance improvements for VT-x (real mode execution)
VMM: support for hardware breakpoints (VT-x and AMD-V only; bug #477)
VMM: VGA performance improvements for VT-x and AMD-V
VMM: Solaris and OpenSolaris guest performance improvements for AMD-V (Barcelona family CPUs only)
VMM: fixed guru meditation while running the Dr. Web virus scanner (software virtualization only; bug #1439)
VMM: deactivate VT-x and AMD-V when the host machine goes into suspend mode; reactivate when the host machine resumes (Windows, Mac OS X & Linux hosts; bug #1660)
VMM: fixed guest hangs when restoring VT-x or AMD-V saved states/snapshots
VMM: fixed guru meditation when executing a one byte debug instruction (VT-x only; bug #2617)
VMM: fixed guru meditation for PAE guests on non-PAE hosts (VT-x)
VMM: disallow mixing of software and hardware virtualization execution in general (bug #2404)
VMM: fixed black screen when booting OS/2 1.x (AMD-V only)
GUI: pause running VMs when the host machine goes into suspend mode (Windows & Mac OS X hosts)
GUI: resume previously paused VMs when the host machine resumes after suspend (Windows & Mac OS X hosts)
GUI: save the state of running or paused VMs when the host machine's battery reaches critical level (Windows hosts)
GUI: properly restore the position of the selector window when running on the compiz window manager
GUI: properly restore the VM in seamless mode (2.0 regression)
GUI: warn user about non optimal memory settings
GUI: structure operating system list according to family and version for improved usability
GUI: predefined settings for QNX guests
IDE: improved ATAPI passthrough support
Networking: added support for up to 8 Ethernet adapters per VM
Networking: fixed issue where a VM could lose connectivity after a reboot
iSCSI: allow snapshot/diff creation using local VDI file
iSCSI: improved interoperability with iSCSI targets
Graphics: fixed handling of a guest video memory which is not a power of two (bug #2724)
VBoxManage: fixed bug which prevented setting up the serial port for direct device access.
VBoxManage: added support for VMDK and VHD image creation
VBoxManage: added support for image conversion (VDI/VMDK/VHD/RAW)
Solaris hosts: added IPv6 support between host and guest when using host interface networking
Mac OS X hosts: added ACPI host power status reporting
API: redesigned storage model with better generalization
API: allow attaching a hard disk to more than one VM at a time
API: added methods to return network configuration information of the host system
Shared Folders: performance and stability fixes for Windows guests (Microsoft Office Applications)