neowin[.]net/software/virtualbox-704/
This is the 2nd update to version 7, and still no improvements with running Windows Guests / VMs -- I still suggest [Strongly] stay away. Version 7 adds TPM & Secure Boot, so a new install of Win11 is possible without using one of the many hacks to install Win11 on unsupported hardware. Sadly, it takes away much more than that, not coming close to matching version 6, which in everyday use simply works.
The prior version of V/Box hardly uses any RAM, plus it lets you set just how much system RAM you want to make available to / for a VM. Version 7 has no RAM setting, and will gladly use whatever your system has installed -- with 16GB installed & *Only* a Win10 VM running yesterday, Task Mgr. showed 96% Memory in use (!). At default settings, the Edge browser is unworkable in a 64-bit Win7, Win10, or Win11 VM, *IF* it starts up at all, with RAM usage up to around 7GB [or more] -- Win7 32-bit doesn't seem to have this problem. Once you get Edge to start, which may take several attempts, killing it off in Task Mgr. when it looks like it's going to fail, turn off hardware acceleration [using the GPU] in Edge's Settings, & that *should* fix things.
The driver for v.7's GPU emulation also causes problems with display... the Store is a good example, where the button to check for updates is usually shown as a solid color box, with no text or progress notification. Notepad in Win11 using Dark Mode keeps the text black, matching the black background.
Each version of VirtualBox comes with its version of an Extension Package. An ISO file that shows up as a CD/DVD when attached to a VM, it includes drivers that help the guest OS behave like it should. When you update V/Box to a new version you uninstall the old version extensions, install the new version, then update the extensions in each of your VMs. With version 6 the only hassle was, *if you're running a Win7 VM*, you have to update the extensions for the VM in Safe Mode because you're adding new GPU emulation drivers. Version 7's extensions like to crash the VM when you install/update them, and can damage the VM when/if it does crash. The last version [the 1st update] came with an unsigned driver -- this new version doesn't have that problem, but it still won't simply install like version 6... *What worked for me* was to restart the VM in Safe Mode, uninstall the old extensions, restarting back in Safe Mode when required, then installing the new version pack.
