There are several visualization suits of software. One is called 'Virtual box' Virtual box is capable of running many operating systems including Windows 7 and Xp.
There are others such as 'kvm' and 'vmware'. I'm sure these virtualization suits of software are just as capable as virtualbox, but i have only used Virtualbox so i can't comment on them because i haven't used them.
I've used Virtualbox to run a Windows 7 virtual machine, and it is very satisfactory. Satisfies the small need i have for it. It is also open source software, (perhaps Free) and many distros provide a repo to get the latest version.

Perhaps they may have been referencing the fact that VirtualBox had an open and closed source version up until version 4 was released?

I have chosen not to use VirtualBox now as I prefer not to have anything to do with Oracle, given their history with open source software. My chosen solution now is qemu with aqemu as a frontend for creating and administering vm's.

links for what they've done please? (-:

Hmmm that's a tough one - let me think...

Open Solaris

As a result of the above Open Office was basically left for dead, due to fear of the same, and we got this - that could be a plus point for Oracle though as it was a good outcome for everyone.

Ah and then there is MySQL moving closer towards closed source - another reason to use PostgreSQL maybe.

And lets not forget those Java/Android lawsuits, do you want me to go on?

Don't think i was doubting you mate; i have simply neglected to keep up with such issues and was interested. I did leave a smily face. lol. Thanks for the links. Maybe i'll consider an alternative too.

No problem, it is info for others to consider too :)

I think VirtualBox is actually a good bit of software. If it went under the umbrella of another concern that had a good open source track record then I would probably use it full-time again.

VirtualBox and MySQL, as many others, are STILL Open Source and I can't see why we had to prevent using them only beacause maybe they will not be anymore. In the case I will not use them anymore. I cannot tollerate Oracle behaviour and I hate their business model, but this is a personal matter.

VirtualBox and MySQL both have open and closed source components, so these products are not open source as a whole.

As far as I know, you can download the open source tarballz, shrink closed source and rebuild them.

I don't understand what you are saying......anything that you receive that has an "open" license, must be kept open---regardless of what other code is added.

I don't know about MySQL, but i think i know what Nixblog means in regards to Virtualbox. For the record, i'm not 100% sure on this information.
To my knowledge, Virtualbox is opensource software, but the extension that allows usb connection and probably other functions which is available at the websight, is proprietary software.

As I understand it, VirtualBox base is open but the addons are closed. Up until version 4 (i think) there were two distinct versions - one open and one close source version. From version 4, the core merged to open source leaving the propriety closed extensions as closed source.

Yep, but some code (e.g. the extension pack in Virtualbox) is closed.
If someone doesn't want closed source software just avoid to use that part, not the whole project!

Or use something like qemu which is a good enough alternative and completely bypass projects that don't truly adhere to the open source philosophy but, that's a personal choice for someone at the end of the day.