Want to try out desktop virtualization? Take a look at Sun's latest open source VirtualBox -- I bet it has a binary with your name on it.

I'm conflicted. I've been playing with the latest Parallels Server Beta 3 and the new production release of Sun's xVM for Mac. Both came out last week. I have both running in the virtualization lab. I like both products. I can only write about one tonight, and I'm leaning toward an open source piece, so xVM wins. More to come on the Parallels beta after I get some test time in.

xVM VirtualBox runs VDIs and VMDKs. Did I mention Sun gives it away (Sun also sells a closed-source enterprise version with a few more bells and whistles) and that it runs on 7+ flavors of Linux, Win XP, Win2k3, and 32- and 64-bit versions of Vista? As of v1.6, Intel Macs and Solaris 10 also are supported.

I now have Fusion, Parallels Desktop, and xVM running on my 2-Ghz, 2-GB MacBook. I'm running out of drive space.

xVM runs on "any recent Intel or AMD hardware." Virtualization optimization isn't required, but can be enabled on a per-guest basis if you've got the chips.

Click here for the 26-MB download. Unzipping and installation took a couple minutes. I pointed the setup wizard at an existing Debian VMDK. It worked. I grabbed a couple of appliances from JumpBox and had three concurrent guests up in 5 minutes.

Desktop virt has gotten a whole lot easier.

xVM's basic config and management tools are on par with Parallels and VMware. Snapshots, resource allocation, and multimonitor support are offered, along with SATA support for up to 32 drives per VM and a slew of other functional improvements over the previous release.

xVM provides support for 33 canned OS pre-configs, from DOS and OS/2 up through Vista and Win2K8. Alas, no Leopard Server (the only flavor of Mac OS that Apple allows to be virtualized) is on tap; you'll need to pick up Parallels Server Beta or keep your fingers crossed that VMware will build its Mac OS virt proof-of-concept into a future version of Fusion.

xVM is lean, simple to deploy and plays with VDMKs. Sun is partnering with Microsoft for future cross-compatibility with Hyper-V. If you have even a passing interest or requirement for desktop virt, you should try VirtualBox on for size.

Did I mention it's free?