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Debian 8.8 GNOME Installation on Oracle VirtualBox

This video tutorial shows Debian 8.8 GNOME Desktop installation on Oracle VirtualBox step by step. This tutorial is also helpful to install Debian 8.8 on physical computer or laptop hardware. We also install Guest Additions on Debian 8.8 GNOME for better performance and usability features such as Automatic Resizing Guest Display, Shared Folder, Seamless Mode and Shared Clipboard, Improved Performance and Drag and Drop.

Debian Linux 8.8 GNOME Installation Steps:

1. Create Virtual Machine on Oracle VirtualBox
2. Start Debian 8.8 GNOME Installation
3. Install Guest Additions
4. Test Guest Additions Features: Automatic Resizing Guest Display and Shared Clipboard

Installing Debian 8.8 GNOME Desktop on Oracle VirtualBox

Debian 8.8 New Features and Improvements

Debian 8.8 mainly adds corrections for security problems to the stable release, along with a few adjustments for serious problems. Security advisories were already published separately and are referenced where available. Those who frequently install updates from security.debian.org won't have to update many packages and most updates from security.debian.org are included in this update.  Debian 8.8 is not a new version of Debian. It’s just a Debian 8 image with the latest updates of some of the packages. So, if you’re running a Debian 8 installation with all the latest updates installed, you don’t need to do anything.
Debian Website: https://www.debian.org/

What is GNOME Desktop?

GNOME is a desktop environment that is composed entirely of free and open-source software. GNOME was originally an acronym for GNU Network Object Model Environment. Its target operating system is Linux, but it is also supported on most derivatives of BSD. GNOME is developed by the GNOME Project, which is composed of both volunteers and paid contributors.
GNOME Website: https://www.gnome.org/

VirtualBox Guest Additions Features

The Guest Additions offer the following features below:

1. Improved Video Support: While the virtual graphics card which VirtualBox emulates for any guest operating system provides all the basic features, the custom video drivers that are installed with the Guest Additions provide you with extra high and non-standard video modes as well as accelerated video performance.
2. Mouse Pointer Integration: This provides with seamless mouse support. A special mouse driver would have to be installed in the guest OS, which would exchange information with the actual mouse driver on the host. The special mouse driver then allows users to control the guest mouse pointer.
3. Time Synchronization: With the Guest Additions installed, VirtualBox can ensure that the guest's system time is better synchronized with that of the host.
4. Shared Folders: These provide an easy way to exchange files between the host and the guest.
5. Seamless Windows: With this feature, the individual windows that are displayed on the desktop of the virtual machine can be mapped on the host's desktop, as if the underlying application was actually running on the host.
6. Shared Clipboard: With the Guest Additions installed, the clipboard of the guest operating system can optionally be shared with your host operating system.

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