I have Virutalbox 4.3 on a Ubuntu 14.04 machine and VMWare Workstation 11 on a Windows 10 machine. I use the same Lubuntu iso to install a guest OS in both VMs, but after installation, I find they have different memory usage. When idle, the Lubuntu in VMWare takes around 250 MB of memory but the one in Virtualbox only takes around 180 MB. When I do ps aux --sort -rss in them, I found they are not running the same processes. Also, ps aux --sort -rss in VMWare outputs far more items than in Virtualbox. Both have roughly 70 items with non-zero VSZ and RSS, but in VMWare there are 350 items with 0 VSZ and RSS, while in Virtualbox there are only around 50 such items. I don't understand why there is such a difference. They were installed using the same iso, shouldn't they be exactly the same? The following is the output of ps aux --sort -rss in both, with the 0 VSZ and RSS ones removed (otherwise it exceeds the maximum number of chars in question).
The memory usage of Lubuntu in Virtualbox
USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TTY STAT START TIME COMMAND
foo 1475 0.3 3.7 723448 38432 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 pcmanfm --desktop --profile lubuntu
root 1164 1.0 3.3 206040 34344 tty7 Ss+ 10:00 0:01 /usr/bin/X -core :0 -seat seat0 -auth /var/run/lightdm/root/:0 -nolisten tcp vt7 -novtswitch
foo 1480 0.0 2.8 737016 28616 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 nm-applet
foo 1468 0.5 2.6 644208 27092 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 lxpanel --profile Lubuntu
foo 1420 0.1 2.5 474308 25604 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/ibus/ibus-ui-gtk3
foo 1478 0.0 2.3 634000 24416 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 update-notifier
foo 1486 0.0 1.8 405604 19332 ? Ssl 10:00 0:00 xfce4-power-manager
foo 1465 0.0 1.8 294124 18512 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 openbox --config-file /home/foo/.config/openbox/lubuntu-rc.xml
foo 1402 0.1 1.6 384904 16752 ? Ssl 10:00 0:00 /usr/bin/lxsession -s Lubuntu -e LXDE
foo 1482 0.0 1.3 223628 13584 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 light-locker
foo 1424 0.0 1.3 304468 13560 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/ibus/ibus-x11 --kill-daemon
root 782 0.0 1.0 357640 11148 ? Ssl 10:00 0:00 NetworkManager
foo 2668 0.0 1.0 110124 11036 ? S 10:01 0:00 xterm -class UXTerm -title uxterm -u8
foo 1381 0.1 0.9 377428 10096 ? Ssl 10:00 0:00 /usr/bin/ibus-daemon --daemonize --xim
root 1167 0.0 0.9 302224 9944 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/accountsservice/accounts-daemon
foo 2504 0.0 0.9 596432 9944 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd-trash --spawner :1.7 /org/gtk/gvfs/exec_spaw/0
foo 1489 0.0 0.9 144120 9880 ? S 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/notifyd/xfce4-notifyd
foo 1426 0.0 0.9 367496 9696 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/at-spi2-core/at-spi-bus-launcher
foo 1519 0.0 0.9 312500 9204 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-udisks2-volume-monitor
whoopsie 1107 0.0 0.8 364960 8988 ? Ssl 10:00 0:00 whoopsie
root 1836 0.0 0.8 386260 8888 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/udisks2/udisksd --no-debug
root 790 0.0 0.8 296008 8676 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/policykit-1/polkitd --no-debug
foo 1377 0.0 0.8 249856 8344 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 gnome-keyring-daemon --start --components gpg
foo 1413 0.0 0.7 296828 7708 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/ibus/ibus-dconf
foo 1448 0.0 0.7 220980 7516 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/ibus/ibus-engine-simple
root 550 0.0 0.7 330244 7444 ? Ssl 09:59 0:00 /usr/sbin/ModemManager
root 2374 0.0 0.7 239356 7388 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/upower/upowerd
root 1152 0.0 0.7 366536 7284 ? SLsl 10:00 0:00 lightdm
foo 2201 0.0 0.7 218792 7140 ? Ssl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/menu-cache/menu-cached
foo 1410 0.0 0.6 360436 6972 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd-fuse /run/user/1000/gvfs -f -o big_writes
root 1248 0.0 0.6 168440 6352 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 lightdm --session-child 12 19
foo 2382 0.0 0.6 287024 6296 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-afc-volume-monitor
foo 2393 0.0 0.5 213504 5764 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor
root 710 0.0 0.5 74728 5700 ? Ss 10:00 0:00 /usr/sbin/cupsd -f
foo 1406 0.0 0.5 197704 5392 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd
foo 2444 0.0 0.5 201340 5212 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-mtp-volume-monitor
root 799 0.0 0.5 10240 5208 ? S 10:00 0:00 /sbin/dhclient -d -sf /usr/lib/NetworkManager/nm-dhcp-client.action -pf /run/sendsigs.omit.d/network-manager.dhclient-eth0.pid -lf /var/lib/NetworkManager/dhclient-2411e21c-8661-47bf-8e5f-4063d3eb28f1-eth0.lease -cf /var/lib/NetworkManager/dhclient-eth0.conf eth0
foo 2672 0.0 0.5 27628 5136 pts/0 Ss 10:01 0:00 bash
foo 2433 0.0 0.4 58164 5032 ? S 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gconf/gconfd-2
foo 1433 0.0 0.4 124920 4828 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/at-spi2-core/at-spi2-registryd --use-gnome-session
foo 1447 0.0 0.4 178212 4724 ? Sl 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/dconf/dconf-service
foo 1662 0.0 0.4 39332 4268 ? S 10:00 0:00 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/xfce4/xfconf/xfconfd
ntp 1018 0.0 0.4 31452 4264 ? Ss 10:00 0:00 /usr/sbin/ntpd -p /var/run/ntpd.pid -g -u 105:110
root 1 0.5 0.4 33656 4216 ? Ss 09:59 0:00 /sbin/init
foo 1270 0.0 0.3 40992 3856 ? Ss 10:00 0:00 init --user
root 262 0.1 0.3 51816 3740 ? Ss 09:59 0:00 /lib/systemd/systemd-udevd --daemon
root 654 0.0 0.3 43460 3336 ? Ss 10:00 0:00 /lib/systemd/systemd-logind
message+ 517 0.0 0.3 39900 3328 ? Ss 09:59 0:00 dbus-daemon --system --fork
foo 1430 0.0 0.3 39124 3296 ? S 10:00 0:00 /bin/dbus-daemon --config-file=/etc/at-spi2/accessibility.conf --nofork --print-address 3
nobody 802 0.0 0.3 36288 3188 ? S 10:00 0:00 /usr/sbin/dnsmasq --no-resolv --keep-in-foreground --no-hosts --bind-interfaces --pid-file=/run/sendsigs.omit.d/network-manager.dnsmasq.pid --listen-address=127.0.1.1 --conf-file=/var/run/NetworkManager/dnsmasq.conf --cache-size=0 --proxy-dnssec --enable-dbus=org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.dnsmasq --conf-dir=/etc/NetworkManager/dnsmasq.d
syslog 422 0.0 0.2 255852 2936 ? Ssl 09:59 0:00 rsyslogd
foo 2690 0.0 0.2 23868 2660 pts/0 R+ 10:02 0:00 ps aux --sort -rss
foo 1344 0.0 0.2 39508 2656 ? Ss 10:00 0:00 dbus-daemon --fork --session --address=unix:abstract=/tmp/dbus-0adC4IjPhu
root 682 0.0 0.2 19304 2476 ? Ss 10:00 0:00 /usr/sbin/bluetoothd
root 995 0.0 0.2 23664 2344 ? Ss 10:00 0:00 cron
foo 1353 0.0 0.2 23364 2268 ? Ss 10:00 0:00 upstart-event-bridge
root 950 0.0 0.2 21080 2200 tty5 Ss+ 10:00 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty5
root 1102 0.0 0.2 21080 2132 tty1 Ss+ 10:00 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty1
root 958 0.0 0.2 21080 2128 tty6 Ss+ 10:00 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty6
root 954 0.0 0.2 21080 2116 tty2 Ss+ 10:00 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty2
root 955 0.0 0.2 21080 2112 tty3 Ss+ 10:00 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty3
root 946 0.0 0.2 21080 2084 tty4 Ss+ 10:00 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty4
root 254 0.0 0.1 19616 1956 ? S 09:59 0:00 upstart-udev-bridge --daemon
root 984 0.0 0.1 4360 1572 ? Ss 10:00 0:00 anacron -s
foo 1620 0.0 0.0 10624 316 ? Ss 10:00 0:00 /usr/bin/ssh-agent -s
foo 1371 0.0 0.0 31848 264 ? S 10:00 0:00 upstart-file-bridge --daemon --user
root 459 0.0 0.0 15268 200 ? S 09:59 0:00 upstart-socket-bridge --daemon
foo 1373 0.0 0.0 23372 196 ? S 10:00 0:00 upstart-dbus-bridge --daemon --session --user --bus-name session
root 366 0.0 0.0 15284 192 ? S 09:59 0:00 upstart-file-bridge --daemon
foo 1375 0.0 0.0 23372 192 ? S 10:00 0:00 upstart-dbus-bridge --daemon --system --user --bus-name system
The memory usage of Lubuntu in VMWare
USER PID %CPU %MEM VSZ RSS TTY STAT START TIME COMMAND
root 1404 0.1 3.7 236340 37748 tty7 Ss+ 09:34 0:02 /usr/bin/X -core :0 -seat seat0 -auth /var/run/lightdm/root/:0 -nolisten tcp vt7 -novtswitch
foo 1828 0.0 3.4 710572 35084 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 pcmanfm --desktop --profile lubuntu
foo 1844 0.0 2.8 671480 28820 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 nm-applet
foo 1818 0.0 2.6 644096 26940 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 lxpanel --profile Lubuntu
foo 1839 0.0 2.6 634068 26640 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 update-notifier
foo 1781 0.0 2.3 474336 23560 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/ibus/ibus-ui-gtk3
foo 3110 0.5 2.3 388696 23168 ? Sl 09:47 0:05 lxtask
foo 1814 0.0 1.9 294836 19228 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 openbox --config-file /home/foo/.config/openbox/lubuntu-rc.xml
foo 1846 0.0 1.8 249408 18996 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 light-locker
foo 1769 0.0 1.6 384892 16624 ? Ssl 09:34 0:00 /usr/bin/lxsession -s Lubuntu -e LXDE
foo 1791 0.0 1.3 304580 13956 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/ibus/ibus-x11 --kill-daemon
root 969 0.0 1.3 357644 13324 ? Ssl 09:34 0:00 NetworkManager
foo 1757 0.0 1.0 377436 10184 ? Ssl 09:34 0:00 /usr/bin/ibus-daemon --daemonize --xim
foo 1796 0.0 0.9 367496 9568 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/at-spi2-core/at-spi-bus-launcher
foo 2810 0.0 0.9 108592 9536 ? S 09:34 0:00 xterm
whoopsie 1291 0.0 0.9 365040 9312 ? Ssl 09:34 0:00 whoopsie
foo 1857 0.0 0.9 312496 9128 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-udisks2-volume-monitor
root 1861 0.0 0.8 386164 8832 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/udisks2/udisksd --no-debug
root 1011 0.0 0.8 296004 8788 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/policykit-1/polkitd --no-debug
foo 1735 0.0 0.8 249868 8372 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 gnome-keyring-daemon --start --components pkcs11,secrets
root 1407 0.0 0.7 302240 7988 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/accountsservice/accounts-daemon
foo 2160 0.0 0.7 596432 7856 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd-trash --spawner :1.7 /org/gtk/gvfs/exec_spaw/0
foo 1780 0.0 0.7 296824 7784 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/ibus/ibus-dconf
foo 1830 0.0 0.7 220980 7632 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/ibus/ibus-engine-simple
root 931 0.0 0.7 330244 7444 ? Ssl 09:34 0:00 /usr/sbin/ModemManager
root 2827 0.0 0.7 239388 7392 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/upower/upowerd
root 1385 0.0 0.7 300992 7328 ? SLsl 09:34 0:00 lightdm
foo 1777 0.0 0.7 360436 7148 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd-fuse /run/user/1000/gvfs -f -o big_writes
foo 1889 0.0 0.7 201340 7140 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-mtp-volume-monitor
foo 1853 0.0 0.7 218792 7092 ? Ssl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/menu-cache/menu-cached
root 1574 0.0 0.6 168440 6372 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 lightdm --session-child 12 19
root 785 0.0 0.6 74728 6188 ? Ss 09:34 0:00 /usr/sbin/cupsd -f
foo 1884 0.0 0.6 287024 6120 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-afc-volume-monitor
root 3177 0.0 0.6 586916 6056 ? Sl 09:58 0:00 /usr/sbin/console-kit-daemon --no-daemon
foo 1879 0.0 0.5 213504 5988 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfs-gphoto2-volume-monitor
foo 1773 0.0 0.5 197704 5712 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/gvfs/gvfsd
root 1062 0.0 0.5 10240 5156 ? S 09:34 0:00 /sbin/dhclient -d -sf /usr/lib/NetworkManager/nm-dhcp-client.action -pf /run/sendsigs.omit.d/network-manager.dhclient-eth0.pid -lf /var/lib/NetworkManager/dhclient-85ef23cb-0de2-4eef-9ad0-efb6fa40a7af-eth0.lease -cf /var/lib/NetworkManager/dhclient-eth0.conf eth0
foo 2813 0.0 0.5 27628 5140 pts/6 Ss 09:34 0:00 bash
foo 1899 0.0 0.5 58164 5092 ? S 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/x86_64-linux-gnu/gconf/gconfd-2
foo 1826 0.0 0.4 178212 4912 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/dconf/dconf-service
foo 1804 0.0 0.4 124920 4764 ? Sl 09:34 0:00 /usr/lib/at-spi2-core/at-spi2-registryd --use-gnome-session
root 625 0.0 0.4 52584 4480 ? Ss 09:34 0:00 /lib/systemd/systemd-udevd --daemon
ntp 1614 0.0 0.4 31452 4208 ? Ss 09:34 0:00 /usr/sbin/ntpd -p /var/run/ntpd.pid -g -u 105:110
root 1 0.0 0.4 33744 4160 ? Ss 09:34 0:01 /sbin/init
foo 1635 0.0 0.3 40996 3860 ? Ss 09:34 0:00 init --user
root 740 0.0 0.3 19304 3684 ? Ss 09:34 0:00 /usr/sbin/bluetoothd
message+ 711 0.0 0.3 39932 3364 ? Ss 09:34 0:00 dbus-daemon --system --fork
foo 1800 0.0 0.3 39124 3364 ? S 09:34 0:00 /bin/dbus-daemon --config-file=/etc/at-spi2/accessibility.conf --nofork --print-address 3
root 746 0.0 0.3 43540 3344 ? Ss 09:34 0:00 /lib/systemd/systemd-logind
nobody 1397 0.0 0.3 36288 3308 ? S 09:34 0:00 /usr/sbin/dnsmasq --no-resolv --keep-in-foreground --no-hosts --bind-interfaces --pid-file=/run/sendsigs.omit.d/network-manager.dnsmasq.pid --listen-address=127.0.1.1 --conf-file=/var/run/NetworkManager/dnsmasq.conf --cache-size=0 --proxy-dnssec --enable-dbus=org.freedesktop.NetworkManager.dnsmasq --conf-dir=/etc/NetworkManager/dnsmasq.d
foo 3452 0.0 0.3 24124 3040 pts/6 R+ 10:03 0:00 ps aux --sort -rss
foo 1711 0.0 0.2 39484 2728 ? Ss 09:34 0:00 dbus-daemon --fork --session --address=unix:abstract=/tmp/dbus-gx0X3plGCs
syslog 779 0.0 0.2 255852 2628 ? Ssl 09:34 0:00 rsyslogd
root 1268 0.0 0.2 23664 2336 ? Ss 09:34 0:00 cron
root 1220 0.0 0.2 21080 2144 tty3 Ss+ 09:34 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty3
foo 1720 0.0 0.2 23364 2108 ? Ss 09:34 0:00 upstart-event-bridge
root 1215 0.0 0.2 21080 2100 tty5 Ss+ 09:34 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty5
root 1219 0.0 0.2 21080 2092 tty2 Ss+ 09:34 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty2
root 1211 0.0 0.2 21080 2080 tty4 Ss+ 09:34 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty4
root 1370 0.0 0.2 21080 2052 tty1 Ss+ 09:34 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty1
root 621 0.0 0.2 19484 2032 ? S 09:34 0:00 upstart-udev-bridge --daemon
root 1223 0.0 0.2 21080 2032 tty6 Ss+ 09:34 0:00 /sbin/getty -8 38400 tty6
root 1072 0.0 0.1 15664 1772 ? S 09:34 0:00 upstart-socket-bridge --daemon
root 789 0.0 0.1 15548 1660 ? S 09:34 0:00 upstart-file-bridge --daemon
foo 1837 0.0 0.0 10624 316 ? Ss 09:34 0:00 /usr/bin/ssh-agent -s
foo 1747 0.0 0.0 31848 268 ? S 09:34 0:00 upstart-file-bridge --daemon --user
foo 1742 0.0 0.0 23372 196 ? S 09:34 0:00 upstart-dbus-bridge --daemon --session --user --bus-name session
foo 1745 0.0 0.0 23372 196 ? S 09:34 0:00 upstart-dbus-bridge --daemon --system --user --bus-name system
The programs use another way to create the Virtual Machines out of the Iso, so you have a more stable Version in VMware and an other less stable version in Virtualbox, but the Virtualbox Virtual machine isn't taking as much space as the VMware machine.
It's your decision which one you want to take. My experience is that you should prefer VMware, but that's only because I had some crashes and memory loss with Virtualbox.