Here’s the Deal

KiTTY vs VirtualBox w/ any Linux distro + Terminator

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When comparing KiTTY vs VirtualBox w/ any Linux distro + Terminator, the Slant community recommends KiTTY for most people. In the question“What are the best terminal emulators for Windows?” KiTTY is ranked 5th while VirtualBox w/ any Linux distro + Terminator is ranked 31st. The most important reason people chose KiTTY is:

- Sessions filter - Shortcuts for pre-defined command - The session launcher - Automatic logon script - URL hyperlinks - Running a locally saved script on a remote session - Send to tray - Transparency - Quick start of a duplicate session - SSH Handler: Internet Explorer integration - pscp.exe and WinSCP integration - New command-line options

Ranked in these QuestionsQuestion Ranking

Common Questions

What are the best terminal emulators for Windows?

Pros

Pro
Includes additional features over PuTTy

Sessions filter
Shortcuts for pre-defined command
The session launcher
Automatic logon script
URL hyperlinks
Running a locally saved script on a remote session
Send to tray
Transparency
Quick start of a duplicate session
SSH Handler: Internet Explorer integration
pscp.exe and WinSCP integration
New command-line options

Pro
Startup sessions

Support start-up sessions which allow you to specify the window/tab layout, working directories, and programs to run on startup.

Pro
Source Code Available

Source code is available so you could modify or review changes.

Pro
Can store login credentials

Ability to store passwords/passphrases locally.

Pro
Clickable URLs

URLs are parsed and can be clicked.

Pro
Auto login script

Automatic processing of commands after conncetion was made.

Pro
True Color support

Supports True Color, so software like Vim can display a really nice pallet.

Pro
Portable version available

Pro
Background image

Ability to overlay the terminal background with an image.

Pro
Unicode

Uses Unicode for the best character compatibility.

Pro
Runs Pre-configured virtual machines

Allows you to run your virtual machines pre-configured by you or others.

Virtual Box versions for:
-- Windows 7/8/10
-- All Linux installations
-- MAC OS x
-- Solaris 10/11

Virtual OSs include:
-- Oracle Linux 5/6/7.x (RHEL clones)
-- Solaris10/11
-- Occassionally a Windows Beta

Oracle itself provides many free VMs, pre-configured with various software stacks and hands-on lab materials for learning, geared toward. These have helped me earn three of my Oracle certifications:

-- Oracle Database development
-- Oracle DBA
-- MySQL development
-- Java Standard/Enterprise development
-- Big data
-- Webcenter portal & others

Pre-installed software in or more of the various stacks includes:
-- Oracle Database 11/12
-- JDK/Eclipse
-- Enterprise Mgr
-- MySQL
-- WebLogic
-- Cloudera, etc.

Pro
Supports modern shells

Whether you prefer zsh, bash, or fish, Linux will support it.

Pro
Isolated from Windows

VirtualBox provides almost total isolation from Windows running underneath it, removing a lot of security issues.

Pro
Free / Libre Software

While the OS underneath it is proprietary and does spy on you or actively violate your freedom, so to speak, you can still have a little piece of mind knowing that VirtualBox (your Linux distro and shell of choice) as well as Terminator are all FOSS.

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Cons

Con
No centralized configuration

Each session holds its own configuration of all features. This means that if one wants to change a configuration common to all sessions (say, the terminal font), it has to be changed in each stored session separately.
A better solution would be to have a default configuration and store only the changed elements for each session (both configurations would be merged, with e priority on the specific one).