When comparing VirtualBox w/ any Linux distro + Terminator vs ConsoleZ, the Slant community recommends ConsoleZ for most people. In the question“What are the best terminal emulators for Windows?” ConsoleZ is ranked 17th while VirtualBox w/ any Linux distro + Terminator is ranked 31st. The most important reason people chose ConsoleZ is:
In ConsoleZ, the user can split a tab into different views either horizontally or vertically.
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Pros
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.
Pro Supports splitting tabs into views
In ConsoleZ, the user can split a tab into different views either horizontally or vertically.
Pro Fullscreen support
ConsoleZ can be opened in fullscreen.
Pro Small, portable installation
Install to OneDrive/Dropbox/Google Drive and your setting will be consistent everywhere.
Pro Supports typographic ligatures
Typographic ligatures occur when there are two or more letters joined as a single glyph, such as "æ".
Pro Easy transition from Console2
Being a fork of Console2, ConsoleZ is fully compatible. It even recognizes existing Console2 config files, making the transition easier.
Pro Input sent to one view can be sent to all
ConsoleZ allows for grouping of open views (panes) so that if an input is sent to one of them, it can be sent to all views grouped with it automatically.
Pro High DPI
This means that the display screen in ConsoleZ is sharp.
Pro Drop-down animation support
ConsoleZ can be used as a drop-down terminal inspired by the famous Quake terminal. Once opened, it can be toggled with a key of the user's choice. This makes it easier to have access to it from any window instead of having to cycle through all open applications.
Pro Localization support
ConsoleZ is available in French, Russian, German, and Japanese.
Pro Zooming with Ctrl-Mouse
The user can easily zoom by simply pressing Ctrl-Mouse.
Pro Windows 7 Jump List makes the user's life easier
Jump List is a useful feature that allows the user to view recent documents in a program that is pinned to the taskbar.
Pro Snippets
Cons
Con Install a whole operating system for one program
You would need to install the entire Linux distribution just for one single program.
Con Slightly slower than just running Linux
The Windows + VirtualBox layer introduces some overhead that wouldn't be present if Linux were installed directly on the machine.
Con You can't scroll up and down for command history as those keys are bound to the scrollbox
Con No way to open pre-created tabs on startup
If you want to setup a certain number of tabs to automatically run pre-defined scripts in ConsoleZ or Console 2, you can't. You have to open everything manually every time you start the application.