VirtualBox is a great tool for trying out some new Linux distro, but you’ll usually have to spend a while finding a download and setting up your VM and operating system, first.

OSBoxes.org makes life easier by providing 40+ prebuilt VirtualBox (VDI) and VMware images for Android x86, CentOS, Debian, Fedora, FreeBSD, Gentoo, Linux Mint, Remix OS, Ubuntu and many more.

Just browsing the website might give you some ideas. If you’re intrigued by the name "Chromixium", for instance, clicking a link to the official site will explain that it’s "the best of Chromium with the power of Ubuntu" (aka Cub Linux).

If that sounds interesting, there are links to download prebuilt 32 and 64-bit images for VirtualBox and VMware.

There’s still a little work to do. In VirtualBox, click File > New, enter a name/ type/ version for your download ("Linux" and "Other Linux 32/ 64 bit" usually work for the final two.)

Allocate some RAM to the VM, select "Use an existing virtual hard drive file", choose the VDI you’ve just downloaded and click "Create".

That’s essentially it. The OS is already set up with a default user account (osboxes) and password (osboxes.org), so there’s nothing technical or time-consuming to get in your way. Just log in and explore.

VirtualBox is an open source application for Windows, Mac and Linux.