Software updates - any impact on VirtualBox operation?

Now that I have VBox running and tweaked to my liking, I would like to explore the issue of software updates to the Kernel and/or VirtualBox itself. My question is: does it affect the operation of the application and alternatively the guest O/S?.

This question may be naive, but I do recall my past experience with VMPlayer which needed to be recompiled whenever the Kernel of the host O/S changed.

I am new to VBox and thusly would appreciate comments from experienced users.
Thank you vey kindly for taking time to reply.

If you are using the repo version
Index of /repositories/Virtualization:/VirtualBox/openSUSE_11.1
It will update VBox packages if you leave the repo enabled - which is fine. major updates to VBox automatically enable you to accept the update for the guest machine - Never failed yet for me. Installations in the host have no effect on the actual working of the guest system.

If you install using the Sun .rpm you will need to re-compile the kernel - There is a Vbox help page here: VirtualBox Installation - openSUSE

And of course to update VBox you will need to download the latest .rpm and install it.

Yes, I have installed the repo version. However I was not quite certain about the issues I was inquiring about. So it is confirmed now to let it rip, so to speak.
caf4926, you are a gentleman and a scholar to help out with my many questions. Thank you very kindly.