Mac OSX experts: Parallels Desktop v. VMWare Fusion

I don't have any experience with VMWare, but i can tell you that Parallels works very nicely. In particular, i like their three different display modes: full screen, windowed, and integrated (where your OSX and Windows desktops sorta merge). Also, you can take programs from Windows and put them on your Dock, or have things set to automatically open in a Windows program, and Parallels will automatically launch Windows and open the program for you.

In short, it all seems nicely integrated. I'd be interested to here opinions from someone who's used VMWare, though.

 

I am also a parallels user and it has worked very well for me. From looking at reviews parallels has a slightly better featureset. Both apps keep leapfrogging each other in terms of speed.

 

Have you ever used Versiontracker? I find their reviews helpful for some decisions.

Versiontracker

Do a search for both and read the reviews.

Parallels got 3 stars (488 responses) $79.99 and VMWare got 4 stars (38 responses).$79.99

"VMware Fusion allows you to launch your Windows applications from the Dock and switch between Windows and Mac applications using Expose. With the industry's most advanced virtualization technology VMware Fusion lets you leverage all the hardware available on your Mac to simultaneously run 32- and 64-bit operating systems, use two processor cores at the same time, run select 3D games and utilize USB 2.0 devices."

Be sure to check the entire summary. VMWare scores 5 stars in price but 2.5 in ease of use, features, quality/stability and support.

Parallels scores 3.5 in ease of use. 4 in features and price and 3 in quality/stability and support.

VMWare might be cheaper but Parallels might be better in the long run.

"I heard that it was a better product than Parallels, but Fusion killed my Vista Ultimate install and I had to spend over an hour on the phone w/MS to 're-activate' my copy of Vista. Part of this is the MS copy protection, but VMWare did not document how to get around using an existing boot camp partition."

"Regardless of improved OS X performance when Parallels is running, I am still seeing 100% CPU usage. Windows XP is still not fast enough to be usable.

Parallels really needs to make the program more efficient at using system resources. I have been using VMWare Fusion as well, and have found it to be far more reasonable at using system resources. Despite some very useful features in Parallels, I will have to switch to VMWare Fusion."

 

I use Parallels every day for work, and it works well enough. Those things that don't work so well (Outlook is slow[ish]) I just chalk up to Windows/Microsoft in general.

 

The reviews I read at Apple.com seemed to have VMWare issues with boot camp, partitions and MacBook Pros. Some were just about Vista or Windows being an energy hog. Others issues about it running slow.

I will say this. Some of the people wanted to install it to use software that is offered in Mac versions. Now I realize that there are some differences between the Mac and Windows versions of some software, but its always better to use the native software. There are Mac versions of Adobe Photoshop, Illlustrator and Microsoft Office. And while you might want to save money just buying Parallels or VMWare for $79.99 instead of a new version of Photoshop, it's still better to have the native software running. In the long run, replacing the software is a better way to go.

Now for the software for which there is NO Mac version, you have to go with one or the other. Read the reviews at the Apple store and you might be able to better figure out which is best for what you want to do.

In general most users felt the support from VMWare sucked.

If you look at each one in the Apple Store they have screen captures that show what each looks like running on your machine.

 

I tried the PC-on-a-Mac thing and didn't like it. Too slow, too many issues, and horrid support. So now, I have a mac and a PC. Problem solved.

 

My company has a huge amount of experience with both products, and is site-licensed for both. Most developers have migrated from Parallels to VMWare Fusion. A quick scan of a recent mailing list thread reveals the reasons to be:

1) Stability
2) Ability to run 64-bit operating systems
3) Ability to migrate VM images between Mac and PC

It was noted that Parallels has better 3-D graphics performance, though to get highest 3-D graphics performance you can just boot Windows natively off the same Boot Camp partition (both virtualization products support booting off a Boot Camp partition).

 

Too slow? Sounds like you were running it on a PowerPC Mac. If so, you're experience is irrelevant to this thread (and you should have known it).

 

I've heard the Intels macs are much faster, but the support issue remains. I've been told my 'unexpected results' are from running the specialised accounting and tax software on the wrong platform. I understand this experience is not relevant to everyone, but 'two computers' is still the solution for me. Wasting my days in frustration on a help line is not my idea of productivity.

 

Of course, with boot camp you don't have to worry about those "unexpected results" - You're running Windows natively, one an intel CPU that's in use on windows-only boxes, using standard graphics and memory and hard drive...

 

When running parallels, are you susceptible to PC viruses?

 

Only the Windows image. So the windows OS could get a virus (and in todays world probably will at some point), but you DO NOT have to worry about that effecting OSX.

 

Thanks for being a little more patient, eagle. The virus problem was solved for me, too, with having two computers. Sacreligious though it may seem, the PC isn't connected to the internet. No connection = no viruses. It's not perfect, I will admit, and truth be told, I'd rather have a new iMac that does everything. I'm fully aware my uniquely fussy requirements for software may not be relevant to everyone, and I'm sorry for distracting the thread.

 

Sounds like you were running Virtual PC on a PPC Mac. Like I said, completely irrelevant to this thread.

 

Not when it comes to infecting the Apple OS, as far as I know.

 

Only on the Windows side.

 

And actually, one more thing to note - With parallels you can set it up so it can't access your network card or the internet, which does help with avoiding viruses