2016 - VMware Fusion vs Parallels vs...

[OcelotWreak]

I've used Parallels for many years, simply because it was the first VM app available, a bit before Fusion became an option.

After all these years, I'm in the process of switching to Fusion. Why?

1) As many have noted, the 'mafia-like twisting your arm to do the upgrade' annual Parallels update has been very annoying.
2) I have had a number of ‘unfortunate events’ where my VMs have ‘gone missing’ that has resulted in a lot of frustration and loss of confidence in Parallels. Perhaps what happened was my own fault for some obscure reason, but on several occasions I’ve started up Parallels and had no VM to boot - the Windows instance was simply gone and it could not find the VM image to reconnect to. Trying to restore from a Time Machine backup was not successful - it was like the image was never backed up. Once after doing an upgrade to a new MacOS version, every VM image was gone and undiscoverable/unrestorable. I’ve never had a Linux image go missing, only Windows images, so your milage may vary when using Parallels. For me, I’ve had enough and I’m going to at least try VMware Fusion - I have nothing to lose at this point in time.
3) Big Business seems to love VMware enterprise products, so it seems like a well resourced company for the long term.

 

[bingeciren]

I've been using Parallels since V4.0. I tried VMware as well but found out that Parallels is quicker and more polished in comparison.

However, I despise Parallels greedy approach for nearly forced upgrades and also their licensing policy to lock their software to the UUID of the machine to prevent its use on more than one Mac.

I am hanging on to V10 and will keep using it as long as I can. When it no longer runs on a next generation macOS, I will not upgrade it and switch to either VMware or Virtualbox.

 

[alembic]

After all these years, I'm in the process of switching to Fusion.

I'm considering the same migration. Is it possible to export a Parallels VM to Fusion? or import it using Fusion? or do I have to manually recreate a new Fusion VM?

 

[KevinX3]

Is it possible to export a Parallels VM to Fusion? or import it using Fusion? or do I have to manually recreate a new Fusion VM?

Yes it is possible, nope you don't need to manually recreate your VMs. The FUSION menu has File -> Import and File -> Migrate Your PC so you have the option to import a Parallels VM or Virtualise a physical device.

The VMs are usable if the host is Windows, macOS or Linux (a bonus if you decide to say use Linux simply as a Hosting mechanism). With Fusion there are limits to the size of the VM, RAM and number of CPU cores etc, it is unlikely you would bump into these limits (unlike those in parallels). There are two versions Fusion and Fusion Pro. The Pro version, as you would expect, is slightly more expensive and this is what you get in addition the the basic version:

1. Create linked clones
2. Create full clone
3. Advanced networking
4. Secure VM encryption
5. Connect to vSphere/ESXi server
6. Connect to vCloud Air

See the website for details and you can download a 30 day trial to try out the various features. I am in no way associated with VMware, just had poor experience on more than one occasion with Parallels support AND wasted a lot of time trying to get a macOS VM working.

I have ordered an OWC 1Tb SSD for using in my mid-2015 MBP so that should speed things up (a lot), but a macOS VM running over USB3 to a mechanical (not SSD) drive is very workable (I'm using it now as my base Guest). With Parallels it is impossible to use because of latency etc. This is a bit of an insight into how each performs, Fusion (in this use case) absolutely kills parallels.

Bottom line, download the Fusion Trail and give it a workout for a couple of weeks etc...

 

[Mike Boreham]

Another long term Parallels user thinking of switching to Fusion.

Parallels has worked very well for me but I have two Macs and thinking I would move to Fusion to avoid the double license next upgrade, i.e. when 10.13 is released.

Just a couple of questions about Fusion:

Does Fusion support Snapshots or equivalent?
Does Fusion support Bootcamp...ie having a VM using the BC partition?

Thanks for any inputs.

 

[chrfr]

Does Fusion support Snapshots or equivalent?
Does Fusion support Bootcamp...ie having a VM using the BC partition?

Fusion supports both.

 

[Mike Boreham]

Fusion supports both.

Thanks very much!

Do you happen to know the Bootcamp VM is giving any problems in Fusion? It used to work reliably in Parallels, but since Windows 10 it has gone very flaky. A few people seem to get it to work but many more, including me can't, get both VM and BC activated. It might be a Microsoft issue.
[doublepost=1496156344][/doublepost]

Thanks very much!

Do you happen to know the Bootcamp VM is giving any problems in Fusion? It used to work reliably in Parallels, but since Windows 10 it has gone very flaky. A few people seem to get it to work but many more, including me can't, get both VM and BC activated. It might be a Microsoft issue.

Seems Fusion doesn't support Creators Update at all yet, so will wait anyway before trying.

https://communities.vmware.com/thread/564005

 

[randyattradewinds]

I believe that Parallels is cosmetically more appealing to Mac users so I am with raised eyebrow (so far) seeing how more people use Fusion. One thing I don't like about Parallels is their upgrades are not only a touch expensive at times but noted cases where one is practically forced to upgrade as they make sure it wont run on a later version of Apple's OS.

Yes, their prices have gone up, the service is harder to get, and the product seems to be getting worse. I work in coherence mode with multiple monitors. On thing I've noticed is that maximizing an application anywhere or simply running certain applications cause Parallels to completely lose track of whether a window goes on top, bottom or even on the page. I just recently learned the trick to make sure nothing is maximized. Before that, I was constantly having to take it out of coherence mode, which crunches three screens of applications and icons into a single window, click what I needed, then go back to coherence mode. Can anybody tell me if Fusion does a better job of that, because I'm tired of paying these prices and spending a large percentage of my time working around these bugs. I take every update from apple, windows, parallels and run the pro version, thinking that this will be the one gets it's act together, only to find it's worse. I'm ready to jump ship!!!!

 

[randyattradewinds]

I need advice from developers that have used both. I'm using Parallels pro edition to run windows 10 on my mac in coherence mode. I'm a power user with the displays. My problem has been for a while and seems to be getting worse, is that Parallels cannot keep my Windows applications in the correct order on my desktop. For instance, I may launch an application and it may appear behind something else, minimized or some other funky way. I may use a drop down on a Windows app, and the drop down list appears behind the parent screen. It's like it can't figure out what layer you are looking at. Many times I've got to shut down coherence mode, gather the screens of icons and applications onto one window, a voila, there it is. Once I've found what I'm looking for, I can go back to coherence mode. So in a nutshell, no matter how much I pay, update, reinstall parallels tools, my user experience is simply not good. The Mac apps seem to work ok. My questions is, has anybody else worked with both Parallels and Fusion and had the same problems. Parallels can't seem to figure out the problem. Each new update fluctuates in that some are better and some are worse. Version 13 is really having trouble. I'm ready to jump ship. Does Fusion work better?

 

[burne]

If you have a question: open a new thread. Hijacking unrelated and long-dead discussions is bad form.

 

[randyattradewinds]

And here I was about to post something like this. Thanks!
I'll be trying VMWare over the next few days. I've been testing Parallels; yes, it works, but sometimes I feel it is a little overpowering.

Well, we'll see how VMWare does over the next few days...

Please keep me in the loop. My Parallels has become just too cumbersome to use when you consider what it's costing. I just spend way too much time going around their bugs. I will probably give them one more time to try to correct the situation, but my problem is, that unless everything is not exactly right, my Windows applications to not operate properly. Some applications I have to minimize, some I have to kill. That shouldn't be.

 

[rnsinput]

I have found that Fusion is the best for price. I can run Fusion on multiple machines in my house, but Parallels I need to pay for each installation. I also found that Parallels suport is overseas and it is very difficult to understand them sometimes. These are the two reasons that have moved me to Fusion, but the last upgrade cycle clenched my decision. Paralles liek clockwork cam out with a new version and of course you had to pay for it. Even the reveiws were asking why you would upgrade. VMware did the unthinkable... they released v10 and did NOT charge for it!!!! THey to othought there wasn't justification to pay the normall annual upgrade price so they released their lastest version for no charge... they have won me over... all they have to do is keep producing and I WANT to buy their product to help it improve. Parallels seems greedy and controlling with their subscriptions. I really dislike the subscriptions as it almost seems like being under the thumb of a socialist government... what motivation do they have to improve anything? I want to see healthy competition with the customer rewarding innovation and penalizing mediocrity. This is why i want and choose Fusion.

I just wish MacRumors would do an annual review of these products for us.

 

[circatee]

I agree with this: "I just wish MacRumors would do an annual review of these products for us."

 

[yellow8]

Having tested both, I found that Fusion is lighter, faster and better integrated. I ran into a couple of light problems with Parallels. But Parallels has the big advantage of being free for certain OS !

 

[BornAgainMac]

Windows activation issues makes a less about which is better than which VM software is it trapped in.

 

[HDFan]

Parallels seems greedy and controlling with their subscriptions. I really dislike the subscriptions as it almost seems like being under the thumb of a socialist government... what motivation do they have to improve anything?

For better or worse the subscription model is becoming the norm. Parallels, Adobe, 1Password, CLZ products (movies, books), etc. From the developers perspective it makes sense. That way they have a dependable stream of income so they can make planning decisions, such as making major expenditures for new versions.

As a user it is annoying. If we don't like it we can cancel the subscription and move to another equivalent product, if it exists. That's their motivation. If they don't keep improving the product they lose the customer and the income.

I am not a heavy Parallels user, just using it for Quicken, but I like the frequent updates. It shows that they care about the product and is an indication that it will continue to improve and be supported. The latest version, for example, includes a download video tool for things like Youtube which I'll be comparing with my current downloader.

Macworld UK rates Parallels over VMware:

https://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/mac-software/best-virtual-machine-software-3671133/

 

[maflynn]

I'm waiting for Fusion to roll out a new update, its been on 10 for quite some time. I'm unwilling to buy 10 with the idea of 11 coming out at some point

 

[chrfr]

I'm waiting for Fusion to roll out a new update, its been on 10 for quite some time. I'm unwilling to buy 10 with the idea of 11 coming out at some point

There's a Tech Preview out now which should give some ideas as to what'll be new in Fusion v.next. https://blogs.vmware.com/teamfusion/2018/06/fusion-tech-preview-2018.html

 

[maflynn]

There's a Tech Preview out now which should give some ideas as to what'll be new in Fusion v.next. https://blogs.vmware.com/teamfusion/2018/06/fusion-tech-preview-2018.html

Yeah I saw that, I just don't want to buy it now (in Aug) and in October they release a new version and I fall out of the window for a free upgrade.

 

[chrfr]

Yeah I saw that, I just don't want to buy it now (in Aug) and in October they release a new version and I fall out of the window for a free upgrade.

It's probably safe to use the preview now until it expires; it's likely it'll run until whenever the next version ships. I definitely would not buy a copy now.