Parallels vs VMware Fusion

[MacFanUK]

I have tried Crossover for a program I need to use (Serif Pageplus) and lets just say I didn't have much luck. So, now I'm looking at Parallels or VMware. Which is the better one of the two (and why)?

I like the fact that Parallels has an ability to place a start menu on the dock instead of actually having to go into Windows, but what I'm looking for really is the one that uses less resources.

Any advice would be great.

Thanks

 

[uberamd]

There are 50,000,000 resources on this. Both are great, both cost money. For a free solution, download VirtualBox and give that a try. Otherwise I prefer VMware Fusion, but both VMware fusion and Paralles are good.

 

[elgrecomac]

On man's opinion...

Having installed and used Parallels, Fusion and Sun's (Oracle's?) Virtual Box, I believe I have a fair amount of knowledge of all three products.

So to be totally up front, I really like Fusion. i have used it with XP, Vista and Win 7. I have never had a problem creating a virtual machine, operating the windows-only apps I need for work been acceptably fast and stable, the support web site has been great, networking has been a non-issue and all of my blue tooth devices work flawlessly (mouse and keyboard). And they tend to be update to date when it comes to being ready for new OS releases from Microsoft. In the spirit of full disclosure, I am a tester for unreleased versions of Fusion and I am impressed with their direction and commitment.

Parallels is a very fine app as well but I have had some issues with it from time to time. From a speed perspective it appears to be faster than Fusion. It just doesn't seem as finished a product as Fusion, but it is quite subjective.

As for VirtualBox, well, from my perspective it is not in the same league as either Fusion or Parallels in terms of speed and stability but, being a free product, the price is right. From a long term perspective, since Oracle is buying Sun, I have strong concerns as to what Oracle is planning to do with all of Sun's opensource products: Virtual Box and MySQL DB.

Hope that helps.

 

[DoFoT9]

MROOGLE!!!!!!!!

parallels for me.

 

[MacFanUK]

Thanks.
I have just found a license key I got with a Macupdate bundle for Parallels 3.x so I'll give that a go and if it's any good I'll look at upgrading to version 4.