Parallels vs. VMware

[optimus187prime]

Hello I am going to be getting my first Mac and first laptop soon. A 2.2GHz Blackbook. Which one runs better, is easiest to use, while still being useful. In short which one is the best ?

 

[72930]

There are many threads on this. In the end, preference is split around 50/50, and most agree that Fusion is faster, but Parallels has better features...

 

[MRU]

Do you prefer

noughts or crosses,
pepper or salt,
black or white,
up or down,
left or right,
in or out,
swings or roundabouts,
fusion or parallels... ?

As psychofreak says its 50/50. Both offer trial versions. Download and see for yourself, it will boil down to personal preference.

 

[floatingspirit]

Parallels 2.0 worked like a charm for me, but after upgrading to 3.0 I've only had headaches. I had my first system-wide computer freeze since moving from Windows to Mac in 2000. I've reinstalled Leopard and Parallels from scratch and a second time encountered the same troubles. I've since concluded that it's likely a Leopard issue though. Otherwise, just be sure to get the latest version of 3.0 as per the post by brkirch below.

Verify permissions for “Macintosh HD”
Warning: SUID file "usr/libexec/load_hdi" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DiskManagement.framework/Versions/A/Resources/DiskManagementTool" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/DesktopServicesPriv.framework/Versions/A/Resources/Locum" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Install.framework/Versions/A/Resources/runner" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Admin.framework/Versions/A/Resources/readconfig" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/PrivateFrameworks/Admin.framework/Versions/A/Resources/writeconfig" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "usr/libexec/authopen" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Warning: SUID file "System/Library/CoreServices/Finder.app/Contents/Resources/OwnerGroupTool" has been modified and will not be repaired.
Group differs on ".", should be 80, group is 0.
Permissions differ on ".", should be drwxrwxr-t , they are drwxr-xr-x .

Permissions verification complete

 

[jamesarm97]

I had parallels but switched to fusion. Parallels did ok, except with serial ports. You had to use a serial server and client to get it to sometimes work. Fusion seems to have better usb 2.0 support. I just moved my parallels images over with the drag and drop importer or vmware conversion program.

 

[brkirch]

Just try them both, since both have fully functional trial versions available.

Parallels 2.0 worked like a charm for me, but after upgrading to 3.0 I've only had headaches. It even caused unrepairable changes to directories in OS X. I had my first system-wide computer freeze since moving from Windows to Mac in 2000. I've reinstalled Leopard and Parallels from scratch and a second time encountered the same troubles. Version 3.0 sucks huge!

You're blaming Parallels for your broken permissions? It's a problem with Leopard, it has nothing to do with Parallels. And as for system freezes, there are actually bugs in Leopard that have nothing to do with Parallels that could be causing them (for example, the Airport driver has been causing crashes since Leopard was released and it still hasn't been fixed). Also make sure Parallels is up-to-date, older versions of Parallels 3.0 don't run correctly under Leopard.

 

[epmi]

VMware is great so far

Well I just got my MBP Monday and I installed VM a couple of days ago. I am just loving it. Last night I installed Office 2007, Quicken 2008, CS2.. all the programs seem to work pretty good and didn't hang at all. I did take the time to optimize Vista the best I could, such as disabling programs that run at startup and disabling services I don't need. So starting VM is not really bad at all.. it really almost seemed like I was running Vista natively, even when I had Photoshop running. And Unity is a great feature.

I was going to try Parallels next but to be honest, I don't think I will since I'm happy with the way things are running now. I feel like I have the best of both worlds which is great.. I can run Vista via Boot Camp or VM and still have access to all of my apps.

ETA: Forgot to mention that I have 2GB of RAM and in VM's settings I gave Vista 1GB (default is set to 512MB). In the future I may upgrade my RAM to 4GB but not in any hurry now.

 

[floatingspirit]

Just try them both, since both have fully functional trial versions available.



You're blaming Parallels for your broken permissions? It's a problem with Leopard, it has nothing to do with Parallels. And as for system freezes, there are actually bugs in Leopard that have nothing to do with Parallels that could be causing them (for example, the Airport driver has been causing crashes since Leopard was released and it still hasn't been fixed). Also make sure Parallels is up-to-date, older versions of Parallels 3.0 don't run correctly under Leopard.

Hmm..to be fair my permissions are now unrepairable again after reinstalling Leopard (I'm anal) and I don't even have Parallels. In fact, I can't create a partition for Boot Camp. It says to repair permissions, but it can't. Twice previously it had been an action in Paralelles that immediately preceeded the bad behavior in Leopard, but not this third time.

I did locate a newer build of Parallels the 2nd time around, but still had the problem.

Anyway, I take back my bad words about Parallels...

Thank you for enlightening me brkirch about the permissions bug.

 

[redshift20]

Personally, I like VMWare as a company better. SWSoft only seems to care about their Mac products.. which is only irritating to me when I'm trying to use one of their windows products (which I don't anymore).

Anyway.. I Had existing VM's from Microsoft VirtualPC 20007 that I needed to import. I tried VMWare first, and it bombed trying to import them. So, naturally I tried Parallels next.. it converted and imported my existing VM's flawlessly. So I bought it.

All in all, I'm happy with Parallels. The compressor feature works very nice. I don't care much for Coherence. I use serial ports & usb ports in my development work.. in general, it works very smoothly.

 

[nikopolidis]

I determined to purchase Parallels' decision. Now I'm choosing one of the Parallels' special offers. The have a plenty of rather attractive ones!
I'm going to cope with Parallels Desktop on my holidays. Surely will post my report on it as soon as possible!

 

[taylorwilsdon]

I determined to purchase Parallels' decision. Now I'm choosing one of the Parallels' special offers. The have a plenty of rather attractive ones!
I'm going to cope with Parallels Desktop on my holidays. Surely will post my report on it as soon as possible!

Language, English not is my first. Post me review please now.

edit: I hope I'm not seen as rude. Reading this, it does seem a little mean. If a mod wants to remove it no hard feelings

 

[WildPalms]

Language, English not is my first. Post me review please now.

edit: I hope I'm not seen as rude. Reading this, it does seem a little mean. If a mod wants to remove it no hard feelings

I thought it was funny in the nicest possible way

p.s. Dude, you really need to get a modern desk for your attic study. It would really suit it.

 

[SaSaSushi]

Well I just got my MBP Monday and I installed VM a couple of days ago. I am just loving it. Last night I installed Office 2007, Quicken 2008, CS2.. all the programs seem to work pretty good and didn't hang at all. I did take the time to optimize Vista the best I could, such as disabling programs that run at startup and disabling services I don't need. So starting VM is not really bad at all.. it really almost seemed like I was running Vista natively, even when I had Photoshop running. And Unity is a great feature.

I was going to try Parallels next but to be honest, I don't think I will since I'm happy with the way things are running now. I feel like I have the best of both worlds which is great.. I can run Vista via Boot Camp or VM and still have access to all of my apps.

ETA: Forgot to mention that I have 2GB of RAM and in VM's settings I gave Vista 1GB (default is set to 512MB). In the future I may upgrade my RAM to 4GB but not in any hurry now.

I upgraded my iMac to 4GB RAM yesterday from 2GB primarily because running Vista in Fusion (same deal in Parallels when I tried that) would completely lock up my entire system making either OS nearly unusable. I had 1GB assigned to both Leopard and Vista.

Now with 4GB installed it is NIGHT AND DAY different. I assigned 2GB to each OS and Vista actually seems to run faster in Fusion then it does in Boot Camp if that is possible. I am using my Boot Camp partition via Fusion. There is no slow down in OS X either with Vista running and both OSes can coexist happily.

Overall Leopard itself seems to boot up faster and run quicker with 4GB as opposed to 2GB as well although that could be a placebo effect. There is NO doubt as to the difference where Fusion was concerned.

 

[CKtoph]

I think, generally speaking, VMware is better, but if you're a gamer, Parallels supports OpenGL and DirectX while VMware only supports DirectX at the moment.

 

[nikopolidis]

Language, English not is my first. Post me review please now.
edit: I hope I'm not seen as rude. Reading this, it does seem a little mean. If a mod wants to remove it no hard feelings

What do you exactly mean by this post???