VMware V Parallels now?

[yettimillan]

Should I get VMware or Parallels between now and christmas?

The reason I say this is because i'm wondering if either is due for a major upgrade anytime soon which will make one better than the other?

 

[Scippy]

VMware was just updated on Tuesday.

 

[ayeying]

Parallels is coming out with Parallels 5 soon. VMware Fusion just updated to version 3 this week.

 

[NJRonbo]

I take it that even with these new versions
it is a toss-up as to which is still better?

Both pretty much neck-and-neck with features
and perfomance?

 

[CylonGlitch]

Fusion has been better for me overall; by a lot. I couldn't go back to parallels now, I really got frustrated with their support packaging style. But it sounds like Fusion may be going this way too... I don't know about 3.0.

 

[ayeying]

Its basically down to what you wanna do.

VMWare Fusion has more stability than Parallels but its 3D performance suffers. Parallels have better 3D performance but stability suffers sometimes.

 

[chrisrottan]

I give my vote to fusion.

 

[Zortrium]

I've only used Fusion, but I'm happy with it and I've encountered several issues that other people were having with Parallels that didn't affect me in Fusion.

 

[Mew2468]

I've never used Parallels, but I use VMWare Fusion regularly and find it's an extremely stable program. My vote goes to VMWare Fusion.

 

[RS232]

I've used Parallels 4 for a few months and started with using Fusion 3 this week. The performance has been great on my MacBook UMB using Aero within Windows 7 Professional.

I'm very tempted to switch over to Fusion but I want to see what Parallels 5 will offer. I hope they release it soon as I am defect to Fusion!

 

[earthdan]

Does anybody have any idea about when parallels 5 will be fully released? There has been a beta (or a number of betas) out for a while now. Next month? This year? Next year?

I too am struggling with the decision of which to get, fusion 3 or parallels 5, so knowing when the final release of parallels is coming out would be great info to have!

cheers,
Dan

 

[yettimillan]

I use windows for gaming most of the time although I do use windows for a connection to my xbox 360 as the mac connection conflicts with the NAT preferences.

I definately want it to be stable also able to play games without a significant lag. I also want to be able to use an internet connection via windows.

Its a very hard decision, which company have more experience with vm?

And another thing, does either offer free upgrades?

I have seen that Fusion offers you to use your bootcamp partition as a vm, does this mean that when u make edits using it as a virtual machine it actually edits the partition or is it seperate?

 

[NJRonbo]

I have used VMWARE and PARALLELS.

Personally, I like the VMWARE experience
better. Much easier install process and I don't
get connection problems like I did on PARALLELS.

That's not to say there is one clear winner
here. There isn't. Both companies are constantly
upgrading their software and trying to outdo
each other with new features.

I think in the end, both platforms eventually
catch up with each other as far as features
and performance.

 

[akbc]

After trying out Parallels and VMware Fusion in their trial, I gave my vote to VMware Fusion version 2 at the time.

Now that I've just upgraded to V3 with the 39.99 discount, I've been extremely satisfied with the VMware Fusion.

 

[yettimillan]

After doing some research and reading peoples relies it seems that Vmware Fusion 3 is better liked. Im downloading the trial for it now, can I run Parallels trial with Fusion?

 

[ayeying]

After doing some research and reading peoples relies it seems that Vmware Fusion 3 is better liked. Im downloading the trial for it now, can I run Parallels trial with Fusion?

Yes. You can have both installed at the same time. I know there was a bug where VMWare Fusion 3 and Parallels 5 cannot be running at the same time though, not sure if that was fixed.

I have VMware Fusion 3 and Parallels 5 linked to my Windows 7 Boot Camp Partition without any problems. Even got VMware Workstation 7 linked to my Ubuntu VM in Windows 7 too.

 

[yettimillan]

Ive just tried out Windows Vista on Fusion.

It was so slow, the graphics was really bad, had black sides at the edges of the screen. I have seen in Parallels that the windows start icon and apps can be merged into the dock, can this be done with fusion as well?

 

[ayeying]

Ive just tried out Windows Vista on Fusion.

It was so slow, the graphics was really bad, had black sides at the edges of the screen. I have seen in Parallels that the windows start icon and apps can be merged into the dock, can this be done with fusion as well?

By your description, you didn't install the VMWare Tools. This will drastically increase performance in the virtual machine.

The feature you're describing is available on Fusion, but it's a little different. Instead of the start icon, its put as a menu bar item next to the clock (only if enabled). You can drag apps into the dock. There should be a folder called "Windows Applications" in the Applications folder (Might have to double check this, I have both Parallels and Fusion installed so I'm not sure which gives it that feature right now). If there's no folder, then it's located at:

/Users/[Insert Name Here]/Documents/Virtual Machines/[Insert VM Name Here].vmwarevm/

or for Boot Camp:

/Users/[Insert Name Here]/Library/Application Support/VMWare Fusion/Virtual Machines/Boot Camp/%2Fdev%2Fdisk0/Boot Camp partition.vmwarevm/

(Right click, show package contents)

 

[amfr]

Edit: Beat by ayeying, follow what he says and you should be fine.

 

[yettimillan]

This is becoming a really hard decision, I definately want one of them.

They both seem to have the same sort of features avaliable, they both are around the same price.

I also have another question. Do I still have to download updates for windows, and can viruses still get in when using a vm and effect my mac?

As I can run windows from bootcamp, does this mean that when I make changes in VM mode it changes it in normal bootcamp mode when i have to re boot my mac?

 

[ayeying]

This is becoming a really hard decision, I definately want one of them.

They both seem to have the same sort of features avaliable, they both are around the same price.

I also have another question. Do I still have to download updates for windows, and can viruses still get in when using a vm and effect my mac?

As I can run windows from bootcamp, does this mean that when I make changes in VM mode it changes it in normal bootcamp mode when i have to re boot my mac?

You still need to download all updates and have an anti-virus. It would not affect the mac side, but the windows side will be affected. Furthermore, if you downloaded a virus on the mac, it can also infect the windows side.

Running windows from a boot camp partition does make all changes in VM and boot camp.

 

[yettimillan]

Ive just tried out Windows Vista in Both Fusion and Parallels.

There are both very slow, I have 2gb ram and 2ghz processor. Macbook Alum.

 

[NJRonbo]

Vista is a resource hog.

Are you guys allocating enough memory to the
virtual engine? Really, there should be 1-2GB
of memory allocated to Fusion or Parallels. If
you are not using enough memory it will be slow.

Besides, I am looking forward to results of VM
and PARALLELS running Windows 7 which should
work far better than Vista.

 

[ayeying]

Vista is a resource hog.

Are you guys allocating enough memory to the
virtual engine? Really, there should be 1-2GB
of memory allocated to Fusion or Parallels. If
you are not using enough memory it will be slow.

Besides, I am looking forward to results of VM
and PARALLELS running Windows 7 which should
work far better than Vista.

I allocate 896MB, which is 1/2 of total memory available for the OS (-256MB for Video card). It runs great imo. Not as fast as Windows XP but its usable.

 

[Nermal]

You still need to download all updates and have an anti-virus.

Fusion includes a copy of (McAfee?) AV. I don't know whether Parallels has anything.