I have a need to run some Windows XP Apps on my IBook. Which is the better product, Fusion or Parallels, and why? Any recommendations where to get the best price?
This is my plug for VMWare Fusion. I haven't fully researched Parallels, so it's very possible that it can do the same things that VMWare does that I like. I use VMWare Fusion (just got it a couple weeks ago) on my MacBook Pro (2 Gb RAM, intel core duo), and it works pretty well. I like it a lot!
The "Unity" feature is... AWESOME, though Parallels has something called "Coherence" that apparently does the same thing. I liked the feature that allowed me to use my already partitioned hard drive (boot camp) with Fusion. I would think Parallels would do this too, but I didn't see it advertised on the box... somebody can verify this for me, I'm sure. Also, other forums with similar posts have seemed to all claim that Fusion is more stable that Parallels for whatever reason.
To be completely honest, I chose VMWare Fusion because of $. Both sides can be argued to death but money speaks louder. Fusion cost me a mere $50 here at my university opposed to like $80+ (I think) for Parallels. To answer your "where to buy it" question, I'd suggest maybe looking at a college or something. I don't think it'd be "illegal" if you weren't a student, as I know here at my university, no student ID or anything needs to be shown. I think we just have a special vendor's license. I'm all about followin' the law regarding this stuff, so... yeah. You could also just do a google product search and see what you can find. I've found some pretty good deals that way.
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You'll need an intel Mac to run either Parallels or Fusion. On a ppc Mac you can run virtual pc.
The "Unity" feature is... AWESOME, though Parallels has something called "Coherence" that apparently does the same thing. I liked the feature that allowed me to use my already partitioned hard drive (boot camp) with Fusion. I would think Parallels would do this too, but I didn't see it advertised on the box... somebody can verify this for me, I'm sure. Also, other forums with similar posts have seemed to all claim that Fusion is more stable that Parallels for whatever reason.
To be completely honest, I chose VMWare Fusion because of $. Both sides can be argued to death but money speaks louder. Fusion cost me a mere $50 here at my university opposed to like $80+ (I think) for Parallels. To answer your "where to buy it" question, I'd suggest maybe looking at a college or something. I don't think it'd be "illegal" if you weren't a student, as I know here at my university, no student ID or anything needs to be shown. I think we just have a special vendor's license. I'm all about followin' the law regarding this stuff, so... yeah. You could also just do a google product search and see what you can find. I've found some pretty good deals that way.
Well hope that helps!