Shootout: Parallels outperforms VMware Fusion in many tests

***AppleInsider*** · 03-05-2009, 12:26 PM

A head-to-head test of Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMware Fusion - the two leading competitors in the Mac Virtualization segment - crowns Parallels as the clear winner, but the testers found both products performed well and VMware can even be a better choice under certain circumstances.

MacTech Magazine ran both virtual machines through thousands of real-world tests, timed with a stopwatch, to find out which performs the fastest. The results are in a five-page story at its website, which AppleInsider highly recommends that prospective buyers of either solution read in full.

Acknowledging Apple's own Boot Camp, which can boot natively into Windows, MacTech decided to look only at virtual machines since they do not require restarting to switch between operating system environments. The publication was also interested in determining which operating system - Windows XP or Vista - offers the best performance. The testers kept an eye on the differences between larger memory configurations, multiple processors, and 64-bit versions of the OS.

To facilitate these tests, they used four different models of Macs to cover the range of machines actual customers would use with more than 2,500 total tests. Again, each was timed with a stopwatch for real-world results to avoid difficulties in running diagnostics on virtual machines that don't always properly keep track of the time it takes for tasks to execute.

Specific tests included: performance (launch and CPU), file and network IO, footprint, application launch and performance, and tests of 3D and HD graphics and games.

Parallels Desktop was the clear winner, running 14 to 20 percent faster than VMware Fusion in the majority of overall averages. There was only one exception when VMware was faster: 32-bit Windows XP on two virtual processors, which ran about 10 percent faster than Parallels.

Overall Test Results

Parallels
14% faster running 32-bit XP and Vista on a single virtual processor20% faster running 32-bit Vista on two virtual processors15% faster running 64-bit Vista on two virtual processors
VMware Fusion
10% fasster running 32-bit XP on two virtual processors

Launch and CPU Tests

In using Windows' compression tools and MP3 to WAV transcoding, Parallels was faster in every version of the test, ranging from 7% faster when launching virtual XP and resuming from suspend after a full restart, to 31% faster after a full Windows boot on Vista. *The contest was closest when both Parallels and VMware Fusion were launched without restarting, allowing the benefits of caching. *In that test, Parallels was 17 percent faster in Vista and 22 percent faster in XP, but the range was only zero to one second.

Application Launch Test (Word and Outlook)

Here, there was no clear advantage for either virtualization engine. *When launching Microsoft Word after a full reboot, Fusion was faster by 8 percent on XP while Parallels trumped with Vista at a 33 percent faster clip. *Without a restart, Fusion notched a sweep, while the two again split with launching Outlook (Fusion narrowly won with XP, Parallels with Vista).

Application Performance Tests

MacTech did a global search and replace of about 95,000 items in a very large Word document, and in Excel, they ran a macro to generate a large amount of random numbers, filling cells with them. *PowerPoint rendered slides with transitions as quickly as possible.

In the Word test, Parallels was faster under both XP (4 percent) and Vista (9 percent), with similar results on Excel (14 percent faster on XP, 13 percent on Vista). *However, Fusion did score a victory with XP on the PowerPoint test, albeit a small one, at two percent. *On Vista, it was a tie.

Internet Explorer Speed Test

MacTech created a large, complex page in HTML served from a local LAN server using common HTML elements and no JavaScript.* VMware Fusion took significantly longer across the board, so they removed the results from the overall analysis to avoid it skewing the results. In general, Parallels was more than 80% faster in XP and Vista both with and without SSL.

Footprint Tests

Three footprint tests were also run. The first booted Windows, let it finish, and then measured CPU while both Mac OS X and Windows were sitting idle.*The second test was similiar but evaluated launches of Word and Outlook, and the third gauged CPU usage while playing a DVD. In all three tests, Parallels and Fusion fared well.

Virtual Machine Memory Usage

As part of its Virtual Machine Memory Usage tests, MacTech noticed that Parallels only took memory from Mac OS X when Windows needed it. The publication ran an "endless loop" macro in Excel that generated random numbers.* When battery life approached the end, Parallels paused the virtual machine and the Mac went into hibernate, saving the state of the virtual machine.* VMware Fusion suspends the virtual machine before sleeping. The end result was that Parallel's battery usage lasted at least 8 percent longer in both XP and Vista.

File and Network IO Tests

In a highly refined I/O test -- due to problems discovered throughout the testing proccess -- 3.7GB of data (two 1.85GB files) was duplicated and copied to and from a Mac hard drive, LAN Server, and USB Flash drive under both XP and Vista. Parallels beat out Fusion hands down in all but 2 of the 14 tests.

3D and HD Graphics Tests

XP: Smoothly played both 720p and 1080p videos in both environments.
Vista: Couldn't play 720p at all in Parallels. VMware Fusion stuttered on every machine except the Mac Pro. Given 720p results, MacTech didn't bother trying 1080p.

Games

MacTech found that frames per second was a poor indicator of quality, as VMware Fusion, despite running Civilization IV: Colonization at a lower frame rate, had better-looking graphics. Parallels ran Portal better, but the testers were impressed with overall game performance on both platforms.

Final Conclusions

The publication determined the performance differences between XP and Vista are small enough to where users can choose whichever OS they want; that is, the "Vista penalty" is gone. However, the testers did prefer XP's stability and "less annoying" behavior.

When it comes to multiple virtual processors and running in 64-bit, it was concluded that 64-bit wasn't helpful for anything but computationally intense applications like CAD, so most users won't need them. The ability to address more memory in 64-bit mode was similarly deemed irrelevant since many Windows applications and drivers aren't yet 64-bit compatible, and there are plenty of reports of problems in virtual machines trying to run them to recommend against it until technology improves.

Finally, MacTech concluded that XP with 1GB of RAM and one virtual processor will be more than adequate for the majority of users. In fact, more RAM meant longer virtual machine launch times, suspends, and resumes. The testers recommend using only as much memory as needed.

Parallels Desktop was the clear favorite for its small footprint (it only takes more RAM from OS X when needed) and performance advantages in every environment except one. MacTech, though, believes both are excellent products that can run Windows XP and Vista well, so it will be up to the user to decide based on whichever factors are most important in each individual case.

The full 5-page report includes a plethora of detailed test results and graphs. It's recommended for all prospective or current Mac virtualization users.

Purchasing Parallels and VMWare Fusion

Parallels 4 retails for $79.99 but can be purchased and shipped from Amazon for just $49.99 after an instant $10 savings and an additional $20 rebate. For those readers looking to purchase Parallels 4 and download it immediately, Parallels offers this option through its own website for $79.99. However, readers can get $10 off the digital download through this link. (Note that Parallels automatically adds a $6.99 "Extended Download" option to the shopping cart of all of its online orders, which can be removed easily by clicking the "X" to the far right.)

Fusion also retails for $79.99 but Amazon is offering 24% off VMWare Fusion 2.0 ($60.49), though readers interested in saving another $8 may elect to purchase 1.0 for $52.29 and upgrade to 2.0 at VMWare's website for free.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

JavaCowboy · 03-05-2009, 12:34 PM

It's free and arguably better than VMWare and certainly better than Parallels for running just about any OS you can throw at it.

**Mr. H** · 03-05-2009, 12:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JavaCowboy

It's free and arguably better than VMWare and certainly better than Parallels for running just about any OS you can throw at it.

Yeah, why do these comparisons never mention VirtualBox? Come on AI, you should have taken MacTech to task over this. All I know is that VirtualBox exists and runs on OS X, it'd be nice if someone would include it in these head-to-heads to shed light on whether it's any good or not.

DeaPeaJay · 03-05-2009, 01:01 PM

This makes me feel good, since I own parallels, and I'm constantly hearing how Fusion is somehow better.

hexor · 03-05-2009, 01:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeaPeaJay

This makes me feel good, since I own parallels, and I'm constantly hearing how Fusion is somehow better.

The abysmal stability of Parallels was the main reason why I switched to VMWare. I purchased Parallels first and was so unhappy with it because of this that I switched to VMWare and never had it crash on me. They may have caught up in the stability area now but the fact that they were willing to release obvious "beta" software to the masses and sell it irked me. It also sounds like VMWare will crush Parallels on one of the new Mac Pro's because of VMWare being able to take advantage of some hardware features of Nehalem.

gto65l · 03-05-2009, 01:16 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeaPeaJay

This makes me feel good, since I own parallels, and I'm constantly hearing how Fusion is somehow better.

I use both pieces of software on two machines. I wish they were both VMWare, which I use on my personal computer. The performance differences are minimal, and I think VMWare is just better made and feels better and more intuitive to use.

TSc · 03-05-2009, 01:18 PM

I used Parallels and vmware for some time on my iMAC 2.8 with 4GB.

All the updates provided by Parallels caused a lot of trouble. It was some kind of a nightmare to find the exact release as Parallels provided so many updates and two times I had to re-install Windows. Now, I only use vmware. It doesn't seem slower compared to Parallels but I never used a stopwatch.

I'm not sure which one is the best in terms of performance but in terms of stability vmware outperfoms.

DeaPeaJay · 03-05-2009, 01:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gto65l

I use both pieces of software on two machines. I wish they were both VMWare, which I use on my personal computer. The performance differences are minimal, and I think VMWare is just better made and feels better and more intuitive to use.

I guess I got in after the stability issues. The current software works great for me. Speed or not, it really makes no difference to me anyway because all I need it for is the ability to test websites in IE. I just can't get excited about running Windows :P

solipsism · 03-05-2009, 01:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hexor

The abysmal stability of Parallels was the main reason why I switched to VMWare. I purchased Parallels first and was so unhappy with it because of this that I switched to VMWare and never had it crash on me. They may have caught up in the stability area now but the fact that they were willing to release obvious "beta" software to the masses and sell it irked me. It also sounds like VMWare will crush Parallels on one of the new Mac Pro's because of VMWare being able to take advantage of some hardware features of Nehalem.

The history of virtualization and emulation on the Mac is interesting. As best I can remember it, Parallels was the first to come out with a virtualization product for OS X, but VM Ware's long and solid history on other OSes brought in a solid fanbase when Fusion was finally released.

Parallels was the first I use. I liked it, especially when in comparison to MS' VirtualPC emulator for OS X, but that is a given for many reasons. My problem with Parallels started when their paid for update cycles became too frequent and the stability started to suffer with these more advanced versions that seemed only focusing on out doing VM Ware's Fusion. I eventually had too many issues with Parallels, tried out Fusion and haven't needed to check out Parallels again since switching.

blake.irvin · 03-05-2009, 01:37 PM

http://download.virtualbox.org/virtu...-42893-OSX.dmg

ltcommander.data · 03-05-2009, 01:50 PM

Parallels being faster is definitely a pleasant surprise since I'm pretty sure previous benchmarks showed that Fusion had better performance. Hopefully it'll encourage VMWare to keeping optimizing things. Personally, I prefer Fusion, because as other's mentioned it seems more stable. That makes sense considering VMWare's background is in corporate products, while Parallels seems more consumer focused.

Another point though is that I'm guessing their tests were done as actual virtual machine disk images. However, I'm sure many consumers would just run their Boot Camp partition in a virtual machine. Supposedly, Boot Camp VM is slower since it's an actual partition that can't be as effectively cached to memory. As well, I've been told that virtual machine image uses OS X's SCSI driver which is better optimized than the IDE driver that is used to read a Boot Camp VM. It'd be interesting to see someone do comparisons using Boot Camp VMs to see if that really changes things.

For most users, they should only dedicate a single processor to their VM since dedicating 2 processors makes it more difficult for OS X to schedule the program: ie. it'll need to find 2 cores that are free so that the both cores in the virtual machine can be kept in sync. Finding room for 2 cores simultaneously is obviously harder than scheduling 1 core. This is especially true for Macs with 2 cores which are most of them. You should generally dedicate fewer cores than your Mac has to allow room for other background programs.

The other thing I noticed is that OS X's scheduler doesn't seem to determine processor affinity very well. Like the process running the VM is constantly bouncing around between cores on my MacBook Pro. It isn't as much a problem on dual cores since they have shared L2 cache anyways, but on non-Nehalem Mac Pros, which use dual die quad core chips, if it's moving between cores on different dies there will be a lot of cache thrashing or memory reading since the caches aren't being used effectively.

Toyin · 03-05-2009, 01:52 PM

I own both and have used both. I find both products to be stable and both work well for me. I used Parallels mostly until a couple of months ago when I switched to Fusion full time. I felt like Fusion (Windows XP, 2 virtual proc on Macbook Pro), was a bit faster then Parallels. Fusion also resumes from suspension a lot faster then Parallels. However Fusion does use a lot more processor power when idle and I've noticed a significant drop in battery life when using Fusion.

I'm on the fence with this one, but I may go back to Parallels for a while.

edit: Title is "Surprised"

gbrandt · 03-05-2009, 02:07 PM

I used parallels for a long time, since the earliest versions. It did the job just fine, I never hit any of the problems other people did. I always used Windows XP session.

Then a client wanted me to do some work with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS. Parallels, even V4, sucked at it. Constant crashes, things not working right.

I tried VMWare and everything was perfect and runs fine. And I got VMWare for $5.00 on a special deal a while back.

My wife still uses Parallels, but I now use VMWare across the board.

Gregor

NeilM · 03-05-2009, 02:35 PM

I've set up each of VMWare Fusion and Parallels at the office. Fusion is used to run a Windows-only accounting program, and Parallels for web site testing with IE. Both host XP Pro and run fine.

As far as performance and features go, they seem periodically to leapfrog one another with new versions. Which is faster may depend on the version life cycle point at which you test them, but in any case the differences aren't huge. Fusion, our more recent installation, runs very briskly on a 24" iMac. Frankly the virtual machine speed isn't a limiting factor at this level of performance. Of course I used to use VirtualPC, so by comparison both Parallels and Fusion are speed blurs!

I do agree that Fusion has a more polished feel to it. It's very unobtrusive in everyday use.

VirtualBox looks interesting for personal purposes, but in a production environment I need fully documented and supported commercial software.

maztec · 03-05-2009, 02:40 PM

I use both. But not on the same system at the same time! Oh the nightmares that causes and the corruption of Windows that results.

I used parallels for a really long time. But it was unstable and the one factor never mentioned in the review is its CPU usage was constantly 25% or greater. Even when I used the latest version [installed it last night after Windows died due to registry corruption caused by a piece of software I installed] it still pegs CPU usage higher than VMWare. Uninstalled Parallels, installed Fusion, and sure it runs a bit slower but it is more stable and my laptop isn't overheating from constant CPU usage of 25% or better.

I really do like Parallels more overall, but could not put up with the instability and the need to reformat and reinstall Windows every 4 months because of Parallels ongoing instability. It might be stable now, but VMWare treats me well.. and I have been burned by too many Parallels upgrades being highly unstable.

bloggerblog · 03-05-2009, 02:43 PM

I already did my testing before purchasing, I downloaded the latest Parallels trial and the VMWare trial... VMWare felt a lot "snappier" than Parallels.

ciparis · 03-05-2009, 02:48 PM

It's far too late for Parallels to regain my business.

- poor stability
- non-existent support
- ridiculous upgrade policies (you'd have had to purchase Parallels several times over by now to stay current, while my VMWare license, purchased for less than the price Parallels wanted to upgrade my buggy-as-heck first release, keeps going and going)

No, thanks.

trip1ex · 03-05-2009, 02:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JavaCowboy

It's free and arguably better than VMWare and certainly better than Parallels for running just about any OS you can throw at it.

Trying it now. Thanks for the tip.

macxpress · 03-05-2009, 03:02 PM

I use Parallels 4.0 everyday at the schools I work at as they're all PC based. Its great! The new Parallels works so much better, faster and doesn't use a ton of RAM like previous versions. I can easily run Parallels on 3 GB of RAM when before it would make my other MacBook Pro die with 4GB of RAM installed. Overall, I'm very happy with Parallels.

**JeffDM** · 03-05-2009, 03:12 PM

I bought Fusion and installed it yesterday. My primary consideration was the issues other AI members had with Parallels support and them reneging on specific upgrade promises to early adopters.

I can't scale back a volume's size though, I wish I started out smaller. I have only installed three apps and the security updates, and the image is already about 8GB in size, and this is Windows XP. I thought XP was a lot smaller than this.

hezekiahb · 03-05-2009, 04:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hexor

The abysmal stability of Parallels was the main reason why I switched to VMWare. I purchased Parallels first and was so unhappy with it because of this that I switched to VMWare and never had it crash on me. They may have caught up in the stability area now but the fact that they were willing to release obvious "beta" software to the masses and sell it irked me. It also sounds like VMWare will crush Parallels on one of the new Mac Pro's because of VMWare being able to take advantage of some hardware features of Nehalem.

This was also why I switched, & we run an ESX virtual server cluster so I like being able to just pull down an ESX VM to my machine & run it if I want.

hezekiahb · 03-05-2009, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JeffDM

I bought Fusion and installed it yesterday. My primary consideration was the issues other AI members had with Parallels support and them reneging on specific upgrade promises to early adopters.

I can't scale back a volume's size though, I wish I started out smaller. I have only installed three apps and the security updates, and the image is already about 8GB in size, and this is Windows XP. I thought XP was a lot smaller than this.

When you are all don open the vmware tools inside XP & try running "shrink".

Think 8GB is bad, my vista volume is hogging up about 17GB, course I have Office installed so that doesn't help.

Mr_C · 03-05-2009, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr. H

Yeah, why do these comparisons never mention VirtualBox? Come on AI, you should have taken MacTech to task over this. All I know is that VirtualBox exists and runs on OS X, it'd be nice if someone would include it in these head-to-heads to shed light on whether it's any good or not.

I agree completely - it would have been VERY interesting to see how a FREE product compares to the pay for competition. Hopefully they'll do it soon

ltcommander.data · 03-05-2009, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mr_C

I agree completely - it would have been VERY interesting to see how a FREE product compares to the pay for competition. Hopefully they'll do it soon

Ars Technica did reviews on Parallels and Fusion and follow-up with a brief review of VirtualBox. They mainly looked at it from a functional perspective where I believe there conclusion is that it's usable as a basic virtualization solution, particularly if you are using XP. It doesn't have the features or the polish of commercial products though. But given that it's $0, it's still a great alternative for light Windows work or as an introduction to virtualization.

http://arstechnica.com/apple/reviews...tualbox-21.ars

trip1ex · 03-05-2009, 04:36 PM

I installed Virtual Box and installed XP in a virtual machine since I last posted 90 minutes ago. Also ran the guest additions iso (in the package contents) which gives you integrated mouse support and treats Xp windows as if they are part of OS/X among other things. So far can't believe it's free.

**JeffDM** · 03-05-2009, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hezekiahb

When you are all don open the vmware tools inside XP & try running "shrink".

Think 8GB is bad, my vista volume is hogging up about 17GB, course I have Office installed so that doesn't help.

Thanks, I think that cleaned up about 1.5GB. I don't have any Office-type suite installed yet, assuming I do install one. They're all huge unless you use an old version.

zunx · 03-05-2009, 05:24 PM

If you want to control USB devices from Windows from the Mac, the best hands down is Fusion.

WPLJ42 · 03-05-2009, 05:29 PM

To be fair, there should be a comparison including Virtual Box and Boot Camp.

rbonner · 03-05-2009, 05:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by trip1ex

I installed Virtual Box and installed XP in a virtual machine since I last posted 90 minutes ago. Also ran the guest additions iso (in the package contents) which gives you integrated mouse support and treats Xp windows as if they are part of OS/X among other things. So far can't believe it's free.

I really liked it as well until I tried to drag a file from my desktop to the VM, there was no support.

rbonner · 03-05-2009, 06:01 PM

I have tried both Parallels and VMWare, several times. Even beta tested the latest VMWare release.

I thought that Parallels was a bit more user friendly, especially being able to set the MAC address in the network setting. Very nice touch.

At the end of the day, it came down to a situation where my parallels BSOD'd on me, and there was not really a reason why, or a great way back. VMWare has never failed me stability wise.

I would rather be able to use my windows session tomorrow than run it a bit faster today.

razorpit · 03-05-2009, 06:21 PM

I've been a user of Parallels for over two years now and was reasonably happy with the performance and reliability , but version 4 is terrible. There are serious problems synchronizing Palm's, and every once in a while it will go crazy,using 70 - 100% on the CPU with nothing really going on. Although version 4 looks prettier and has a lot of promise, right now I'm sorry I upgraded from version 3.

graxspoo · 03-05-2009, 07:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ltcommander.data

But given that it's $0, it's still a great alternative for light Windows work or as an introduction to virtualization.

Yes. I've been very disappointed with Parallels upgrade pricing. Recently I found out I would have to upgrade to Parallels 4 in order to run Kubuntu. Since my virtualization needs are mostly "for fun" I was quite pleased to find VirtualBox. It runs Kubuntu great. Sayonara Parallels.

BTW Kubuntu is also free! VirtualBox + Linux: Its like a whole new (free) OS for your Mac.

PS: VirtualBox has been updated since the Ars Technica article was written. I didn't run into any VirtualBox related bugs.

trip1ex · 03-05-2009, 09:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbonner

I really liked it as well until I tried to drag a file from my desktop to the VM, there was no support.

There is support to share files.

IN the VM you can specify a folder or folders located on the host as shared folder(s.) I whipped up one to test it out and was able to view the same files on both the host and guest.

ThePixelDoc · 03-06-2009, 01:26 AM

I just thought I might add, that people that only need to use one or 2 small programs that aren't available for a Mac, or there isn't equivalent Mac software, might try CrossOver from CodeWeavers or Darwine.

I have one program that I need to use daily, APFill Ink Coverage Meter (anybody with a heads-up where I might find a similar Mac app...?). I installed it in a "bottle" within CrossOver, and it works like a charm! I (personally) don't need Windoze for anything else, but you can even install all of the MS Office stuff, including Internet Explorer 6 if you need to test websites.

Just a tip.

PS: I thought I might add that, what surprised me the most about this particular program running in a "bottle", is that it needs to have Ghostscript also installed in the bottle for reading PDFs, and that on Windoze, it only runs from the Taskbar. In the bottle on CrossOver, it's even more usable because it runs stand-alone as a normal app.

PSS: About APFill. It's used to measure ink coverage across a page, with up to 8 colors in a separation PDF, or RGB. I need this to calculate printing costs in the packaging industry, but it can be used for pro photo/print houses as well for Gyclee printing for more accurate pricing.

aToMac · 03-06-2009, 02:37 AM

We are using VMWare trial now. It feels much snappier than Parallels 4.0. I regret that we bought 2 licenses. Maybe Parallels doesn't use much RAM, but if you use Visual Studio and SQL Server on XP, it is impossible that it can use only 300MB RAM. It swaps out the memory after working on OS X for a while. If I like to return to Windows, it is so damn slow.

Also Video Performance feels much better on VMWare. Maybe Parallels runs faster with a stopwatch. But the way I use it, it sometimes feels like VirtualPC on a PPC603 with Windows 95.

knightlie · 03-06-2009, 03:07 AM

I'd rather take the performance hit than use Parallels - in fact I'd rather use Bootcamp or a real PC. I found it unreliable and unstable, and the last time I needed it it wouldn't even load the VM. VMWare has performed flawlessly since I started using it; it has a free tool to convert other VMs too.

Parallels support is also dire, they just ignore bug reports and support questions on their own forum.

Jeordy · 03-06-2009, 03:37 AM

I registered just to reply on this topic;

We are obligated to use Windows in our network, because of some old Windows programs which are not available for Mac. And we have tried Parallels and VMware to see which fits best.

And the results are always the oposite of what the benmarktesters are saying.

VMware works best with network applications, aspecially with database connections like SQL, Filemaker, etc. The connection is stable, reliable and above all; Fast!!! Just a simple query to retreive customer information is 5 times faster with VMware, then it is with Parallels.

Maybe the local processes of Windows are faster with Parallels, but VMware blows Parallels away in networking performance. And thus VMware is by miles, with this knowledge, the best choice when using Windows Server software.

So, for consumers Parallels maybe the best option, but for business it's not an option.

macgruder · 03-06-2009, 05:53 AM

I was totally unable to install FreeBSD on Parallels because midway through the install the read-write would simple stop with no error or message of any kind. This kind of problem suggests to me that VMWare is a much more robust and stable system.

phantom701 · 03-06-2009, 02:35 PM

I also use Parallels and Fusion. I agree with most posters here, Parallels has tons of stability problems. In one situation, the network all of a sudden stopped working for no reason. I went thru all the troubleshooting recommendations on Parallels' website and still no good. After messing with it for well over a week, I had to reinstall the VM. Extremely annoying!

Also on VPN, Parallels does not work at all with the VPN client that I have. It just won't connect to the corporate network. Where as with Fusion, I was able to use the VPN client as if I was using a regular PC.

westlakers · 03-06-2009, 08:11 PM

be careful with parallel, I upgraded to parallel 4.0, it is full of crap. it is faster than older version, but it has memory leaking issue, the inactive memory size keep rising from time to time, even if you do not do anything (you could just watch that in Activity Monitor) just for fun. after 2~3 days, the free memory was gone, the whole system is sloooooooow and you have to reboot the mac. also another problem when install Norton's virus s/w, once a while you typed some characters, parallel s/w started to close some windows or pop up some new windows. complained to parallel support, they do not have any clue, I guess all their support are coming from India and following their instruction just waste your time. I stop listening to them and only thing I could do is to reboot my mac book pro once a while.

will get rid of parallel eventually.

03-05-2009, 12:26 PM	#1
*AppleInsider* Kasper's Automated Slave Join Date: Nov 1997 Posts: 6,151	Shootout: Parallels outperforms VMware Fusion in many tests A head-to-head test of Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMware Fusion - the two leading competitors in the Mac Virtualization segment - crowns Parallels as the clear winner, but the testers found both products performed well and VMware can even be a better choice under certain circumstances. MacTech Magazine ran both virtual machines through thousands of real-world tests, timed with a stopwatch, to find out which performs the fastest. The results are in a five-page story at its website, which AppleInsider highly recommends that prospective buyers of either solution read in full. Acknowledging Apple's own Boot Camp, which can boot natively into Windows, MacTech decided to look only at virtual machines since they do not require restarting to switch between operating system environments. The publication was also interested in determining which operating system - Windows XP or Vista - offers the best performance. The testers kept an eye on the differences between larger memory configurations, multiple processors, and 64-bit versions of the OS. To facilitate these tests, they used four different models of Macs to cover the range of machines actual customers would use with more than 2,500 total tests. Again, each was timed with a stopwatch for real-world results to avoid difficulties in running diagnostics on virtual machines that don't always properly keep track of the time it takes for tasks to execute. Specific tests included: performance (launch and CPU), file and network IO, footprint, application launch and performance, and tests of 3D and HD graphics and games. Parallels Desktop was the clear winner, running 14 to 20 percent faster than VMware Fusion in the majority of overall averages. There was only one exception when VMware was faster: 32-bit Windows XP on two virtual processors, which ran about 10 percent faster than Parallels. Overall Test Results Parallels 14% faster running 32-bit XP and Vista on a single virtual processor20% faster running 32-bit Vista on two virtual processors15% faster running 64-bit Vista on two virtual processors VMware Fusion 10% fasster running 32-bit XP on two virtual processors Launch and CPU Tests In using Windows' compression tools and MP3 to WAV transcoding, Parallels was faster in every version of the test, ranging from 7% faster when launching virtual XP and resuming from suspend after a full restart, to 31% faster after a full Windows boot on Vista. The contest was closest when both Parallels and VMware Fusion were launched without restarting, allowing the benefits of caching. In that test, Parallels was 17 percent faster in Vista and 22 percent faster in XP, but the range was only zero to one second. Application Launch Test (Word and Outlook) Here, there was no clear advantage for either virtualization engine. When launching Microsoft Word after a full reboot, Fusion was faster by 8 percent on XP while Parallels trumped with Vista at a 33 percent faster clip. Without a restart, Fusion notched a sweep, while the two again split with launching Outlook (Fusion narrowly won with XP, Parallels with Vista). Application Performance Tests MacTech did a global search and replace of about 95,000 items in a very large Word document, and in Excel, they ran a macro to generate a large amount of random numbers, filling cells with them. PowerPoint rendered slides with transitions as quickly as possible. In the Word test, Parallels was faster under both XP (4 percent) and Vista (9 percent), with similar results on Excel (14 percent faster on XP, 13 percent on Vista). However, Fusion did score a victory with XP on the PowerPoint test, albeit a small one, at two percent. On Vista, it was a tie. Internet Explorer Speed Test MacTech created a large, complex page in HTML served from a local LAN server using common HTML elements and no JavaScript. VMware Fusion took significantly longer across the board, so they removed the results from the overall analysis to avoid it skewing the results. In general, Parallels was more than 80% faster in XP and Vista both with and without SSL. Footprint Tests Three footprint tests were also run. The first booted Windows, let it finish, and then measured CPU while both Mac OS X and Windows were sitting idle.The second test was similiar but evaluated launches of Word and Outlook, and the third gauged CPU usage while playing a DVD. In all three tests, Parallels and Fusion fared well. Virtual Machine Memory Usage As part of its Virtual Machine Memory Usage tests, MacTech noticed that Parallels only took memory from Mac OS X when Windows needed it. The publication ran an "endless loop" macro in Excel that generated random numbers. When battery life approached the end, Parallels paused the virtual machine and the Mac went into hibernate, saving the state of the virtual machine.* VMware Fusion suspends the virtual machine before sleeping. The end result was that Parallel's battery usage lasted at least 8 percent longer in both XP and Vista. File and Network IO Tests In a highly refined I/O test -- due to problems discovered throughout the testing proccess -- 3.7GB of data (two 1.85GB files) was duplicated and copied to and from a Mac hard drive, LAN Server, and USB Flash drive under both XP and Vista. Parallels beat out Fusion hands down in all but 2 of the 14 tests. 3D and HD Graphics Tests XP: Smoothly played both 720p and 1080p videos in both environments. Vista: Couldn't play 720p at all in Parallels. VMware Fusion stuttered on every machine except the Mac Pro. Given 720p results, MacTech didn't bother trying 1080p. Games MacTech found that frames per second was a poor indicator of quality, as VMware Fusion, despite running Civilization IV: Colonization at a lower frame rate, had better-looking graphics. Parallels ran Portal better, but the testers were impressed with overall game performance on both platforms. Final Conclusions The publication determined the performance differences between XP and Vista are small enough to where users can choose whichever OS they want; that is, the "Vista penalty" is gone. However, the testers did prefer XP's stability and "less annoying" behavior. When it comes to multiple virtual processors and running in 64-bit, it was concluded that 64-bit wasn't helpful for anything but computationally intense applications like CAD, so most users won't need them. The ability to address more memory in 64-bit mode was similarly deemed irrelevant since many Windows applications and drivers aren't yet 64-bit compatible, and there are plenty of reports of problems in virtual machines trying to run them to recommend against it until technology improves. Finally, MacTech concluded that XP with 1GB of RAM and one virtual processor will be more than adequate for the majority of users. In fact, more RAM meant longer virtual machine launch times, suspends, and resumes. The testers recommend using only as much memory as needed. Parallels Desktop was the clear favorite for its small footprint (it only takes more RAM from OS X when needed) and performance advantages in every environment except one. MacTech, though, believes both are excellent products that can run Windows XP and Vista well, so it will be up to the user to decide based on whichever factors are most important in each individual case. The full 5-page report includes a plethora of detailed test results and graphs. It's recommended for all prospective or current Mac virtualization users. Purchasing Parallels and VMWare Fusion Parallels 4 retails for $79.99 but can be purchased and shipped from Amazon for just $49.99 after an instant $10 savings and an additional $20 rebate. For those readers looking to purchase Parallels 4 and download it immediately, Parallels offers this option through its own website for $79.99. However, readers can get $10 off the digital download through this link. (Note that Parallels automatically adds a $6.99 "Extended Download" option to the shopping cart of all of its online orders, which can be removed easily by clicking the "X" to the far right.) Fusion also retails for $79.99 but Amazon is offering 24% off VMWare Fusion 2.0 ($60.49), though readers interested in saving another $8 may elect to purchase 1.0 for $52.29 and upgrade to 2.0 at VMWare's website for free. [ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

03-05-2009, 12:34 PM	#2
JavaCowboy Registered User Join Date: Nov 2004 Location: Montreal, Canada Posts: 664	VirtualBox It's free and arguably better than VMWare and certainly better than Parallels for running just about any OS you can throw at it.

03-05-2009, 01:18 PM	#7
TSc Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1	Tried both I used Parallels and vmware for some time on my iMAC 2.8 with 4GB. All the updates provided by Parallels caused a lot of trouble. It was some kind of a nightmare to find the exact release as Parallels provided so many updates and two times I had to re-install Windows. Now, I only use vmware. It doesn't seem slower compared to Parallels but I never used a stopwatch. I'm not sure which one is the best in terms of performance but in terms of stability vmware outperfoms.

03-05-2009, 01:52 PM	#12
Toyin Registered User Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 26	Suprised I own both and have used both. I find both products to be stable and both work well for me. I used Parallels mostly until a couple of months ago when I switched to Fusion full time. I felt like Fusion (Windows XP, 2 virtual proc on Macbook Pro), was a bit faster then Parallels. Fusion also resumes from suspension a lot faster then Parallels. However Fusion does use a lot more processor power when idle and I've noticed a significant drop in battery life when using Fusion. I'm on the fence with this one, but I may go back to Parallels for a while. edit: Title is "Surprised" -Toyin

03-05-2009, 02:07 PM	#13
gbrandt Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 6	Used both... I used parallels for a long time, since the earliest versions. It did the job just fine, I never hit any of the problems other people did. I always used Windows XP session. Then a client wanted me to do some work with Ubuntu 8.04 LTS. Parallels, even V4, sucked at it. Constant crashes, things not working right. I tried VMWare and everything was perfect and runs fine. And I got VMWare for $5.00 on a special deal a while back. My wife still uses Parallels, but I now use VMWare across the board. Gregor

03-05-2009, 01:01 PM	#4
DeaPeaJay Registered User Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: USA - TN Posts: 889	This makes me feel good, since I own parallels, and I'm constantly hearing how Fusion is somehow better.

03-05-2009, 01:37 PM	#10
blake.irvin Registered User Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 10	http://download.virtualbox.org/virtu...-42893-OSX.dmg

03-05-2009, 01:50 PM	#11
ltcommander.data Registered User Join Date: Jun 2008 Posts: 204	Parallels being faster is definitely a pleasant surprise since I'm pretty sure previous benchmarks showed that Fusion had better performance. Hopefully it'll encourage VMWare to keeping optimizing things. Personally, I prefer Fusion, because as other's mentioned it seems more stable. That makes sense considering VMWare's background is in corporate products, while Parallels seems more consumer focused. Another point though is that I'm guessing their tests were done as actual virtual machine disk images. However, I'm sure many consumers would just run their Boot Camp partition in a virtual machine. Supposedly, Boot Camp VM is slower since it's an actual partition that can't be as effectively cached to memory. As well, I've been told that virtual machine image uses OS X's SCSI driver which is better optimized than the IDE driver that is used to read a Boot Camp VM. It'd be interesting to see someone do comparisons using Boot Camp VMs to see if that really changes things. For most users, they should only dedicate a single processor to their VM since dedicating 2 processors makes it more difficult for OS X to schedule the program: ie. it'll need to find 2 cores that are free so that the both cores in the virtual machine can be kept in sync. Finding room for 2 cores simultaneously is obviously harder than scheduling 1 core. This is especially true for Macs with 2 cores which are most of them. You should generally dedicate fewer cores than your Mac has to allow room for other background programs. The other thing I noticed is that OS X's scheduler doesn't seem to determine processor affinity very well. Like the process running the VM is constantly bouncing around between cores on my MacBook Pro. It isn't as much a problem on dual cores since they have shared L2 cache anyways, but on non-Nehalem Mac Pros, which use dual die quad core chips, if it's moving between cores on different dies there will be a lot of cache thrashing or memory reading since the caches aren't being used effectively.

03-05-2009, 02:35 PM	#14
NeilM Registered User Join Date: Aug 2008 Posts: 96	I've set up each of VMWare Fusion and Parallels at the office. Fusion is used to run a Windows-only accounting program, and Parallels for web site testing with IE. Both host XP Pro and run fine. As far as performance and features go, they seem periodically to leapfrog one another with new versions. Which is faster may depend on the version life cycle point at which you test them, but in any case the differences aren't huge. Fusion, our more recent installation, runs very briskly on a 24" iMac. Frankly the virtual machine speed isn't a limiting factor at this level of performance. Of course I used to use VirtualPC, so by comparison both Parallels and Fusion are speed blurs! I do agree that Fusion has a more polished feel to it. It's very unobtrusive in everyday use. VirtualBox looks interesting for personal purposes, but in a production environment I need fully documented and supported commercial software.

03-05-2009, 02:40 PM	#15
maztec Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1	I use both. But not on the same system at the same time! Oh the nightmares that causes and the corruption of Windows that results. I used parallels for a really long time. But it was unstable and the one factor never mentioned in the review is its CPU usage was constantly 25% or greater. Even when I used the latest version [installed it last night after Windows died due to registry corruption caused by a piece of software I installed] it still pegs CPU usage higher than VMWare. Uninstalled Parallels, installed Fusion, and sure it runs a bit slower but it is more stable and my laptop isn't overheating from constant CPU usage of 25% or better. I really do like Parallels more overall, but could not put up with the instability and the need to reformat and reinstall Windows every 4 months because of Parallels ongoing instability. It might be stable now, but VMWare treats me well.. and I have been burned by too many Parallels upgrades being highly unstable.

03-05-2009, 02:43 PM	#16
bloggerblog Registered User Join Date: May 2008 Posts: 570	I already did my testing before purchasing, I downloaded the latest Parallels trial and the VMWare trial... VMWare felt a lot "snappier" than Parallels. Jessie Ventura + Ron Paul = USA

03-05-2009, 02:48 PM	#17
ciparis Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 71	It's far too late for Parallels to regain my business. - poor stability - non-existent support - ridiculous upgrade policies (you'd have had to purchase Parallels several times over by now to stay current, while my VMWare license, purchased for less than the price Parallels wanted to upgrade my buggy-as-heck first release, keeps going and going) No, thanks.

03-05-2009, 03:02 PM	#19
macxpress Registered User Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 551	I use Parallels 4.0 everyday at the schools I work at as they're all PC based. Its great! The new Parallels works so much better, faster and doesn't use a ton of RAM like previous versions. I can easily run Parallels on 3 GB of RAM when before it would make my other MacBook Pro die with 4GB of RAM installed. Overall, I'm very happy with Parallels. Website: MacXpress 2.66 GHz Quadcore MacPro (Nehalem) 24" LED Apple Cinema Display 2.4 GHz 24" Aluminum iMac (Rev A) 867 MHz PowerMac G4 (Quicksilver) w/17" Apple Studio LCD 16GB iPhone 3G(S)

03-05-2009, 03:12 PM	#20
JeffDM Global Moderator Join Date: Jun 2004 Location: .US Posts: 9,127	I bought Fusion and installed it yesterday. My primary consideration was the issues other AI members had with Parallels support and them reneging on specific upgrade promises to early adopters. I can't scale back a volume's size though, I wish I started out smaller. I have only installed three apps and the security updates, and the image is already about 8GB in size, and this is Windows XP. I thought XP was a lot smaller than this. Last edited by JeffDM; 03-05-2009 at 03:18 PM..

03-05-2009, 04:36 PM	#25
trip1ex Registered User Join Date: Jan 2008 Posts: 54	I installed Virtual Box and installed XP in a virtual machine since I last posted 90 minutes ago. Also ran the guest additions iso (in the package contents) which gives you integrated mouse support and treats Xp windows as if they are part of OS/X among other things. So far can't believe it's free.

03-05-2009, 05:24 PM	#27
zunx Registered User Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 373	If you want to control USB devices from Windows from the Mac, the best hands down is Fusion.

03-05-2009, 05:29 PM	#28
WPLJ42 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2009 Posts: 208	To be fair, there should be a comparison including Virtual Box and Boot Camp.

03-05-2009, 06:01 PM	#30
rbonner Registered User Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 146	Tried both I have tried both Parallels and VMWare, several times. Even beta tested the latest VMWare release. I thought that Parallels was a bit more user friendly, especially being able to set the MAC address in the network setting. Very nice touch. At the end of the day, it came down to a situation where my parallels BSOD'd on me, and there was not really a reason why, or a great way back. VMWare has never failed me stability wise. I would rather be able to use my windows session tomorrow than run it a bit faster today.

03-05-2009, 06:21 PM	#31
razorpit Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 192	I've been a user of Parallels for over two years now and was reasonably happy with the performance and reliability , but version 4 is terrible. There are serious problems synchronizing Palm's, and every once in a while it will go crazy,using 70 - 100% on the CPU with nothing really going on. Although version 4 looks prettier and has a lot of promise, right now I'm sorry I upgraded from version 3.

03-06-2009, 01:26 AM	#34
ThePixelDoc Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 86	CrossOver Mac or Darwine I just thought I might add, that people that only need to use one or 2 small programs that aren't available for a Mac, or there isn't equivalent Mac software, might try CrossOver from CodeWeavers or Darwine. I have one program that I need to use daily, APFill Ink Coverage Meter (anybody with a heads-up where I might find a similar Mac app...?). I installed it in a "bottle" within CrossOver, and it works like a charm! I (personally) don't need Windoze for anything else, but you can even install all of the MS Office stuff, including Internet Explorer 6 if you need to test websites. Just a tip. PS: I thought I might add that, what surprised me the most about this particular program running in a "bottle", is that it needs to have Ghostscript also installed in the bottle for reading PDFs, and that on Windoze, it only runs from the Taskbar. In the bottle on CrossOver, it's even more usable because it runs stand-alone as a normal app. PSS: About APFill. It's used to measure ink coverage across a page, with up to 8 colors in a separation PDF, or RGB. I need this to calculate printing costs in the packaging industry, but it can be used for pro photo/print houses as well for Gyclee printing for more accurate pricing. Last edited by ThePixelDoc; 03-06-2009 at 01:37 AM.. Reason: Added PS

03-06-2009, 02:37 AM	#35
aToMac Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: Netherlands Posts: 6	We are using VMWare trial now. It feels much snappier than Parallels 4.0. I regret that we bought 2 licenses. Maybe Parallels doesn't use much RAM, but if you use Visual Studio and SQL Server on XP, it is impossible that it can use only 300MB RAM. It swaps out the memory after working on OS X for a while. If I like to return to Windows, it is so damn slow. Also Video Performance feels much better on VMWare. Maybe Parallels runs faster with a stopwatch. But the way I use it, it sometimes feels like VirtualPC on a PPC603 with Windows 95.

03-06-2009, 03:07 AM	#36
knightlie Registered User Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 79	Speed <> Quality I'd rather take the performance hit than use Parallels - in fact I'd rather use Bootcamp or a real PC. I found it unreliable and unstable, and the last time I needed it it wouldn't even load the VM. VMWare has performed flawlessly since I started using it; it has a free tool to convert other VMs too. Parallels support is also dire, they just ignore bug reports and support questions on their own forum.

03-06-2009, 03:37 AM	#37
Jeordy Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1	I registered just to reply on this topic; We are obligated to use Windows in our network, because of some old Windows programs which are not available for Mac. And we have tried Parallels and VMware to see which fits best. And the results are always the oposite of what the benmarktesters are saying. VMware works best with network applications, aspecially with database connections like SQL, Filemaker, etc. The connection is stable, reliable and above all; Fast!!! Just a simple query to retreive customer information is 5 times faster with VMware, then it is with Parallels. Maybe the local processes of Windows are faster with Parallels, but VMware blows Parallels away in networking performance. And thus VMware is by miles, with this knowledge, the best choice when using Windows Server software. So, for consumers Parallels maybe the best option, but for business it's not an option.

03-06-2009, 05:53 AM	#38
macgruder Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1	Parallels would freeze in the middle of large installs I was totally unable to install FreeBSD on Parallels because midway through the install the read-write would simple stop with no error or message of any kind. This kind of problem suggests to me that VMWare is a much more robust and stable system.

03-06-2009, 02:35 PM	#39
phantom701 Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1	I also use Parallels and Fusion. I agree with most posters here, Parallels has tons of stability problems. In one situation, the network all of a sudden stopped working for no reason. I went thru all the troubleshooting recommendations on Parallels' website and still no good. After messing with it for well over a week, I had to reinstall the VM. Extremely annoying! Also on VPN, Parallels does not work at all with the VPN client that I have. It just won't connect to the corporate network. Where as with Fusion, I was able to use the VPN client as if I was using a regular PC.

03-06-2009, 08:11 PM	#40
westlakers Registered User Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 1	be careful with parallel, I upgraded to parallel 4.0, it is full of crap. it is faster than older version, but it has memory leaking issue, the inactive memory size keep rising from time to time, even if you do not do anything (you could just watch that in Activity Monitor) just for fun. after 2~3 days, the free memory was gone, the whole system is sloooooooow and you have to reboot the mac. also another problem when install Norton's virus s/w, once a while you typed some characters, parallel s/w started to close some windows or pop up some new windows. complained to parallel support, they do not have any clue, I guess all their support are coming from India and following their instruction just waste your time. I stop listening to them and only thing I could do is to reboot my mac book pro once a while. will get rid of parallel eventually.

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