VMWare vs. Parallels?

markw10 · December 22, 2006 11:43AM

I have used Parallels for quite some time and now that it supports the Boot Camp I like it even more since I can also use Boot Camp when necessary (such as when I play a computer game).

I am hearing a lot about VMWare now though. Does anyone use VMWare on here and how does it compare to Parallels?

trailmaster308 · December 22, 2006 2:05PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by markw10

I have used Parallels for quite some time and now that it supports the Boot Camp I like it even more since I can also use Boot Camp when necessary (such as when I play a computer game).

I am hearing a lot about VMWare now though. Does anyone use VMWare on here and how does it compare to Parallels?

I have not used VMWare on the Mac. However, at work we take full advantage of the VMWare suite. We run VMWare on ESX servers and have roughly 50+ production virutal servers. Also, for testing new software updates/patches/service packs, we use VMWare Workstation. All my techs use this product.

On my desktop I have 10+ different VM's. If the Mac version is anything like the Windows and Linux version, then its a billy bad a$$ product. I give it 2 thumbs up!!

I can't wait to try both. I am in the market for a new MBP, but at work I absolutely can't do my job without some virtual Windows Environment.

marvin · December 22, 2006 4:48PM

I just tried out the beta and it seemed to run a bit slower than Parallels while inside Windows even with the tools installed. Given that it is set to use both CPUs, this was a bit surprising. It didn't seem to slow down the rest of the OS as much as Parallels though.

As far as the product goes, it actually looks exactly like the Parallels interface. I don't know if they saw Parallels and are trying to offer an easy migration.

I haven't tested it out properly but initial impressions suggest that it's slower but feels more stable and doesn't slow down the system as much as Parallels.

chinarut · February 19, 2008 7:57AM

hey it's been over a year since posting to this thread.

Anyone care to share their experiences over the past year esp since VMWare Fusion is out of beta?

I actually like both and the major thing knicking Parallels is Linux guest OS support didn't work out of the box.

What Parallels does have going for it is customer support on its forums. I can't say the same for pre-sales support - I have yet to get a response to an inquiry I made a week or two before I installed the product, followed up multiple times, and my license is up tomorrow! a bit ironic.

jsteinmann · February 20, 2008 2:18AM

from here and there impressions, I've heard fusion is a better product in that it is less of a resource hog and you can work with better performance with it. I've not compared the two. For me, I've got no problem rebooting to the windows world on the rare occasion i need it... and at least that way when I do I get the best performance that I would expect.

chinarut · February 20, 2008 4:31PM

hey thanks for the comment. I suspect you are right - Fusion is probably a better product from a technical and performance perspective.

However, I did not mention performance is not my top criteria at the moment. I find Parallels seems to have an edge on little features here & there (like populating Windows applications via Spotlight) that prove to be quite convenient!

If anyone knows of any comparative articles that focus more on usability over performance, please do post links - I am sure a few of us would be interested in checking them out!

guybrush threepwood · February 20, 2008 4:58PM

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=fusion+vs+parallel

Google is your friend.

chinarut · February 20, 2008 5:02PM

perhaps where I am not being clear is I've looking through lots of articles and find many of them too focused on how easy it is to set up Windows or too heavy on performance benchmarks.

I'm not interested in either - it would be nice to find an article that focuses on little usability perks like the one I mentioned in my last post - one which I think is really nice and yet to hear someone else mention.

guybrush threepwood · February 20, 2008 5:03PM

Have you read the ComputerWorld/MacWorld one? I remember that one being pretty thorough.

Although I'm not quite sure if it has what you're looking for. I'm not sure if any have what you're looking for. Most people just want a generalization, then they make their decision off the basics.

chinarut · February 21, 2008 6:17AM

yeah - i did see that one - I commented on that article to see if there is an update.

that article is a year old and was comparing a finished product to a beta so don't think it's fair comparison.

I haven't seen any new articles other than 1 or 2 benchmark articles which didn't discuss any non-performance related features if I recall correctly.

thx for keepin this conversation up!

VMWare vs. Parallels?

Comments