you can run OS X in vmware. you just have to do some hacking and maybe download a copy of BT
If they've fixed the noisy USB headset issue under Snow Leopard I'll consider it, but only if they issue a fix for the current version which exhibits this problem under 2.0.6.
I went with Fusion because Parallels chokes on IP Phone communications and I've been satisfied with Fusion running my work image full time (XP SP3). Version 3 sounds like it has some nice features but nothing compelling me to upgrade. If the upgrade price gets a bit more reasonable I'll consider it.
My own personal experience? I use my MPB 17 C2D at home to write iPhone apps, and at my "day job" under XP2 Professional to access proprietary "windows only" apps. While I credit Parallels for the initial ability to use my Mac to run windows and OS X simultaneously, my Parallels experience was less than pleasant. Angry and frustrated, a friend suggested I try the VMware Fusion beta.
To my amazement, the VMware Fusion beta ran circles around the released version of Parallels, and without any of the annoying issues that Parallels had at the time. I even paid for Parallels "support" that was worthless. Although listening to a heavily accented support person grunt and groan through his scripted support script was somewhat amusing, nothing was fixed.
The final straw? When Parallels bombarded their users with offers for a "new and improved" version that was buggier than most betas. Then they had the nerve to fight me tooth and nail when I demanded a refund, which was never granted until I got my bank involved.
So my take?
VMware Fusion =
Parallels =
You choose.
I can second this story with a similar experience. I was a happy Parallels user for verisons 2 & 3, when 4 came out I immediately upgraded based on past success with their product, boy was I soon disappointed. I gave them 6 months to fix the bugs and they never did. When they fought me for my refund I told them I paitently waited for you to fix your buggy software, if I would have known it wasn't going to be fixed earlier I would have asked for my money back sooner. Seems like i wasn't the only unsatisfied customer
I've been using the beta for a while, and for those people who upgraded to Snow Leopard, this will definitely fix things. Performance definitely increased compared to 2.0.6 (which supposedly added Snow Leopard support). Aero is still a bit buggy in that it inverts colors every now and then.
I can second this story with a similar experience. I was a happy Parallels user for verisons 2 & 3, when 4 came out I immediately upgraded based on past success with their product, boy was I soon disappointed. I gave them 6 months to fix the bugs and they never did. When they fought me for my refund I told them I paitently waited for you to fix your buggy software, if I would have known it wasn't going to be fixed earlier I would have asked for my money back sooner. Seems like i wasn't the only unsatisfied customer
I have been a happy VMware Fusion user for the past 15 months. It's been a great piece of software for when I'm "forced" to use WinXP for our in-house development tools.
Fusion has been a pleasure to use under Leopard. Snow Leopard on the other hand has caused quite a few quirks to become known. So much in fact, that I have informed other users depending on Fusion to hold off upgrading to Snow Leopard until VMWare resolves the issues. They are nothing major and certainly not show-stoppers. But they are irritating when it pops up. Things like the mouse pointer not working or losing positions, slow refresh rates, etc.
Fusion recently released v2.0.6 to address these issues which after my testing, still is not as polished as it was under Leopard. So this release 3.0 is welcomed and I look forward to its release.
But Fusion is still the package I would pick over Parallels. That solution was painful.
VMware Fusion has always been better with Parallels Desktop, and Fusion v3 continues to be much better than Parallels v5. I've been using the beta of v3 for quite a while and was really quite impressed with some of the improvements made. Being able to run Windows 7 with Aero Glass enabled is quite nice.
I've been using the beta for a while, and for those people who upgraded to Snow Leopard, this will definitely fix things. Performance definitely increased compared to 2.0.6 (which supposedly added Snow Leopard support). Aero is still a bit buggy in that it inverts colors every now and then.
Can Aero be used with the Unity view? Glad to hear it will also fix the performance with Win 7!
Now all we need is the Windows version of Fusion to run OS X, so those of us that run 3ghz+ Quad Cores can use our favorite OS.
I have a Phenom II 955 system recently built that's condemmed to a life of running Windows.
The "Windows" version of Fusion is actually called VMware Workstation, and it's much more advanced than fusion.
However, the reason you can't virtualize Mac OS X easily is due to Apple's licensing. So, while it's possible to virtualize Mac OS X in Workstation, it's far more difficult than it is to virtualize Windows or Linux.
Of course, Windows really isn't that bad at all, so I wonder why you even bothered to build a system that's "condemned."
I can second this story with a similar experience. I was a happy Parallels user for verisons 2 & 3, when 4 came out I immediately upgraded based on past success with their product, boy was I soon disappointed. I gave them 6 months to fix the bugs and they never did. When they fought me for my refund I told them I paitently waited for you to fix your buggy software, if I would have known it wasn't going to be fixed earlier I would have asked for my money back sooner. Seems like i wasn't the only unsatisfied customer
--Dave
Cool! Thanks Justflybob and razorpit for your inputs, much appreciated!! I think i will go ahead and give VMware a try. Thanks one more time guys!
Does anyone know if Fusion 3 recognizes more than one NIC? I have been happily running Parallels for years (now on v4) because only Parallels was able to recognize the second NIC in my Mac Pro. Fusion was not able to see the second NIC, so it must share the same physical connection with the host Mac. I'd rather use Fusion if I could, since I have had some network directory browsing lag with Windows Explorer under Parallels but not with Fusion.
Why is this important? I run my mac environment off of one NIC and my virtual WinXP environment off the second NIC which is plugged into a separate secure network at work. VMware Fusion does not recognize the second NIC thus could not handle having my physical Mac and virtual machine accessing a different networks.
By the way, since the first network is a cable modem at work, I can now use BackToMyMac from my home cable connection to remote control my work computer, which then uses Parallels to access the internal network at work and gives me access to my files and work environment from home without exposing the internal network to the world. BTMM is encrypted by the Airport Extreme base stations.
I think that must mean "pre-loaded". Obviously you can't run Windows apps with Fusion (or any other VM software) without running it. It probably just means that ".exe" files are set to open with Fusion, which then understands to launch the .exe when it finishes loading. I don't think there is anything miraculous going on here.
(although, it could potentially open some interesting security holes)
There's a way... Aside from Cross-Over for Mac there are other open source ways to wrap a DOS or Windows application around it to run on a different OS.
I got Parallels years back-a small local company that fired back tech help in minutes. Last week the virus detection program eat my mouse. The Parallels CS team sent me some cryptic email that lead to a "ticket" that looked more like an F22 parts list, with no place to answer. Then today, some literal guru from Katmandu sent me an email telling how to "CLICK" on various control panels to get my mouse back! Thats like the cops telling my to drive my car down to the station to report it's theft! I had enough trouble with Microsoft and Western Digital with useless tek support and calls to Pakistani's who migrated to India. I have a Taraftar Sitar myself, but it was easier to order that than dealing with these frustrating bozos who are trained to lie and deflect better than the shields of the Enterprise! I so glad to call Austin when my mac has a software issue-and even thats not perfect!
Thank God I have a Windows programmer for a friend here in Oregon! I got my Windows 7 mouse back. (You can't just arrow key around W7 like a mac!) AAAARGHHH
The "always on" menu looks great, and the migration from a real PC. I have a real PC loaded with games sitting next to my Mac so it will be interesting to see how well this works (though I don't have unrealistic expectations in terms of 3d performance).
Of course, Windows really isn't that bad at all, so I wonder why you even bothered to build a system that's "condemned."
I understand the licensing issues, obviously. OS X virtualisation would be nice, but it's not going to happen anytime soon and that's kinda fine. Also, I could run Linux as someone else said, and while I was a fairly hardcore Linux freak from about 1994 to about 2000, for me it can't offer anything OS X or Windows can't between them.
Condemned is a little harsh, but this is an Apple forum afterall, so it's custmary to stick the boot in on Windows, given an opportunity. I'm running Win7 in 32-bit mode until it's released, then will install the 64-bit version... I have no real issues with Win7 aside from the seemingly endless updates, including driver updates that break things (RealTek Wifi drivers keep getting released and keep breaking my WiFi). Anyway, that's another thread...
Besides, Left4Dead, Crysis and farCry 2 (via Steam) don't run on OS X \
I am a web developer who uses virtualization for testing, some time ago I worked for a company that would not buy me any virtualization software and I used Virtual Box instead...my experience with it was not at all good. The two particular gripes that come to mind are that it crashed regularly and I couldn't drag and drop things from one system to the other. That being said, it was some time ago and maybe it has gotten better, not to mention Parallells isn't exactly bug free either.
i've been using it for quite a while and do not suffer i cannot drag and drop things with the GUI however you can share folders, and that's awesome...
i cannot understand people wanting to use aero...is like wanting os x to have viruses
i've been using it for quite a while and do not suffer i cannot drag and drop things with the GUI however you can share folders, and that's awesome...
i cannot understand people wanting to use aero...is like wanting os x to have viruses
That statement doesn't make much sense. Aero just turns on some GUI features in the window manager to make some functions easier, or to turn on functions that aren't available in the basic window manager. Any modern graphics card will run Aero these days, including integrated graphics chipsets like those in the Mini. I don't understand how you equate that to wanting viruses in OS X. It's no different than Compiz under Linux in essence, if not presentation.
In any case, what I took from this is that VMWare 3 will have sufficient performance to actually enable those features under 3.0, where if memory serves, VMWare Fusion 2.x always ended up with a lowly '1' in graphics scores under Vista and Windows 7.
of VMware products. My day job consists of managing many ESX servers, and using a Mac I must run a Windows VM so I can run Virtual Center tools.
Fusion was very buggy for me on my unibody Macbook. High CPU, very slow unity, occasional OS lock-ups. I tried Parallels 4.0 the latest version like 4 months ago and is way better than the current version of Fusion.
For starters you get the Windows tray icons on the menu bar. The icon on the Dock changes to a start menu when in Coherence (unity mode for fusion), so you can access it even when native Mac applications are selected. With Fusion you have to choose an active Windows app to get the menu option, so you open another Windows app from the start menu while in unity. Parallels uses less CPU and memory and the Coherence mode is faster. Parallels supports simple cloning and cloning to a template much like VMware Workstation and ESX. Cloning is great if you need to make multipe VM's of the same OS. With fusion you are left with coping the vmdk file, and creating a new VM. The sharing options between VM and OS X, files, folders etc is just way better in Parallels, I get a disk icon on the OS X desktop for a running VM, that I can access. Parallels supports Snow Leopard and a 64bit Kernel.
We have been beta testing Fusion 3.0. It is better than 2.0, way better. The windows start menu on the OS X menu bar is huge for me. The performance of Unity is better as well. The sharing options are lacking still. The cloning options have not changed.
I will probably switch because we are such fans of VMware products over all. If I were not a user of other VMware products I am not sure I would. Aero and gaming do nothing for me. I only run Windows in a VM because I need VMware tools or MS AD tools.
What VMware really needs to do is make some native Virtual Center tools for OS X, so I dont have to startup a Windows VM at all.
Comments
you can run OS X in vmware. you just have to do some hacking and maybe download a copy of BT
If they've fixed the noisy USB headset issue under Snow Leopard I'll consider it, but only if they issue a fix for the current version which exhibits this problem under 2.0.6.
I went with Fusion because Parallels chokes on IP Phone communications and I've been satisfied with Fusion running my work image full time (XP SP3). Version 3 sounds like it has some nice features but nothing compelling me to upgrade. If the upgrade price gets a bit more reasonable I'll consider it.
My own personal experience? I use my MPB 17 C2D at home to write iPhone apps, and at my "day job" under XP2 Professional to access proprietary "windows only" apps. While I credit Parallels for the initial ability to use my Mac to run windows and OS X simultaneously, my Parallels experience was less than pleasant. Angry and frustrated, a friend suggested I try the VMware Fusion beta.
To my amazement, the VMware Fusion beta ran circles around the released version of Parallels, and without any of the annoying issues that Parallels had at the time. I even paid for Parallels "support" that was worthless. Although listening to a heavily accented support person grunt and groan through his scripted support script was somewhat amusing, nothing was fixed.
The final straw? When Parallels bombarded their users with offers for a "new and improved" version that was buggier than most betas. Then they had the nerve to fight me tooth and nail when I demanded a refund, which was never granted until I got my bank involved.
So my take?
VMware Fusion =
Parallels =
You choose.
I can second this story with a similar experience. I was a happy Parallels user for verisons 2 & 3, when 4 came out I immediately upgraded based on past success with their product, boy was I soon disappointed. I gave them 6 months to fix the bugs and they never did. When they fought me for my refund I told them I paitently waited for you to fix your buggy software, if I would have known it wasn't going to be fixed earlier I would have asked for my money back sooner. Seems like i wasn't the only unsatisfied customer
--Dave
I can second this story with a similar experience. I was a happy Parallels user for verisons 2 & 3, when 4 came out I immediately upgraded based on past success with their product, boy was I soon disappointed. I gave them 6 months to fix the bugs and they never did. When they fought me for my refund I told them I paitently waited for you to fix your buggy software, if I would have known it wasn't going to be fixed earlier I would have asked for my money back sooner. Seems like i wasn't the only unsatisfied customer
--Dave
You were able to actually speak to someone?
Fusion has been a pleasure to use under Leopard. Snow Leopard on the other hand has caused quite a few quirks to become known. So much in fact, that I have informed other users depending on Fusion to hold off upgrading to Snow Leopard until VMWare resolves the issues. They are nothing major and certainly not show-stoppers. But they are irritating when it pops up. Things like the mouse pointer not working or losing positions, slow refresh rates, etc.
Fusion recently released v2.0.6 to address these issues which after my testing, still is not as polished as it was under Leopard. So this release 3.0 is welcomed and I look forward to its release.
But Fusion is still the package I would pick over Parallels. That solution was painful.
I've been using the beta for a while, and for those people who upgraded to Snow Leopard, this will definitely fix things. Performance definitely increased compared to 2.0.6 (which supposedly added Snow Leopard support). Aero is still a bit buggy in that it inverts colors every now and then.
Can Aero be used with the Unity view? Glad to hear it will also fix the performance with Win 7!
Now all we need is the Windows version of Fusion to run OS X, so those of us that run 3ghz+ Quad Cores can use our favorite OS.
I have a Phenom II 955 system recently built that's condemmed to a life of running Windows.
The "Windows" version of Fusion is actually called VMware Workstation, and it's much more advanced than fusion.
However, the reason you can't virtualize Mac OS X easily is due to Apple's licensing. So, while it's possible to virtualize Mac OS X in Workstation, it's far more difficult than it is to virtualize Windows or Linux.
Of course, Windows really isn't that bad at all, so I wonder why you even bothered to build a system that's "condemned."
I can second this story with a similar experience. I was a happy Parallels user for verisons 2 & 3, when 4 came out I immediately upgraded based on past success with their product, boy was I soon disappointed. I gave them 6 months to fix the bugs and they never did. When they fought me for my refund I told them I paitently waited for you to fix your buggy software, if I would have known it wasn't going to be fixed earlier I would have asked for my money back sooner. Seems like i wasn't the only unsatisfied customer
--Dave
Cool! Thanks Justflybob and razorpit for your inputs, much appreciated!! I think i will go ahead and give VMware a try. Thanks one more time guys!
I'll be grabbing 3 as soon as it comes out
Areo support will be nice as well; Vista and Win7 are ugly to begin with, but without Areo they're both simply god awful (and horribly slow).
I wish I could do away with Windows altogether, but the major app I work with for my day job is Windows based
Why is this important? I run my mac environment off of one NIC and my virtual WinXP environment off the second NIC which is plugged into a separate secure network at work. VMware Fusion does not recognize the second NIC thus could not handle having my physical Mac and virtual machine accessing a different networks.
By the way, since the first network is a cable modem at work, I can now use BackToMyMac from my home cable connection to remote control my work computer, which then uses Parallels to access the internal network at work and gives me access to my files and work environment from home without exposing the internal network to the world. BTMM is encrypted by the Airport Extreme base stations.
I think that must mean "pre-loaded". Obviously you can't run Windows apps with Fusion (or any other VM software) without running it. It probably just means that ".exe" files are set to open with Fusion, which then understands to launch the .exe when it finishes loading. I don't think there is anything miraculous going on here.
(although, it could potentially open some interesting security holes)
There's a way... Aside from Cross-Over for Mac there are other open source ways to wrap a DOS or Windows application around it to run on a different OS.
Thank God I have a Windows programmer for a friend here in Oregon! I got my Windows 7 mouse back. (You can't just arrow key around W7 like a mac!) AAAARGHHH
Of course, Windows really isn't that bad at all, so I wonder why you even bothered to build a system that's "condemned."
I understand the licensing issues, obviously. OS X virtualisation would be nice, but it's not going to happen anytime soon and that's kinda fine. Also, I could run Linux as someone else said, and while I was a fairly hardcore Linux freak from about 1994 to about 2000, for me it can't offer anything OS X or Windows can't between them.
Condemned is a little harsh, but this is an Apple forum afterall, so it's custmary to stick the boot in on Windows, given an opportunity. I'm running Win7 in 32-bit mode until it's released, then will install the 64-bit version... I have no real issues with Win7 aside from the seemingly endless updates, including driver updates that break things (RealTek Wifi drivers keep getting released and keep breaking my WiFi). Anyway, that's another thread...
Besides, Left4Dead, Crysis and farCry 2 (via Steam) don't run on OS X
My own personal experience?
VMware Fusion =
Parallels =
You choose.
Mine* is:
Parallels =
VMWare =
Bootcamp.
*2.53GHz 15"MBP 4GB 1067 MHz DDR3, 10.5.8.
I am a web developer who uses virtualization for testing, some time ago I worked for a company that would not buy me any virtualization software and I used Virtual Box instead...my experience with it was not at all good. The two particular gripes that come to mind are that it crashed regularly and I couldn't drag and drop things from one system to the other. That being said, it was some time ago and maybe it has gotten better, not to mention Parallells isn't exactly bug free either.
i've been using it for quite a while and do not suffer i cannot drag and drop things with the GUI however you can share folders, and that's awesome...
i cannot understand people wanting to use aero...is like wanting os x to have viruses
i've been using it for quite a while and do not suffer i cannot drag and drop things with the GUI however you can share folders, and that's awesome...
i cannot understand people wanting to use aero...is like wanting os x to have viruses
That statement doesn't make much sense. Aero just turns on some GUI features in the window manager to make some functions easier, or to turn on functions that aren't available in the basic window manager. Any modern graphics card will run Aero these days, including integrated graphics chipsets like those in the Mini. I don't understand how you equate that to wanting viruses in OS X. It's no different than Compiz under Linux in essence, if not presentation.
In any case, what I took from this is that VMWare 3 will have sufficient performance to actually enable those features under 3.0, where if memory serves, VMWare Fusion 2.x always ended up with a lowly '1' in graphics scores under Vista and Windows 7.
Fusion was very buggy for me on my unibody Macbook. High CPU, very slow unity, occasional OS lock-ups. I tried Parallels 4.0 the latest version like 4 months ago and is way better than the current version of Fusion.
For starters you get the Windows tray icons on the menu bar. The icon on the Dock changes to a start menu when in Coherence (unity mode for fusion), so you can access it even when native Mac applications are selected. With Fusion you have to choose an active Windows app to get the menu option, so you open another Windows app from the start menu while in unity. Parallels uses less CPU and memory and the Coherence mode is faster. Parallels supports simple cloning and cloning to a template much like VMware Workstation and ESX. Cloning is great if you need to make multipe VM's of the same OS. With fusion you are left with coping the vmdk file, and creating a new VM. The sharing options between VM and OS X, files, folders etc is just way better in Parallels, I get a disk icon on the OS X desktop for a running VM, that I can access. Parallels supports Snow Leopard and a 64bit Kernel.
We have been beta testing Fusion 3.0. It is better than 2.0, way better. The windows start menu on the OS X menu bar is huge for me. The performance of Unity is better as well. The sharing options are lacking still. The cloning options have not changed.
I will probably switch because we are such fans of VMware products over all. If I were not a user of other VMware products I am not sure I would. Aero and gaming do nothing for me. I only run Windows in a VM because I need VMware tools or MS AD tools.
What VMware really needs to do is make some native Virtual Center tools for OS X, so I dont have to startup a Windows VM at all.