Should I get parallels or vmware fusion

Im using bootcamp right now to play xp (might get 7 soon). bootcamp is great but I dont like restarting my computer. I tried the trial version of vmware and parallels but they both seem real slow. If I get the full version of these programs will they be better? Right now I mainly play Call of duty Modren Warfare 2, Unreal, and modeling in maya. These are the main things I dont want to lose when i buy this program.

Hi mylegs,
as for playing Windows games and specifically newer games, nothing can beat BootCamp speedwise due to it using the Mac hardware natively.
Parallels and Fusion use virtualized hardware through a hardware abstraction layer and therefor always will be slower.
Especially with software like games and 3D rendering, that rely on having native access to the computers hardware.
For the typical "Office-like" programs (word processing, spreadsheet, etc.) Paralles and Fusion are indeed more suitable, since they run alongside OSX.
So my advise is, stick with BootCamp for the useage you have.
Regards
Stefan

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I am new to Apple and have an Intel iMac. I have been looking at adding windows as I have a Windows Laptop and my Daughters both have Windows systems. I have been reading reviews on the Parallels software and it seems to be many many negative reviews than positive ones. VMware Fusion on the other hand seems to have more positive reviews. I have heard and been advised the Parallels software is the way to go. Can some body please help me out and provide some advise.
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[email protected]

michaeld53 wrote:
I am new to Apple and have an Intel iMac. I have been looking at adding windows as I have a Windows Laptop and my Daughters both have Windows systems. I have been reading reviews on the Parallels software and it seems to be many many negative reviews than positive ones. VMware Fusion on the other hand seems to have more positive reviews. I have heard and been advised the Parallels software is the way to go. Can some body please help me out and provide some advise.
I wish I could help you out, but I don't understand it any more than you do.
I can tell you that this trend has continued unchanged since before VMWare Fusion was even released. I even got suckered into it and bought a copy of VMWare Fusion. I tried it and found it made my Mac unstable even when Fusion wasn't running. I went back to Parallels (maybe a year ago?) and have had no problems. I never had problems with Parallels to begin with. I'm just slow to upgrade and people said Parallels 3.0 was a disaster. It wasn't. It runs great. Now people say 4.0 is a disaster. I don't know. I'm slow to upgrade so I'm just now getting around to installing Parallels 4.0.
I have not seen a single bit of anti-Parallels venom supported by fact - not even once.

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Recommendations please. Windows version 7 or 8 with Parallels 8 or VMWare Desktop 8??
Thank you.

mrbob1928 wrote:
Recommendations please. Windows version 7 or 8 with Parallels 8 or VMWare Desktop 8??
Thank you.
It's really all up to you. I got Parallels v3 as a part of a bundle deal when I bought my first MacBook Pro, and I have gotten upgrade discounts on it since to keep me current. I got VMWare Fusion through a cross platform or competitive upgrade program when I bought it back in the v2 time frame. I have always tended towards Parallels for speed reasons, but both seem to work.
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Which is better (Boot Camp) or (Parallel / VMware Fusion)???

Hi guys,
I want to install Windows along OS X...
now what is better?
to install Windows via Boot Camp or via Parallel / VMware fusion??
and if through one of the virtual machine softwares, which is BETTER?? the Parallel for Desktop or the VMware fusion one???
Thank you

Guitarcal wrote:
I use both boot camp and vmware fusion. A neat feature of vmware fusion is you can access your boot camp partition as a virtual machine from vmware. This way, you can have both. I believe parallels might also let you do that but I have never used it. This has been helpful to me if I need to access a file from the boot camp partition quickly and easily without rebooting my computer.
I agree with dwb that xp is probably going to be the best os to run through a virtualization software.
I honestly don't think you can go wrong with either parallels or vmware fusion. There is also a FREE software package created by sun called VirtualBox.
Here is the link to there home page: http://www.virtualbox.org/
I hear and read that it is excellent as well.
Hope this helps.
I just installed parallels and you can use your bootcamp partition for the vm with parallels as well. Its pretty slick. Use it for light applications with parallel, reboot to bootcamp for graphics intensive ones.
Cheers.

If i buy VMware fusion or Parallels desktop, i need a version of windows?

do i need windows with parallels or VMware?
a lot of thanks

nicholasfromcorreggio wrote:
do i need windows with parallels or VMware?
a lot of thanks
You don't need Windows if you want to run a different OS as your "guest". You can download many different flavors of Linux for free, and most of them will run in Parallels or VMWare Fusion... If you want to run Windows though, you will need a copy of that OS to install in the virtual machine of your choice...

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Click Cancel to abort or OK to continue without using VT."
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thanks
-hex.

We've had other threads asking about VT, which is appropriate to this forum.
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I had better luck looking up "Intel VT" in Google and Wiki.
http://www.intel.com/technology/virtualization/
http://communities.intel.com/openport/blogs/server/2008/09/22/3d-graphics-in-vir tualization-using-intel-vtd-on-workstations
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HI,
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Hey guys,
First time Mac owner in just 5 days. Excited!
I'm currently on a Windows 7 laptop, but with my MBP coming, I'd like to move 100% to the MBP. I'm still a PC gamer though, so I was wondering if anyone had any experience running older games on Bootcamp/Parallels/VMWare Fusion.
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Bootcamp is the easiest and best performing way to play windows games. When Running Parrallels or VMware... you are using virtulization software and cannot utilize the true performance of the machine. BOOTCAMP will be your best method of running demanding games that are made for WINDOWS.
However, as an alternative you could try using wineskins or steam. Wineskin will allow you to run windows games on your mac. Anyway, booting into windows is not all that bad it takes maybe 1 minute. You won't burn out your ram, but I don't think virtulization should be used to play games because you just won't get the performance you need to run graphically intensive games.
SO JUST INSTALL WINDOWS USING BOOTCAMP and your machine will operate like a PC and have better performance than the virtulization software.

Which is better? VMware Fusion 3 or Parallels Desktop 6?

Hi all
I have had my iMac i5 for 3 days now and I am starting to get the hang of it ater coverting from PeeCee....
But I have some application that I need to run in windows, mainly my pinnacle software (dazzle creator 90 and media streamer similar to apple TV).
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Hi Guys,
I do not know if this is the right forum to post this in, but I cant find any forum about this topic. I post it in this forum because I use this forum most. Parallel Desktop or VMware Fusion, which is better. And I was wonder if I bought either of them, do they have the other OS' disc inside or I had to buy one. And how many people the software is licensed to? My school is encouraging me to buy Parallel Desktop.
Any replies is appreciated
Regards
Kwok-Ho Wan
9 April 2008

1. Nope wrong forum, try here for Tiger http://discussions.apple.com/category.jspa?categoryID=160
2. Neither Parallels or VMware include an OS, and if you need the latest and greatest (crappyiest) from Microsoft (VISTA) you'll need to get the full standard edition (i think) as a minimum otherwise face the wrath of the MS legal engine.
3. I use parallel desktop and an old copy of Windows 2000 Professional, so I can run me finance app.
Good luck...

Bootcamp to Parallels/VMware Fusion

Hi,
A couple months ago I partitioned my harddrive in half and installed windows 7 through bootcamp. I now no longer like that I have to restart my computer to switch to windows, and I would like to use a virtual machine client.
Has anyone made this switch? I am unsure about what I should do about my partitioned harddrive.
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Is it a hassle to unpartition
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Yes Parallels and Fusion can use your Boot Camp installed Windows as their guest operating system. How to do this is fully described on the Parallels and Fusion sites.

Parallels v/s vmware fusion, your verdict.

please help me narrow down on one of them before purchasing. i have used the demo version of both. i found vmware better in speed. but i haven't fully known and/or explore all its features. so give me ur take on either or both.
thanks
Neerav

See the following:
Windows on Intel Macs
There are presently several alternatives for running Windows on Intel Macs.
1. Install the Apple Boot Camp software. Purchase Windows XP w/Service Pak 2 or Vista. Follow instructions in the Boot Camp documentation on installation of Boot Camp, creating Driver CD, and installing Windows. Boot Camp enables you to boot the computer into OS X or Windows.
2. Parallels Desktop for Mac and Windows XP, Vista Business, or Vista Ultimate. Parallels is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
3. VM Fusionand Windows XP, Vista Business, or Vista Ultimate. VM Fusion is software virtualization that enables running Windows concurrently with OS X.
4. CrossOver which enables running many Windows applications without having to install Windows. The Windows applications can run concurrently with OS X.
5. VirtualBox is a new Open Source freeware virtual machine such as VM Fusion and Parallels that was developed by Solaris. It is not yet fully developed for the Mac - some features are not yet implemented - but it does work otherwise.
6. Last is Q. Q is a freeware emulator that is compatible with Intel Macs. It is much slower than the virtualization software, Parallels and VM Fusion.
Note that Parallels and VM Fusion can also run other operating systems such as Linux, Unix, OS/2, Solaris, etc. There are performance differences between dual-boot systems and virtualization. The latter tend to be a little slower (not much) and do not provide the video performance of the dual-boot system.
See MacTech.com's Virtualization Benchmarking for comparisons of Boot Camp, Parallels, and VM Fusion.
Boot Camp is only available with Leopard. The Boot Camp Beta that was used with Tiger has expired and is no longer available for use. So contrary to the other poster's comment, Boot Camp isn't truly "free." You must purchase Leopard to get it.

Should I get parallels or vmware fusion

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