VMware Fusion v Parallels

Which one should I go with?
I have been using VirtualBox for a while but it has been freezing up my cirsor after Lion install.
What should I do? Is there a fix for VirtualBox or am I better of buying VMWare or Parallels?
Which one is best in performance?

thaipantsman wrote:
which one did you go for? i use parallels. it's a bit sluggish but works. They always want you to pay for support or upgrades. i run windows 7 on my macbook pro. Can I also run VM Fusion or Virtual Box on the same system. Given I have windows 7 installed already will I need to reintstall this to try out Virtual Box?
If your Windows is installed in its own partition using Boot Camp Assistant both Fusion and Paralllels can use this already installed Windows as their guest operating system. If your Windows is installed in Parallels, no Boot Camp partition, then you will need to also install Windows in Fusion when you try it.
VirtualBox does not support using an already Boot Camp installation of Windows as its guest operating system.

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VMware Fusion vs Parallels Desktop 3.0

i want to run Windows XP or Windows Vista on my mac.
which among VMware Fusion and Parallels would be a much better program/software to buy?
what are the pros & cons of each?
should i buy now or would waiting for Leopard's release (with a new Boot Camp version) be much better?
thanks.

I have Parallels installed on my wife's MacBook and I have Fusion installed on mine. I think if you are using it in a home environment, Parallels would be better as it's snazzier in it's implementation. But for a work type environment, I would recommend Fusion. VMWare has lots of experience with virtualization, and if you have a Linux/Windows VM that is already built and configured, it would be quite easy to just port it over to Fusion to run.
Fusion is probably playing a bit of catch up with Parallels but eventually it will get there, and I expect them to overtake Parallels.
Both software has free trials, and I would recommend that you download both and try them out to see which one you would prefer.

VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop Benchmark Comparison

This is a quickie benchmark of VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop using Super PI, PC Mark 05, and Passmark.
VMWare Fusion 36932
Parallels Desktop 3094 Beta 2
Notes:
Both virtual machines were allocated with large 10+ GB virtual disks and 640MB of RAM. The VMWare CPU was configured with two processors. The Parallels CPU was configured with 1 (two is not available). VMWare reported the CPU as 1 physical, 2 logical processors running at 2.66 GHz while Parallels reported 1 physical, 1 logical processor running at 9.6 GHz (the combined speed of all four cores on the Mac Pro). The max observed CPU utilization in activity monitor when running under VMWare was 200% and max under Parallels was 173%.
I chose not to compare 1 VMWare CPU vs. 1 Parallels CPU. While Parallels does not support SMP or multithreaded processes on multiple processors the CPU utilization on the Mac went well above 1 core (173%). For this comparison, I wanted to see results of max processing based on what the two vendors have delivered, as opposed to benchmarking the underlying "virtual or hypervisor cpu" on a 1:1 basis. This explains why VMWare was 2x faster than Parallels on some CPU tests.
Both of these products are beta. VMWare is running in debug mode (can not be turned off in this beta).
Caveat emptor on these stats. This was an unscientific exercise to satisfy my curiosity. Some of the extraordinary differences are highlighted with <--.
Platform:
Mac Pro 2.66 GHz, 2GB RAM, Nvidia 7300GT
Disk 1 - OS X, 73GB Raptor
Disk 2 - dedicated disk where each virtual machine image was created separate from the OS or any OS-related virtual memory files.
VMWare and Parallels guest OS: Windows XP Professional, SP 2
Comparison Benchmrk
VMWare Fusion 36932 and Parallels Desktop 3094 Beta 2
Super PI Parallels VMWare
512K 8s 9s
1M 20s 21s
4M 1m 57s 2m 03s
PC Mark 05 Parallels VMWare
CPU Test Suite N/A N/A
Memory Test Suite N/A N/A
Graphics Test Suite N/A N/A
HDD Test Suite N/A N/A
HDD - XP Startup 5.0 MB/s 19.54 MB/s <--
Physics and 3D Test failed Test failed
Transparent Windows Test failed 69.99 Windows/s
3D - Pixel Shader Test failed Test failed
Web Page Rendering 3.58 Pages/s 2.34 Pages/s
File Decrypt 71.73 MB/s 67.05 MB/s
Graphics Memory - 64 Lines 179.92 FPS 111.73 FPS
HDD - General Usage 4.82 MB/s 42.01 MB/s <--
Multithread Test 1 / Audio Comp N/A N/A
Multithread Test 1 / Video Encoding Test failed Test failed
Multithread Test 2 / Text Edit 152.85 Pages/s 138.48 Pages/s
Multithread Test 2 / Image DeComp 5.91 MPixels/s 35.4 MPixels/s <--
Multithread Test 3 / File Comp 3.22 MB/s 6.03 MB/s
Multithread Test 3 / File Encrypt 19.0 MB/s 33.26 MB/s <--
Multithread Test 3 / HDD - Virus Scan 27.91 MB/s 25.49 MB/s
Multithread Test 3 / Mem Lat - Rnd 16MB 5.34 MAcc/s 6.63 MAcc/s
File Comp N/A N/A
File DeComp N/A N/A
File Encrypt N/A N/A
File Decrypt N/A N/A
Image DeComp N/A N/A
Audio Comp N/A N/A
Multithread Test 1 / File Comp N/A N/A
Multithread Test 1 / File Encrypt N/A N/A
Multithread Test 2 / File DeComp N/A N/A
Multithread Test 2 / File Decrypt N/A N/A
Multithread Test 2 / Audio DeComp N/A N/A
Multithread Test 2 / Image DeComp N/A N/A
Memory Read - 16 MB N/A N/A
Memory Read - 8 MB N/A N/A
Memory Read - 192 kB N/A N/A
Memory Read - 4 kB N/A N/A
Memory Write - 16 MB N/A N/A
Memory Write - 8 MB N/A N/A
Memory Write - 192 kB N/A N/A
Memory Write - 4 kB N/A N/A
Memory Copy - 16 MB N/A N/A
Memory Copy - 8 MB N/A N/A
Memory Copy - 192 kB N/A N/A
Memory Copy - 4 kB N/A N/A
Memory Lat - Rnd 16 MB N/A N/A
Memory Lat - Rnd 8 MB N/A N/A
Memory Lat - Rnd 192 kB N/A N/A
Memory Lat - Rnd 4 kB N/A N/A
Transparent Windows N/A N/A
Graphics Memory - 64 Lines N/A N/A
Graphics Memory - 128 Lines N/A N/A
WMV Video Playback N/A N/A
3D - Fill Rate Multi Texturing N/A N/A
3D - Polygon Throughput Multiple Lights N/A N/A
3D - Pixel Shader N/A N/A
3D - Vertex Shader N/A N/A
HDD - XP Startup N/A N/A
HDD - Application Loading N/A N/A
HDD - General Usage N/A N/A
HDD - Virus Scan N/A N/A
HDD - File Write N/A N/A
Processor Intel Core 2 9653 MHz Processor Unknown 2661 MHz
Physical / Logical CPUs "1 Physical, 1 Logical" "1 Physical, 2 Logical"
MultiCore 1 Processor Core Multicore 2 Processor Cores
HyperThreading N/A N/A
Graphics Card Generic VGA Generic VGA
Graphics Driver Parallels Video Driver VMWare SVGA II
Co-operative adapters No No
DirectX Version 9.0c 9.0c
System Memory 640 MB 640MB
Motherboard Manufacturer N/A Intel Corporation
Motherboard Model N/A 440BX Desktop Reference Platform
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Microsoft Windows XP
Passmark Parallels VMWare
CPU - Integer Math (MOPS) 112.35 230.31 <--
CPU - Floating Point Math (MOPS) 280.46 588.33 <--
CPU - Find Prime Numbers (OPS) 446.37 676.99 <--
CPU - SSE/3DNow! (MMPS) 2118.56 4737.13 <--
CPU - Comp (KB/s) 2994.16 5952.34 <--
CPU - Encrypt (MB/s) 18.09 36.27 <--
CPU - Image Rotation (IRPS) 598.21 1184.41 <--
CPU - String Sorting (TPS) 2118.81 3672.59 <--
Graphics 2D - Lines (TPS) 220.71 25.15 <--
Graphics 2D - Rectangles (TPS) 189.74 61.8 <--
Graphics 2D - Shapes (TPS) 39.54 13.71 <--
Graphics 2D - Fonts and Text (OPS) 190.39 75.88 <--
Graphics 2D - GUI (OPS) 439.77 63.72 <--
Memory - Allocate Small Block (MB/s) 2533.83 2526.21
Memory - Read Cached (MB/s) 1960.5 1906.27
Memory - Read Uncached (MB/s) 1871.79 1826.08
Memory - Write (MB/s) 1687.81 1545.43
Memory - Large RAM (OPS) 60.99 46.37
Disk - Sequential Read (MB/s) 102.11 76.45 <--
Disk - Sequential Write (MB/s) 58.33 50.9
Disk - Rnd Seek + RW (MB/s) 51.4 40.4
CPU Mark 711.08 1432.72 <--
2D Graphics Mark 743.31 176.5 <--
Memory Mark 599.94 580.38
Disk Mark 766.11 606.7
PassMark Rating 557.27 637.35<br>

Thanks for posting these numbers - it's an interesting comparison.
I would expect the final VMWare fusion performance numbers to be quite a bit better than that of Parallels - they have almost a decade's worth of experience more than the Parallels folks in this arena, and a much larger development team to boot.
Once VMWare Fusion is released to the public, I think that you'll see a clearer distinction between the two products. VMWare will continue to appeal to the professional customer, with a more robust feature set and corporate-friendly features (and a correspondingly higher price tag); Parallels will fall more into the consumer/VirtualPC-replacement market. It will be interesting to see how Parallels will be affected when (and if) VMWare player is ported to OS X.
Interesting about the Parallels performance stats on a native partition - looks like almost enough reason to avoid the bootcamp partition approach altogether. Sharing a native windows installation with a VM in parallels is a pretty scary situation in any case, as the two environments have entirely different hardware configurations. Do-able, but there is some black magic involved (if you want to see an example of what I mean, try to move a windows installation from one machine to another w/different hardware sometime - it ain't pretty); I wouldn't try this in a production scheme unless I had REALLY good backups.

How many licenses for Windows 7 via both Boot Camp and either VMware Fusion or Parallels on the same MacBook?

This concerns a white MacBook running OS X 10.5.8 Leopard.
If I install Windows 7 on my MacBook with Boot Camp, and then use either VMware Fusion or Parallels to access that Boot Camp partition, will I need to buy two Windows licenses from Microsoft?
I had not anticipated this, but when calling VMware and Parallels to check out the tech support services of the two companies, the person at VMware mentioned that I would need two licenses. When I called Parallels, I then asked the person at that company whether two Windows licenses would be needed. That person told me that only one license would be necessary.
I then called Microsoft. The representative there told me that my question could not be answered by Microsoft because that company does not provide support for users installing Windows on Apple computers.
After that, I called Apple. The Apple representative was not familiar with this type of issue. She mentioned the possibility that the VMware Fusion and Parallels products might be different, and that that might be why using the former would involve two licenses and using the latter would involve only one license.
Has anyone had experience with installing Windows 7 via Boot Camp, and then accessing that Windows 7 installation from VMware Fusion or Parallels? If so, did you have to buy two Windows licenses?

One license. You may have to re-register Windows online when you start it up in Parallels because Windows sees that it is now running on new hardware (virtualized) and thinks it has been installed on a new computer. If the online re-registration does not work, just call the registration number and go through the automated registration process. Once re-registered then use Windows from Parallels. If you are also installing MS Office in Windows you will need to go through the same process again for registering Office.
The process is automated, simple, and free. You have made the process more complicated than it is by calling Apple, Parallels, and Microsoft when there is an automated MS registration number to call.

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...

VMware Fusion or Parallels for running Windows 7 on a portable HD?

So I have a shiny new MBP 13" with the Haswell chip and I'm trying to totally replace my Dell PC laptop in everyday life. I cloned my Dell's HD to a USB 3.0 portable HD and am looking at either VMware Fusion 6 or Parallels Desktop 8 to create a VM to run Win7 off of that portable HD. I only have a 256Gb SSD in my MBP, so I don't want to fill it up with all my Windows stuff.
Here are my two questions:
1 - Is this possible to do?
2 - Based on how I want to use this, does anyone know which VM platform is bes, Fusion 6 or Parallels Desktop 8?
Thanks!

Niether. First try Oracle Virtualbox. It is free and runs all OS as good as the paid for virtual machine software programs.
EDIT:
Sorry I did not at first read your whole post.
You can use any of the 3 virtual machine software programs for running most all versions of Windows on your Mac and they all work quite well. But you can not use a version of Windows that came on your Dell PC on any other computer, whether in a virtual machine or installed directly to the hard drive of that computer (Mac or PC), as that version of Windows is tied to your Dell PC and will only work on a Dell PC. It is illegal to put it on some other computer than the one it came on.
So to run Windows on your Mac, Natively or in a virtual machine, you will need to buy a retail copy, or a System Builders OEM copy, of the version of Windows you want to use.

Kernel Panic 10.4.8. with MacPro 3.0 and VMWARE Fusion Beta/ Parallels (?)

Hello,
got I couple of times different Kernel panics in
AppleIntel8254XE. Seams to me, that this is Macos 10.4.8 related, and same as in http://forum.parallels.com/thread7375.html .
1.) Sun Jan 14 00:14:06 2007
panic(cpu 0 caller 0x0035BEAC): freeing free mbuf
Backtrace, Format - Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
Backtrace continues...
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.driver.AppleIntel8254XEthernet(1.1.4a5)@0x35148000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily(1.5.1)@0x35102000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.1)@0x35014000
com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily(1.5.1)@0x35102000
2.) Sun Jan 14 00:12:29 2007
panic(cpu 0 caller 0x0035BEAC): mfreemlist: m_nextpkt of m_next != NULL
Backtrace, Format - Frame : Return Address (4 potential args on stack)
0x2504b6e8 : 0x128d1f (0x3c9540 0x2504b70c 0x131df4 0x0)
Backtrace continues...
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.driver.AppleIntel8254XEthernet(1.1.4a5)@0x35148000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily(1.5.1)@0x35102000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.1)@0x35014000
com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily(1.5.1)@0x35102000
Backtrace continues...
Kernel loadable modules in backtrace (with dependencies):
com.apple.driver.AppleIntel8254XEthernet(1.1.4a5)@0x35148000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily(1.5.1)@0x35102000
dependency: com.apple.iokit.IOPCIFamily(2.1)@0x35014000
com.apple.iokit.IONetworkingFamily(1.5.1)@0x35102000

Already made. In the meantime one more report in VMTN
about the same issue with parallels.
Henri
Can you link to the parallels thread?
I can reliably reproduce a kernel panic in 10.4.8 by ejecting a volume mounted from a host system (default afp mount) that is either of two macintel systems (mini & mbp).
Problem started when I installed Fusion, went away when I de-installed. Both systems also have Parallels (latest build but one) installed.
The workaround of unloading the networking kexts makes me nervous -- sooner or later I'll forget, and then KABLOOEY!
OS X

Running Leopard and Tiger at the same time VMWare fusion/Parallels?

Hello,
I was wondering, is it possible to run Tiger and Leopard at the same time? Some older applications won't run properly in Leopard. The iMac came both with Tiger and Leopard (last November). It has been described elsewhere that one can install Tiger and Leopard on separate partitions and switch by rebooting. But it would be nice if one could run Tiger in Leopard like one can run Windows/Unix using VMWare Fusion or Parallels. Is that feasible?
best wishes

I agree with you that virtualizing Mac OS X would be great. I'm an Apple technician and it would really help with my work. But Apple's EULA does not permit the use of OS X in a VM. They changed OS X Server's EULA recently to permit it, but not the "client version".
So your Mac can virtualize nearly any OS out there, but not OS X. And I believe (not sure) that a VM of OS X Server will only run on OS X Server.

Vmware fusion 6 vs Parallels desktop 9

I'm going to install Windows 7/8.1 and Linux on my OS X Mavericks so I need virtualizing environment as VMware fusion or Parallels desktop?
What do you think ? Better ?

Hello jsujana,
To answer your question, a free alternative as mentioned above is not too harsh of an idea. On the other hand, if you did want to purchase VMware of Parallel right now, I would definitly suggest Parallel.
They both are very similar programs, but here is a comparrison chart for you to make the ultimate decision based on your needs - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_VMware_Fusion_and_Parallels_Desktop
The only reason I'd suggest one of these well known Virtual Machines over the free versions suggested above is for coherence mode.
I do want to ask, why are you doing all of this to simply run Internet Explorer?
Best of luck!

Running Autodesk Inventor using Fusion or Parallel on Intel Mac

I need to be able to run Autodesk Inventor and DO NOT want to purchase a PC to do it. If I use VMware Fusion or Parallel on an Intel Mac will it operate without any glitches. Our tech guy said that the keyboard shortcuts are not going to be the same, is that true and are there any other issues I will come up against (i.e. system speed, ram, video card etc.)

Hi and welcome to Discussions,
your signature says that you are using PPC-Macs (Power Mac; Powerbook).
Parallels and Fusion only work on Intel-Macs.
Same for BootCamp.
So, if your sig is still uptodate, you are out of luck.
Your tech guy might refer to the fact, that Apples keyboards have a slightly different layout than the usual PC keyboard.
See here for a comparison: http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=304270
On Intel-Macs some guys round here and in the BootCamp Forum have reported success in running Autodesk software on their Intel-Macs.
Please do a search for these threads.
Regards
Stefan

Bootcamp vs Fusion vs Parallels

I need to prepare a tax return that requires a Windows only application. I will not use Windows for any other purpose other than using this program once a year. Do you recommend using Boot Camp, VMWare Fusion, or Parallels? If you have a preference, why? Which version of Windows should I use as well? Thank you everyone for your guidance.

Hi,
for uisng Windows for one program only and also one a year, I would propose a Virtualization app like either Fusion or Parallels.
Both are good ones (I have Parallels, others have Fusion).
You can alo have a look at VirtualBox http://www.virtualbox.org/ which (currently) is free.
As for Windows a XP Home Edition is sufficient, but for might be hard to find, since Microsoft has abandoned sale of it.
Or Vista Home Premium.
You might wanna tryout Codeweavers Crossover for Mac http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/ which don't even need a Windows license to buy.
Regards
Stefan

Bootcamp or Fusion or Parallels

I need to prepare a tax return that requires a Windows only application. I will not use Windows for any other purpose other than using this program once a year. Do you recommend using Boot Camp, VMWare Fusion, or Parallels? If you have a preference, why? Which version of Windows should I use as well? Thank you everyone for your guidance.
Richard

I use Parallels. One year ago there was some distinction with Fusion and Parallels, but the Parallels team has not only caught up (with things like "coherence mode" where Windows feels like any other Mac application running on your system so your mouse and keyboard and clipboard etc are all shared) but it's even prettier.
I'd say the money on Parallels is very well spent. Don't buy it from their website. Get it from Amazon or search it on Froogle. It's fully worth what you are looking for (BootCamp will be a pain because you have to boot into Windows and cannot use Mac at the same time).
All the stuff the previous poster mentions about "negative reviews" about support and whatnot is history. Parallels is not the better of the two imho, but you won't go wrong with either.

VMWare Fusion vs. Parallels Desktop for Mac + Captivate?

I'm likely to purchase a new MacBook Pro in the very near future, and wish to run Captivate on it. I've seen a few posts in this forum by folks using VMWare Fusion with mixed results. The posts are a couple of years old, so I'm curious to get the latest thoughts.
1. Which software -- VMW or Parallels -- would you recommend to run Captivate, and why?
2. Which version of Windows should I purchase?
3. What configuration do you recommend for the Mac: RAM, processor speed, hard drive speed (7200 vs 5400 rpm)?
Thanks.

HI,
I use VMWare Fusion on a souped up PC platform. I had been away from the MAC platform for over 10 years and had to allow myself time to get used to the new MAC OS interface. I found that switching between VMWare Fusion and the MAC OS was straightforward - after I got used to things. Since I don't want to invest in a new Adobe Technical Suite and a new Adobe CS4 Master Collection, I use VMWare Fusion on a daily basis.
I would much rather run everything on a real MAC, but since that alternative is not economic (nor are all features available) I am happy to run the MAC OS with my graphics card, and still have the full benefits of the graphics card when I'm running Photoshop and Illustrator from VMWare Fusion.

PC Gaming: Bootcamp vs. Parallels vs. VMWare Fusion

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.
Generally, I still play old stuff like Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, MVP Baseball 2005, NBA Live 06, Madden 07, Rollercoaster Tycoon, Need for Speed, Red Faction, Max Payne 2, etc.
My specs are as follows: 2.0GHz quad-core, Intel Core i7, 8GB RAM @ 1333MHz, 500GB hard drive @ 5400-rpm, Intel HD Graphics 3000, AMD Radeon HD 6490M with 256MB GDDR5.
I'd like to try and avoid Bootcamp if possible, just because I'm not big on having to reboot to jump from OSX to a game. Would Parallels/Fusion be able to run these smoothly? After reading some of the forum posts, some people are struggling a bit running both operating systems, but 8 GB of RAM should be enough to handle both, no? Is it possible for the RAM to die/burn out from being overused by multitasking like this?
Thanks,
Marc

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).
I would like to access and run windows via the mac os but I am stuck on which software to buy. Should I et VMware Fusion 3 or Parallels Desktop 6.
I would use bootcamp but from what I have read I can only run OSx or Windows XP
Does anyone here use either software and recommend which is best or if there is another similar software? I am thinking of selling the streamer to get apple tv but only if I can't get this to work...

Forgot to mention that I have found 2 different versions of parallel's 6
there is:
Parallels Desktop 6 £59.99
and
Parallels Desktop 6 Switch to Mac Edition £79.99
are these the same software?

VMware Fusion v Parallels

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