Parallels or VMWare Fusion

Captain-Fungi

Captain-Fungi

Captain-Fungi

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4 May 2003
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Unfortunately for me I have been forced into a corner where I HAVE to run some windows software on my Mac.

I don't require the full features of windows but just need to use a single software package that is a requirement of my open university course.

I have tried Parallels before late last year and thought that it was pretty cool. Unfortunatley getting support from the Parallels team wasn't as cool :(

I have also been looking at getting VMWare fusion, I use VMWare products at work and they tend to be petty stable and easy to use.

Does anyone have any real world experience of these two applications, which one do you think is best?

I have a Macbook with 2GB of memory and a MacMini with 1GB. I know that the Mini will struggle with 1GB of memory so am very interested in finding out which one uses less and also which one appears to run smoother.

Thanks
 
If you use Fusion, can you set it to use any USB device you plug in ?

Only ask because I've got a program I need to run on Windows, which syncs some GPS information from my phone to a Windows program. So will Fusion do this or do I need t boot camp my Mac instead
 
Can VMWare Fusion run Windows apps in the OS X environment? I.e. in "coherence" mode? We have Parallels Desktop 3 at work and it is worth it for this feature, although I would chose speed over this feature. Is Fusion faster?

Looks like Fusion does have this feature!
 
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yes I use fusion and prefer it to parallels although it was only earlier versions of parallels that I used. VMWare seems more reliable and faster. It does support the Parallels equivalent of coherence mode.. so If i open a windows app in unity mode the icon will appear in my mac osx dock.
 
Please be aware that you will need to download a new patch for parallels to work with leopard.

I think for leopard you will need to use build 5160.0 or higher
 
My Parallel works on Leopard until I "Shut Down" my windows XP...

I'm installing Windows XP again but this time on the VMWare 1.1RC - with a 30day key, if it's good, then I'll be £40 less well off in a month time.
 
Fusion all the way for me, although I've never used Parallels that extensively, just a quick play around with the demo. VMWare's technology is rock solid and has a proven track record with really big companies. Plus their VM library is excellent, Ubuntu Gusty Gibbon + VMWare tools pre-installed in a 500MB download is just fantastic.

On a side note, 2GB RAM is a must for both products. Just upgraded the Macbook today and the difference is remarkable when running Windows + OS X at the same time.

Do Parallels have Tools available for Linux yet? That alone is enough to choose VMWare IMO. Seamless mouse support and desktop resizing is a must.
 
I'm using VMWare now with my Windows XP Pro, god damn~ This thing runs well. Much better IMO than Parallel. Seems more stable - one thing I had issue with Parallel was sound, after installing, there was no sound. This however, after installing, everything's running like a charm.

I'm installing Windows Live Messenger now, try out if iSight truly works. Looks like under the settings, I can turn on Direct X 9.0c? Might dig up an old game and try it out too.

All this running at 512MB RAM, might increase it to 1GB - is that a good idea?
 
I think 1GB is overkill for running the odd Windows app (Office, Messenger etc.) . But if your doing some heavyweight work then it might be worth it.
 
Just deciding this for myself now. I was leaning towards Parallels as that's the trial that worked best for some reason, the Ubuntu ISO I used didn't want to boot in Fusion. Also the mouse cursor lags fractionally in Fusion whereas it's perfect in Parallels (When I did get Ubuntu working.) no one else find this?

Couple of questions then:
Are they both dual core programs?
I found a long winded way to convert my Parallels HDD image to Fusion. Is there an easy way?
Cheers.
 
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