Parallels vs Fusion

Steedie

Steedie

Steedie

Man of Honour
Joined
29 Jun 2004
Posts
21,636
Location
Oxfordshire
Evening,

I'm sure this question has been done to death, but maybe not recently, couldn't find anything anyway

I'm looking to install one of these, as I want access to Windows, but I don't want to have to leave OSX to do so. I'm not interested in any intense 3D work, most I'll want is maybe some basic capabilities with OpenGL and DirectX for some hobbyist coding, but no gaming. It will basically be for using visual studio and that's it.

So with that in mind, which is best? I hear one of them, maybe Fusion, is better if you intend to use 3D applications, but Parallels for everything but. Does anyone have any experience with either? Or both ideally!

EDIT - If it makes a difference, it will be used on a Dec 2012 iMac :)

Thanks :)
 
There's not much in them unless you're gaming which is where Parallels excels. Both will be fine for your needs, you may even wan't to try VirtualBox first.

The main difference is licensing; Fusion is a single user license so can be run on Multiple Mac's that you own. Parallels is single computer so requires a license for each Mac. Also Parallels is updated like clockwork on a yearly cycle where as fusion generally gets a lot more point updates between major revisions.

I would normally go for whichever is the cheapest or on offer at the time. IE Parallels is available in this bundle:

https://stacksocial.com/sales/the-summer-2013-mac-bundle-ft-parallels-8

But it's also not far off their yearly release schedule so Parallels 9 is probably due in a few months.
 
I use both, daily, but for slightly differing things. I find desktop stuff in faster and more fluid in Parallels, but that Fusion scales better for multiple guests.

No idea on games though, sorry.
 
I've not seen any deals for it as yet, standard upgrade price appears to be £34.99/$49.99.

I'm happy enough with v8, works fine on Mavericks.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom