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Macbook Pro – Parallels vs VMWare Fusion

16 Responses (Add) | Thursday, August 16th, 2007 at 7:46pm


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Subscriber Michael Gutierrez is a long time Mac user. He asked if we could help him decide whether he should use Parallels to run Windows on his Mac, or wait until BootCamp is out of Beta. Personally, I prefer VMWare Fusion.

I did a blog post on my personal blog several months ago which discusses VMWare, Parallels, BootCamp and Crossover. Let’s see if we can’t go more in-depth this time, to try and help Michael.

Michael writes: “The ability to run Mac OS X 10 and Windows XP side by side is phenomenal. I now want to be able to run Windows Vista. I know Parallels supports Vista but I have read about some limited functionality like not being able to run Windows Aero. I am also concerned about the memory usage. I have 2 GB of RAM installed. Reading the requirements for Vista, I am assuming you would need at least 1 GB of RAM just for Vista to operate.

I have read about Apple’s Boot Camp being up to snuff with Windows Vista with providing full driver support for all hardware and it can even run Windows Aero. Although this would be a great solution to my problem, I do see some down sides:

  • Partitioning the HD for Vista Installation
  • Rebooting each time when needing to get into a particular operating system
  • No sharing of files.
  • Still in beta release.”

I have to agree with Michael as far as using Boot Camp at this point in time, mainly because it is still in a beta testing phase.

Parallels Virtual Machine software is an application which allows you to run any operating system inside of OS X. Windows, Linux, FreeBSD and even Solaris can be easily used on a Mac. You can switch between the different operating systems without having to reboot, and even drag and drop between them. Parallels has long been a staple for many Mac users who still need to make use of certain Windows functions or programs. However, it does have some performance issues, such as screen redraws related to video issues in the Coherence mode. Some users don’t like that there is no right click function, nor a delete key. There’s also no drag and drop support.

Personally, I use the newly released VMWare Fusion. You can do virtually all of the same things with Fusion that you can with Parallels, but Fusion blows its counterparts out of the water when it comes to performance. Installing Windows has never been easier, thanks to the Windows Easy Install feature in VMware Fusion. Just answer a few simple questions and insert your Windows installation disc—VMware Fusion will automatically create a Windows virtual machine that is optimized for your Mac. Fusion can use the full 16 GB of memory available with the Mac Pro, giving you the ability to run a large number of virtual machines at the same time.

For the most part, there are only minor advantages and differences when choosing either Parallels or VMWare Fusion. Both applications provide a free trial period, so I suggest trying them both to see which one works best for you. Interested in purchasing Parallels? Be sure to use this coupon code to receive a discount.

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16 Comments

Apple and Mac OS X Tips

January 30th, 2008
at 3:02pm

We can now reliably runWindows on the Mac. As VMWare Fusion was released during the summer of last year, comparisons have been made against Parallels 3.0. Although each have their own advantages, I have noticed that Parallels 3.0 requires more system resources to run than older versions of

New Tech News Blog Network ~ Lockergnome

August 17th, 2007
at 8:29pm

from speed increases and lower memory overhead. Fusion puts less strain on your computer than any other virtualization product at this point. The use of Cocoa in development gives Fusion a more native Mac application feel with customizable toolbars.Wither Parallels? Well, I wasn’t set up for a true side-by-side last night, but I did at least want to tell people that there’s a new VM in town – and it’s already giving Parallels a beating: Aero is still missing, as well as the ability to dump a Windows VM into a

Duncan

August 16th, 2007
at 8:46pm

Parallels does support right click and (at least I think) the delete key, and the new version has a similar installation setup to VMware fusion…indeed it was quicker to install Vista on my Mac than it was on a PC.

Carl

August 18th, 2007
at 5:37am

Please try to provide pros and cons for both programs. You provided pros and cons for Parallels, but only pros for VMWare!

Carl

August 18th, 2007
at 5:37am

Please try to provide pros and cons for both programs. You provided pros and cons for Parallels, but only pros for VMWare!

Ron

August 19th, 2007
at 5:28am

I have Parallels installed in my Mac G5. If I want to test or even buy VMware, can I use my same installation of WinXP, or do I have to re-install it, and if so will that be a problem with Microsoft/registration?

James M Wood

August 22nd, 2007
at 11:50am

If one was to install “Fusion” and then MS “OEM” WIN XP PRO + SP2, how would one install the “drivers” for the Microsoft WIN XP PRO +SP2 being a newbie and not “tech. savvy?? I understand that MAC “Leopard” will be set up to do this automatically when released in October 07. Any suggestions would be appreciated and I thank you for your excellent insight in the choices available for us MAC Intel. Users. With regards, James M Wood (Airdrie, AB – Canada).

Sanderson Dear

September 2nd, 2007
at 1:19pm

I have a quick question. Has anyone run VMware or Parallels or even Bootcamp on a Macbook, not the pro, just a plain old Macbook. I’m thinking about getting one need to know how Windows performs on it.

Help appreciated.
Thanks

Todd

September 10th, 2007
at 12:30pm

I run Parallels on the MacBook (not Pro) with 2GB RAM. I typically use Windows 2000 or Windows Vista Business, depending on the need. Both perform nicely in Parallels but the MacBook does suffer from a noticeably shorter battery life (not actually measured, simply noticed). I am a pro Java developer and a doctoral candidate with serious IT research using Web Services, so I am pretty handy at punishing the Windows environments from Java and statistics perspectives but not graphics. I have not used the VMWare solution for the Mac, but I do like its Windows counterpart. At this point I would recommend that people try Parallels to ensure it meets their needs (performance, stability, etc.) but I’m satisfied with Parallels at this time.

Regards,
Todd

Chris

October 28th, 2007
at 3:13pm

I used both trial versions and found VM Fusion more stable. I had issues with Parallel v3 to the point that I couldn’t boot in to Windows at boot up or through Parallels or VM FUsion. I had to wipe the Macbook Pro and start over. Parallels also creates other Windows start up OS choices, VM doesn’t. For stability I am sticking with Fusion.

Billy Vine

November 17th, 2007
at 2:54pm

I agree the issue of rebooting each time you want to use vista is a problem but you can make 3 partitions – one for mac and two as fat32 – when you install vista you will format to ntfs and install vista then you can use the other fat32 partitioned as a shared partition used by both OSs – this is what I am doing – works great.

Richard Von Schlichten

November 18th, 2007
at 7:11am

I have a new iMac and Fusion. Should I buy XP or Vista. Thanks

ptr

December 10th, 2007
at 3:31am

Please do not get Vista! Vista is very slow on VMWare Fusion and it eats the speed of your Mac as well!

James Chick

January 5th, 2008
at 6:36am

I have a macbook pro and need a VM tool – mostly as the programs I need for work (like LoadRunner,) are not available for OS X. I tried the evaluation of Parrallels and whilst impressed with it and I put in aXP with no problems – I found problems loading a couple of flavours of Linux (like Ubuntu). In the end I managed to get SUSE working on it. However – I will need the flexibility to run as many OS’s as possible when needed and so I am thinking about Fusion. From what I have read so far it seems strangely a more mature product what Parrallels and as someone who is used t running VMWare on Windows PCs and servers I am inclined to go for this one. Performance seems better as well. I would be interested to know of any problems people might have had with Fusion and installing UBUNTU for instance before buying the product and unfortunately I do not have the time to test this having already tried Parrallels.

Team Fusion

June 4th, 2008
at 3:38am

[...] tech pundits like Robert Scoble and Chris Pirillo, to Mac gurus like the editorial staff of The Unofficial Apple Weblog, the consensus is growing: [...]

vm fusion or parallels - Dogpile Web Search

October 24th, 2008
at 8:24pm

[...] to try the … forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=20966 • Found on Windows Live Macbook Pro – Parallels vs VMWare Fusion ~ Chris Pirillo Personally, I use the newly released VMWare Fusion. You can do virtually all of the same things [...]

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