Ever wonder what graphics really looks like side by side comparing VMware Fusion 3 to Parallels Desktop 5? This video will show them to you with two machines running side by side with multiple.
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- Since buying my first Intel Mac in 2006, I have used Parallels Desktop for virtualization. I used it mainly for running Windows for when I needed to either test something or run an important application in Windows. Since last year, I have been running Mac VMs in Parallels to build packages, to test.
- Both Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMWare Fusion had a feature called Coherence and Unity mode respectively. What this mode provides is the ability to run Windows applications on your Mac machine as if its a native Mac application.
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When Apple switched to Intel processors, Windows switchers as well as Mac users who needed to run the occasional Windows app rejoiced.
That’s because the chip switch was soon followed by the release of virtualization software that would let those users run Windows as if it were just another application on their Macs. While those first virtualization apps didn’t support all of Windows’s features and weren’t terrifically fast, they were miles better than the Windows-emulation programs that had previously been available for the PowerPC chip.
Since then, however, virtualization apps for the Mac have matured a lot. Four main options are now available: two commercial virtualization apps (Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMware Fusion), an open source alternative (VirtualBox), and another solution that lets you install Windows apps without installing Windows (Crossover). Those first two options are the most popular—and, for most users, the most sensible—alternatives.
I’ve reviewed many generations of Parallels and Fusion, so I’ve seen them develop. The advances they’ve made have been amazing. The two developers have pushed each other hard, and their products have leapfrogged each other to introduce new features and improve performance, resulting in two excellent alternatives. Running the current generations of these two virtualization programs—Parallels 8 Desktop for Mac () and VMware Fusion 5 ()—on one of today’s ultrafast Macs, only the most hardcore Windows users will feel the need to reboot into Boot Camp to run Windows natively.
Another result of this competition is that the two programs have evolved into near twins of each other. They offer similar features, similar performance, and at times, even look similar. There are a few differences, though, and that’s what I focused on in assessing the latest versions of each.
Opening and closing
The two virtualization apps do differ in speed—not the speed of the virtual OSes themselves or the apps in them, but the speed with which they open, sleep, resume, and shut down those OSes. In some very simple testing, I found that Parallels is notably faster at each of those tasks, but particularly at suspending and resuming. If you need to open and close virtual machines all day, these time savings could add up.
Both virtualization apps are relatively stable. I didn’t have any outright crashes in either, but I did experience some minor oddities in both. In Fusion, for example, entering and exiting full-screen mode causes more flicker and redraws than it does in Parallels. When using Parallels, however, I had some apps fail in Windows (which didn’t happen in Fusion), and there were times where I simply couldn’t type my password at the Linux login prompt.
Virtualizing Windows
Download parallels 12 for mac. While both Fusion and Parallels support literally hundreds of guest operating systems, most users will be employing them to run one or more flavors of Windows. Overall, both do an excellent job.
In earlier reviews, I found that both Parallels and Fusion do well running earlier versions of Windows, so this time I focused on the upcoming Windows 8. For testing purposes, I used the final Windows 8 Developer Preview (which should be identical to the consumer version due out soon). Both handle it well, for the most part. (Note: What used to be called the Metro interface in Win 8 is now usually just Start or, occasionally, the Windows 8 UI.)
For the traditional Windows interface (the Desktop button in Start), both apps run Windows as well as their predecessors. Office applications run without delay, and I never felt as if anything was lagging in either program. The Windows interface itself was fast and fluid, Web browsing was trouble-free, and the two email apps I tried worked fine.
Start apps—the shiny new full-screen apps for Windows 8—also ran fine, as long as I was using them while I had Windows running in each virtualization program’s “windowed” mode (meaning that Windows itself, rather than each Windows app individually, got its own OS X window).
Trying to use Start apps while in Coherence (Parallels) or Unity (Fusion) modes (which give each Windows app its own OS X window) had its challenges. It can be done in Fusion, but only if you run one Start application at a time. If you launch another, it replaces the currently running app.
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Active2 years, 10 months ago
I use Parallels on my iMac and Macbook Pro. It seems to run fine on my iMac but kind of causes my MBP to become a little sluggish and fans to get pegged. I was speaking with someone that runs several VMWare VMs on their Macbook without any problems at all. They mentioned my MBP should have more than enough resources to handle several VMs.
Does VMWare generally perform outstandingly better than Parallels on Macs?
Here are my machine specs (both running OS X 10.10.3):
https://clevernic643.weebly.com/blog/parallels-for-mac-data-file. iMac3.2 Ghz Intel Core i516GB DDR3 RAMNVIDIA GeForce GT 755M 1024 RAM500GB SSD w/25GB free spaceVM is allocated 2GB of RAM
Macbook Pro2.7 Ghz Intel Core i716GB DDR3 RAMIntel HD Graphics 4000 1024 RAM500GB SSD w/47GB free spaceVM is allocated 2GB of RAM
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2 Answers
Parallels on Mac has a better performance. It integrates with OS X in a way which is not possible with VMware. I am using parallels with multiple VMs without any problems or sluggishness. Parallels for mac restore. I have allocated 3 GB RAM to each VM. Check how many CPU cores you have allocated to your VM.
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I have run both VMWare & Parallels on 11' MacBook Airs - and on my current 12' MacBook.
(with 2, 4, then 8gb). Then only performance problem I have had - which is ongoing - is when I switch to retina mode in the VM (on my 12').
This is substantially slower - especially on Parallels - often locking up for 5-10 seconds. I don't know if this is a driver thing - or if retina displays just require a lot more horsepower which lower end macs (and even higher end laptops) just don't have.
I may try a new high-end MacBook Pro to see if this fixes it.
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