VMware VS Parallels on Mac?

Im using Parallels to run windows on my mac.
But I see from a post a lot of you are running vmware.
I was wondering if Im missing something
I was wondering who runs what and why?

Cheers

This should be an Off-topic and interesting thread. Not a general one ( Xojo related ).

I have used VMWare for as long as I can remember, and it works fine for me - doing everything I need it to do; with no noticeable lag.

I use both regularly. I find Parallels is faster for Windows and has better Windows/OS X integration. I find VMWare supports more Linux variants better, can run most .vmdk’s off the Internet, and nice to be able to share VM’s via industry standard mechanisms. I like how VMWare handles encryption and hard disks better as well. Ultimately in Parallels I have my 1 or 2 daily use Windows VM’s and all my testing of various OS’ in Fusion.

Forgot to add that VMWare Fusion handles cloned vm’s better as well. So I’ll build up a base template, say Windows 8.1, then for individual projects just clone the base so I’m not using up as much disk space. Parallels mechanism to do it is not as efficient in my opinion as it ends up being a crazy collection of snapshots.

I used to use VMWare Fusion but these days for the few times that I need Windows to test my Windows app I just use VirtualBox. I suppose it has less features but it’s fast and “feels light” to me and I’ve never once had an issue with it.

Interesting everyone
I do know Parallels is disk hungry.
And the idea of sharing vm clones is very desirable
Might have to buy VMVare and give it a shot
Cheers

Older versions of Parallels used to have that “heavy” feel, I know what you mean. But I’m running Parallels 9 on a 3 year old MBP and I really can’t tell I am not on a PC, other than the keyboard.

I use VMWare as I get “VMs” from ESX and they are in VMWare format and makes it easier. I own both Parallels and VMWare and prefer VMWare these days. Probably as I am more familiar with it.

Virtualbox is a very good alternative to VMware fusion for your Mac IMO.

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

I experienced lots of malfunctionning specific usb devices with parallel
if you use standard devices like printer, mouse, keyboard it’s ok
but when you deal with chip programmers, some usb medical instruments parallels fails to handle them.
most of the times it simply does not work, sometimes you have to unplug-replug the device very often
with vmware there is absolutely no problem with these devices.
for that reason I prefer vmware
apart of that the two are the same for me (the three counting the free virtualbox)

[quote=192039:@Mike Cotrone]Virtualbox is a very good alternative to VMware fusion for your Mac IMO.

https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads[/quote]

I was never able to get Guest additions to work with VirtualBox to have even the most basic disk sharing, copy/paste or drag and drop files. I don’t have time for haphazard free junky things. Either it works right away, or the freeway. I bought VMWare and never looked back. It integrates perfectly with drag and drop both ways (Windows-Mac, Mac-Windows), copy paste both ways, and disk sharing is so simple.

I use it mainly to quickly test different versions of Windows. For ‘real’ Windows tests and development, I use a physical PC. Mac screen with its double buffer and hardware acceleration is too kind to Windows to actually see if an app is correctly optimized for it and does not flicker too much.

Well, I’m a big fan of VirtualBox on PC. It is way ahead of VMWare in terms of emulation speed: I have not had problems with the additions either, nor with the extension packs as long as you get the correct version. Maybe it just does not play so nicely on a Mac. Maybe I should try it under my Snow Kitty itself under VBox. :wink:

To be honest, I use VirtualBox on PC and indeed, Guest Additions work there. For some reason, I do not use that very often. Probably because I tend to use Mac more often.

I am always in favor of VMware because its easy swapping of virtual boxes to other platforms (ESX, PCs etc.)
Parallels might have the better UI than Vmware Fusion.
In my opinion Virtualbox for Mac is far from stable with his Guest Additions.

Hello,

well i don’t know. VirtualBox (with Guest-Additions & Extension-Pack) runs fine on all my Macs here.
Never could get the hang of using VMWare Fusion or Parallels.

Mostly i use VirtualBox and 1 Parallels VM (for Games) the 3D SUPPORT of VirtualBox is not as good (and fast as that of Parallels).

Plus on My Linux PC and on my Windows Installation.

Hi Rene, if so, then this is good news for VirtualBox… I can only report from my experiences with VirtualBox. Of course VirtualBox offers same cross-platform between Linux, Mac and Windows only missing dedicated bare-bone servers like ESX. I found this article as good comparison between them all:

http://www.tekrevue.com/parallels-10-fusion-7-virtualbox-benchmark/

I’ve used VMware Fusion since v1 and have had no trouble with it. I like its clean UI and overall reliability. I have about 37 VMs set up with it. Before that I used Parallels. I occasionally try newer versions of Parallels, but I’ve found no compelling reason to switch since I don’t really use any of the integration features. I like my VMs to be independent from the host OS.

I have also tried Virtual Box in the past, but found it significantly slower and its UI was abysmal.

My graphics tablet didn’t work in VirtualBox, but it worked out of the box in VMWare. Since I only use the graphics tablet instead of a mouse I had to ditch VirtualBox.

Just my two cents:

I used Parallels for several years to run both Windows and older OS X versions.
Sadly I have to say it never ran 100% stable. Especially older OS X versions could crash at times.

For about 2 years I use Fusion for doing the same and never got any crashes both running Windows and older OS X versions.

Also, Parallels update scheme is terrible (read: money pit).