Windows on Mac Q&A - Updated August 16, 2008

Parallels Desktop® for Mac is the fastest, easiest, and most powerful application for running Windows® on a Mac®—without rebooting. Brought to you by the world-class developers of the #1-rated Mac virtualization software. Note: It is not recommended that existing Parallels Desktop® for Mac users move to Parallels Desktop App Store Edition. Nov 14, 2018 - Like VMWare Fusion and VirtualBox, Parallels Desktop allows you to create a 'virtual machine' (VM) that runs Windows within macOS itself, and you can either run the VM within a window on the Mac desktop, or devote the entire screen to Windows if you prefer (while still using Cmd-Tab to quickly switch back to your Mac. VMware Fusion; Run multiple OSes at the same time without rebooting: Intel only: Copy and paste between OSes: Share files between Windows and Mac: Mass deployment package: Virtual TPM. Parallels Desktop All the VMware Fusion benefits PLUS: Download and install Windows 10 with a single click. One-click download of Ubuntu, Fedora, CentOS., Mint. Both Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion deliver on the core goal of allowing Macintosh users to run Windows applications without needing to reboot their computers. The biggest difference between. See how Fusion 12 compares to Parallels Desktop: Parallels Desktop 15 Pro: Value; License cost for 3 personal devices, including Windows and Linux (via Workstation) $149.00 Retail, or $89.40 with discount, Perpetual License: $199.00 Retail, or $119.40 with discount, Perpetual License: $239.97 / Year Subscription license: Support; Maximum VM.

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What is VMWare Fusion? How does VMWare Fusion compare to Parallels Desktop for Mac?

This Q&A was 'archived' on August 16, 2008 and provides general information about VMWare Fusion and comparison to Parallels Desktop for Mac at the time it was released.

For more recent comparison of the two programs, please refer to 'How does the performance of Parallels Desktop for Mac 5 compare to VMWare Fusion 3? How does the performance compare for productivity applications? How does it compare for games?'

First announced on August 7, 2006, released in a limited beta version on or around November 3, 2006, released as a public beta on December 21, 2006, and shipped as a 'final' product on August 6, 2007, Fusion is VMWare's virtualization solution that allows one to run other operating systems 'inside' or 'alongside' MacOS X. In much the same way as Parallels Desktop for Mac, VMWare states that Fusion provides:

The ability to simultaneously run any PC OS -- Windows, Linux, NetWare and others -- on Mac OS X. Switch between operating systems by easily tabbing between applications and share data between the two operating systems by dragging and dropping files on the fly -- all without needing to reboot. What's more, you can create virtual machines and run them on other VMware products or run any VMware virtual machine on your Mac.

Leaked memos regarding the then forthcoming VMWare Fusion mostly showed features already provided by the shipping Parallels Desktop for Mac, but of particular interest to many, VMWare also promised the following:

• The ability to assign more than one processor, or more than one processor core (when available), to the program to improve performance.
• Access to physical devices from within VMWare, such as 'CD-ROM drives, video cameras, iPods, printers, and high-speed disks'.
• Support for USB 2.0 devices.
• The ability to drag and drop files between MacOS X and the guest operating system running within VMWare Fusion.

When the public beta was released VMWare listed the same features officially on the company website.

On November 29, 2006, when this Q&A was first published, EveryMac.com noted that Parallels Desktop for Mac used a single core on a dual core Mac, did not provide direct access to the physical CD/DVD-ROM drive, did not provide support for devices that require USB 2.0, and required users to share files using Parallels Tools, which is convenient, but not quite as convenient as drag and drop.

However, EveryMac.com also remarked that it was a safe bet that the programmers at Parallels were hard at work adding most, if not all, of the features that VMWare promised to the next release of Desktop for Mac. Sure enough, two days later, Parallels unveiled beta build 3036, with the ability to 'drag and drop' files between MacOS X and Windows, the ability to boot from a Boot Camp partition, a slick 'coherency' feature to 'show Windows applications as if they were Mac ones', improved graphics performance, and a slew of other improvements.

On December 21, 2006, Parallels released another beta that added support for many USB 2.0 devices, CD burning, and Boot Camp partition support, and a few days after that (December 29, 2006), released 'Beta 3' (Build 3106) with better Boot Camp and USB 2.0 support, an improved version of Transporter that made it possible to 'migrate your real Windows PC, or existing VMware or Virtual PC VMs to Parallels virtual machines', a new interface, and more.

When this Q&A was 'archived' on August 16, 2008, VMWare Fusion notably supported the ability to assign more than one processor or core to an application and Parallels Desktop for Mac did not, with the next version promised to do so, but otherwise both products are similar, high-quality and do the job of running Windows 'alongside' MacOS X admirably.

In a wonderfully in-depth comparison that should be read in its entirety, the always excellent MacTechfound:

If you want a virtualization product (that allows you to run Windows alongside Mac OS X), and you want the best performance for the types of things that we tested, then clearly you need to run XP and not Vista. Furthermore, in our tests, both VMware Fusion and Parallels performed well, and were a good user experience. That said, Parallels was somewhat faster in general than VMware Fusion for XP.

If you want the best virtualization performance for Vista, then VMware Fusion is your choice. And, if you want to keep your Mac OS X and Windows environments completely separate, VMware Fusion's design may be your better choice (And, although we didn't test it, we would expect VMware Fusion to have better multi-processor support if you really have an application that is designed to take advantage of it [other tests confirm this]). If your goal is tight integration between one or more Windows applications and Mac OS X, Parallels is the clear winner when running either XP or Vista. And, as we said before, if you want the best XP performance with the types of applications tested here, Parallels is not only faster than VMware Fusion, but it's faster than Boot Camp on average for the applications that we tested.

Ultimately, Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMWare Fusion will continue to be improved at a rapid rate and each is available to download to try for free and you can decide which program you prefer. Site sponsor Other World Computing sells the latest versions of Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMWare Fusion.

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Parallels Or Vmware Fusion

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There are two big names in the virtual machine software industry who have both developed high-class, consumer-friendly virtual machine monitor apps and as such are competing directly against one another. These two are Parallels Inc. and Dell’s subsidiary VMware Inc, with the first to launch its software being Parallels in 2006, followed by VMware a year later.

Parallels Desktop Vs Vmware Fusion

Sold at the same price point in the U.S., both Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion pack in tons of features that make deploying and managing virtual machines a piece of cake – even for rookie computer users. If they’re both on the top of their separate games, then, how can you even choose between the two?

Parallels Desktop

If the secondary platform you'll be using on the Mac is Windows, then Parallels Desktop will streamline its deployment. Thanks to its convenient one-click install option, users can just instruct the app to download a legitimate copy of Windows from Microsoft.

Vmware Fusion Free

While both hypervisors do their job well, what makes the difference between Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion are the corresponding feature sets that they each pack. For example, with Parallels the guest operating system integration level goes as deep as having a button in Safari to open a specific website in Internet Explorer and a “Call with iPhone” option when using the Windows browser.

Parallels Desktop Downloading Windows 10

Shared Folders

App Customization Options

Running two operating systems on the same computer will obviously have an impact on system resources, but Parallels Desktop offers the option to optimize energy saving settings for more personally tailored performance. Parallels will also pause the virtual machine if it notices that no apps are running. But it is in the performance where Parallels really shines, with a noticeably speedy boot up time when launching Windows. Downsides include the Windows app appearing in the dock as an app folder and Coherence mode in need of some design tweaking.

VMware Fusion

While it doesn't have the one-click Windows install option of Parallels’ software, VMware Fusion is a trustable hypervisor for a wide number of guest operating systems. Running this VMM will streamline the integration level of the guest operating system at a very early stage. Compared to its main competitor, VMware's isolated or seamless integration of the secondary OS is far more simplified and automated.

When it comes to performance, VMware Fusion feels just as quick; sometimes the reaction time is faster than Parallels' but the boot times matched that of its rival. It lacks the energy saving settings of Parallels Desktop, however, although it does also pause the virtual machine when it detects a period of zero activity.

Select Operating System

Parallels Desktop Vs Vmware Fusion Gaming

Choose Windows Firmware

Enable Shared Folders

Parallels Desktop Vs Vmware Fusion 2019

When it comes to virtual machines, though, their ability to take snapshots of the guest operating system is one of the most convenient features, making troubleshooting much easier. Unfortunately, this is where VMware Fusion falters, since it doesn’t support automated snapshots as Parallels Desktop does and, therefore, means users are unable to restore their virtual machines without losing any data.

Conclusion

The heavy load of features makes choosing between these two virtual machine software packages a hard task since both have the same $79.99 price tag in the U.S. What makes the difference, though, is the pricing strategy that the two companies follow.

Parallels Desktop is available as a subscription, which means that users will always get the latest software and features, but the license is on a per computer basis. The lifetime license option is priced higher at $99.99.

VMware Fusion's pricing strategy is a bit different, just like its feature set. The company behind the software charges users for a lifetime license, as well as offering an upgrade at a discounted price. However, it is worth noting that this license is per user, so you can install VMware Fusion on all your personal devices.

Both virtual machines are available with a free trial, the only difference between the two being that Parallels Desktop provides a 14-day trial and a 30-day money-back guarantee, while VMware Fusion can be tested for 30 days before you are prompted to buy a license.