Comments on: Parallels Desktop 4 vs. VMware Fusion 2: The Web Worker Angle

By: Darren

Darren — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 01:48:02 +0000

I was amazed at how much faster Sun’s VirtualBox is compared to Parallels and it’s free. I regret paying for my Parallels license now as I never use it.

By: Dave

Dave — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 17:44:11 +0000

I have a question. I have a Mac Book Pro with partition running an OEM version of XP. I tried Parallels and, once installed and run, I can no longer boot into XP. SO I must only run Windows via Parallels. And Parallels support was really unhelpful. I want to be able to do both, boot into XP directly and through the virtual machine. WOUld Fusion enable me to do that?

Thanks.

By: Mac

Mac — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 19:55:37 +0000

I am due for a new PC and would really like to get an Imac. But the missing link is Parallels or Fusion being able to fill the gap so that I can continue to use the apps that are PC only. The lack of support from either company means that this is not ready for prime time and still is in the “bleeding edge” stage.

By: bo zhong

bo zhong — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 13:59:14 +0000

Having tried both fusion and parallels 3 and 4, for basic stuff like excel, word, surfing the internet, plus some unique stuff [updating using a usb device for datacards], speed is not noticeable between the two [maybe fusion is a bit faster]. However, usb connectivity is *much* better with fusion. BUT what makes fusion *much better* for my institution is customer support–parallels customer support is non-existent! You have to purchase each upgrade, and pay *again* if you malware or whatever crashes your machine and you need to download the program again. As well, several emails to support went totally unanswered.
So performance-wise, advantage to fusion, particularly if you use usb peripherals; with respect to customer service, parallels gets an F.

By: Testing IE on a Mac | Chad Things

Testing IE on a Mac | Chad Things — Wed, 06 May 2009 17:14:04 +0000

[...] Differences: Both are very similar, Parallels 15% faster than Fusion (src), Fusion better (src2, src3) [...]

By: Jack

Jack — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 23:32:29 +0000

I just upgraded from Parallels desktop v2 to 4 this afternoon. The upgrade process was a little scary since it needed to convert my Disk Image files from the old to the new format. The converter reported that the image failed to convert, three times! (@ 25%, 50% and 75% completion.) Each time I installed the Parallels Tools from the menu (“Parallels Tools” are Windows device drivers for the emulated hardware) and the progress bar would jump ahead 5-10% then slow to a crawl for a half hour before finally stopping and reporting the aforementioned error. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Conversion of my 15GB drive image took about an hour. Final result? Everything’s working, though WinXP is demanding I ‘reauthorize’ it since it believes it’s running on new hardware.

Graphics performance seems better on my original white Macbook (2ghz, 2GB Ram). I’ve not run any timed tests, but in general useage application launch times & runtimes feel about the same. (I use XP for software development, running Visual Studio 2008 & Oracle 10g)

Gotta agree with Rick, support from both Parallels and VMWare leaves much to be desired.

Why did I choose Parallels over VMWare? Feature-wise, it’s about the same as Fusion. In the end it came down to one thing: Familiarity. I’ve been using Parallels Desktop for over a year and it feels comfortable. Wish I had a better reason than that.

By: RDW

RDW — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 15:32:59 +0000

Well, as a new mac user, I downloaded both the trial versions of Fusion 2.0 and Parallels 4.0.

I have to say that I prefer Paralles much better than Fusion. They both were easy to install and get Windows installed on the macbook Pro, but Parallels seemed to work the best for me. Still getting used to the mac system, but right now, still like Windows better.

By: worker

worker — Tue, 16 Dec 2008 12:32:40 +0000

Guys,

Before writing a shuch review please learn the documentation and applications itself. Both applications have Preferences & Settings where you can specify many options. Just try and you will see the truth.

Good look!

By: The potential of a Cloud OS. « stone city

The potential of a Cloud OS. « stone city — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 01:03:25 +0000

[...] a freelancer, I have little cause to ever open Microsoft’s Office suite, unless I want to see how it performs in a new OS [...]

By: Rick

Rick — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 03:52:46 +0000

On the support side, I think the “penny is dropping” (like a ton a bricks on my head, anyway).

NEITHER VMWare or Parallels provides real support. VMWare gives you “free web access for 30 days” and Parallels gives you, if I remember correctly, some limited web contact, but points you to their fora, etc.

They both want to sell you their “per incidence” support (taking a page from Mother Microsoft…)

I had HORRIBLE time with Parallels: 3.0 wouldn’t launch in my OS X Leopard, and during install requested “address for ethernet networking card”. To some this may have been the equivalent of asking my name, but to me, I pored through the manual and came up blank. I solicited support from Parallels website, and NEVER HEARD BACK. Of course, they don’t provide an email address in the web support function (nor a “CC” line), so I have no copy of my request.

Time passed, I focused on other things, and when I finally revisited the issue, I did find a Customer Service number to call (bluffing my way past the requests for my “support license”). I was told to upgrade to 4.0 and all problems likely solved… but they only gave me a “trial” activation key. (I learned it was only a trial AFTER I installed Windows XP, so now, I have my “single user” licensed XP sitting on a virtual machine I can’t access.)(They were offering a “free upgrade to 4.0 for 3.0 users” but only if you bought your [defective?] copy of 3.0 after a certain date.)

So, it was “pay us again if you want to run the program you bought” or…

I’m going to try (as in trial) VMWare, but I’m more than anxious that their support is using the same “buyer beware” [bef***ked?] model.

Has the world simply capitulated to software sellers? (Ever try to buy a non-Mac computer without Windows installed? I was going to simply go buy a machine and upload Windows XP, but silly me, I could find no such thing…)