parallels Parallels Desktop 7

[UncleSpellbinder]

I just love Parallels Desktop 7. I'm having a blast. I already had Windows 7 installed using Bootcamp. But now (having directed Parallels to use the Bootcamp partition), i can use a couple apps I really miss from Windows (foobar2000 and Tag & Rename) while still running Mac. Having used VMWare Fusion in the past, i gotta say Parallels is so much quicker and ridiculously seamless.

Now I'm also just getting started testing the developer preview of Windows 8. Also checking out Ubuntu 11.10 and Fedora 15

[.Neo]

Okay.

[Xtreme $niper]

I still don't understand how people are saying that their installation of Windows 7 on Parallels is noticeably faster than on VMWare Fusion...

Are you comparing an old bloated down installation to a fresh clean one?

I'm running Win 7 on VMWare Fusion with a bunch of development tools and servers and it feels like a powerful native machine. I just don't get it.

[neufuse Veteran]

sounds more like a product ad to me....

[Brandon H Supervisor]

I use VMWare Fusion mainly because I can then take my VMs and run them on windows machines as well, comes in big handy for college

I have 1 gripe about VMWare Fusion 4 though, the fact that for some reason it has been very unstable when running VMs from an external since 4 was released

I tested out Parallels and I liked it but I really needed the multi-platform compatibility. I'd use VirtualBox but my school doesn't use it (well I still use VirtualBox as well for its hardware acceleration on Linux guests)

[UncleSpellbinder]

sounds more like a product ad to me....

Just a happy user spouting off his happiness. Nothing more.

[.Neo]

I still don't understand how people are saying that their installation of Windows 7 on Parallels is noticeably faster than on VMWare Fusion...

I've never noticed much of a difference. I do know on the other hand that Parallels is what some call a "dirty app" because it relies on code injection (like the infamous Application Enhancer) which can cause system-wide instabilities. Not sure if that's still the case today.

[Xtreme $niper]

I've never noticed much of a difference. I do know on the other hand that Parallels is what some call a "dirty app" because it relies on code injection (like the infamous Application Enhancer) which can cause system-wide instabilities. Not sure if that's still the case today.

Yeah, I remember you mentioning that before. I have no idea if it's still like that either.

[Bad Boy Nibbler]

I still don't understand how people are saying that their installation of Windows 7 on Parallels is noticeably faster than on VMWare Fusion...

Are you comparing an old bloated down installation to a fresh clean one?

I'm running Win 7 on VMWare Fusion with a bunch of development tools and servers and it feels like a powerful native machine. I just don't get it.

people are probley refering to this

http://www.mactech.com/2011/11/01/mactech-labs-virtualization-benchmarks-fall-2011

Though don't know how true it is i won't touch Parallels with a ten foot pole untill it becomes a self-contained application (look at Parallels and all the crap it installs all over the place). people have had issues with slow startup times and everything

though i be more comfortable with vmware in a cross platform setting

[Miuku.]

All the speed in the world won't do you much good when you take into consideration that if you aren't simply running Windows but need more than that. For example in my "previous life" I used to run Solaris, FreeBSD, various Linux distributions as well as older platforms (Yes, people still use pre-98 in some really, really old installations, I'm not joking either) and Parallels simply doesn't do it. It simply doesn't work or has unpredictable unstable behaviour.

It won't run a variety of different OS and/or peculiar setups while Fusion handles them gracefully.

[Xtreme $niper]

Hmm, thanks for the link.

So then it sounds like the VMWare vs Parallels debate kind of mirrors the same argument in the SSD field between Intel vs OCZ (and other vendors). Do you go for sheer performance above all else? Or do you go with the more stable, reliable approach at the cost of some performance?

I think VMWare Fusion suits me just fine. I guess I'm lucky my development work doesn't involve 3D rendering.