Parallels vs Fusion

[acosmichippo]

i tried out Parallels this week, which worked OK. it was a little finicky, so i decided to give VMware a shot today, and so far i like it much better, although i only just installed it.

what are your esperiences?

[Eragon]

i tried out Parallels this week, which worked OK. it was a little finicky, so i decided to give VMware a shot today, and so far i like it much better, although i only just installed it.

what are your esperiences?

I use Parallels and never tried Fusion. Pretty satisfied with Parallels, especially since they have a fairly active support forum, opportunities for Beta testing new builds. Updates are provided at no additional charge as long as the main version of the software doesn't change (e.g., ver. 3.x.x; all .x.x are free updates).

Here are some links to a review that was done:

http://www.macrumors.com/2007/12/19/boot-camp-vs-parallels-vs-vmware-benchmarks/

http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.24/24.02/VirtualizationBenchmark/

[x999x]

I use VMware Fusion, I find its not as robust with DirectX gaming as Parallels, but surpasses Parallels everywhere else.

If I really need DirectX that bad I'll just hop into bootcamp.

[acosmichippo]

i also just set up an Ubuntu virtual machine... haven't gotten 3D effects working... looks like it's not quite possible.

oh well, still cool.

[patrickj]

I haven't had a chance to try Parallels yet, will soon. Like Fusion a lot though ...

[geordisjd]

i tried out Parallels this week, which worked OK. it was a little finicky, so i decided to give VMware a shot today, and so far i like it much better, although i only just installed it.

what are your esperiences?

I use Parallels and it's been flawless since I got rid of my viruses. I tried VMware too, imported my VM from Parallels with success (at least that's the message I got), but the problem is that winXP will launch and quit in the same breath. So, I'm 100% Parallels again.

[Napoleon_PhoneApart]

How does Boot Camp compare to these two programs?

[Eragon]

Hoe does Boot Camp compare to these two programs?

Boot camp runs natively on the Mac, as opposed to a virtual machine. Although there are some features you can simulate in a virtual machine, Parallels can't support the latest Direct X graphics. For gamers, Boot Camp is the only way to go.

I stayed away from Boot Camp because I would not be able to access my Windows files from the OS X side. With Parallels, I have full access to the files on my Windows partition.

[acosmichippo]

I stayed away from Boot Camp because I would not be able to access my Windows files from the OS X side. With Parallels, I have full access to the files on my Windows partition.

if you format the bootcamp partition as FAT32, you can read/write from OSX.

[Ramesh]

I just switched from Parallels to VMware. I like Fusion much better. It seems to run a lot smoother too.

[acosmichippo]

yeah, that's exactly what I've been finding.

[Lincoln]

I own Fusion, but I've never actually used it. I have a copy of Vista around (my friend's; I did not buy it) so I'll pop it in today and see how I like it.

- John

[chris]

I use VMWare Fusion after doing a bit of research. Both had good reviews, but I thought the edge went to Fusion so I picked that up. Works great for me. After Vista SP1, I know get all of my RAM when I'm in Bootcamp. Previously, it was capped at 2GB.

Now if I could get my Aero effects back, I'd be a happy camper. I think I'm experiencing the enjoyment that is Windows drivers. I think there might be an nVidia driver issue. :angry:


-Chris

[acosmichippo]

aero effects won't work in Parallels or Fusion. Not enough video memory, i think. word around the campfire is both are supposed to have Aero support in the next release.

i've tried vista as a virtual machine, and it's just too much of a hog, so i stick with XP. In bootcamp, vista is fine... especially if you use 64-bit, which is now supported.

[chris]

aero effects won't work in Parallels or Fusion. Not enough video memory, i think. word around the campfire is both are supposed to have Aero support in the next release.

i've tried vista as a virtual machine, and it's just too much of a hog, so i stick with XP. In bootcamp, vista is fine... especially if you use 64-bit, which is now supported.

I had read that about Aero effects, but it's Vista via Bootcamp that I am concerned about. I always had them and they just disappeared. Found a few supposed fixes, but unable to figure it out. Honestly, I'm not in Vista via Bootcamp that often, so haven't spent too much time on it. It is annoying, since that was the primary reason I opted for the Home Premium version.

BTW, those considering Bootcamp/VM Ware should check out eBay for OEM versions of Vista/XP. Good deals can be had....

As a Mac user, I gotta say that I love Vista when compared to XP. I know it gets ripped regularly by PC users, but if your going to the darkside, I'd say go Vista.

[acosmichippo]

ah, i see. your performance score probably got reduced. have you tried to refresh it yet?

if not, try this:
-right click on "computer" and click properties
-under the "System" heading, there's a "Rating" (which is probably 1). Click the link next to it ("windows experience index" or something like that).
-In the new window click "refresh now", and then you should be able to enable aero

ebay does have good deals, but i am quite afraid to buy software on ebay... too many pirated copies. if i'm gonna use a copy, i'll just make it myself. I'd try newegg.com first for OEM. I got XP Media Center edition for $115, i think.

[chris]

ah, i see. your performance score probably got reduced. have you tried to refresh it yet?

if not, try this:
-right click on "computer" and click preferences
-there should be a "performance score" icon there, which is probably 1
-click "refresh", and now you should be able to enable aero

ebay does have good deals, but i am quite afraid to buy software on ebay... too many pirated copies. if i'm gonna use a copy, i'll just make it myself. I'd try newegg.com first for OEM. I got XP Media Center edition for $115, i think.

I'm a solid 5.7.:tounge: Aero isn't even a choice. I downloaded the Windows Upgrade Advisor and it said there was an issue with the video card. The driver is the latest. My next step is to remove the driver and reinstall it.

All this in pursuit of glass-like windows.

Newegg is also very good. With eBay, I opted for a powerseller. Works great and of course I had to call Microsoft to activate in VMWare, since it "looks" like it's installed twice.

One of the restrictions of OEM is that you cannot move to another PC.

[acosmichippo]

aw, that sucks. did you upgrade to the newest bootcamp? I've heard of people having issues with it... don't have any more ideas than what you've already got though.

[acosmichippo]

btw, fusion + dual monitors = sweetness.

http://img.skitch.com/20080503-mfwnyqw826b3du4px6wdyiigqp.jpg

[Eragon]

http://www.macworld.com/article/133509/2008/05/mwvodcast51.html

[acosmichippo]

but windows Classic is so ugly...

[Lincoln]

Now that I've gone Vista running, I'll chime in. My choice is definitely Fusion. Smoother, more features, and a better interface. Parallels just didn't do it for me.

- John

[acosmichippo]

yep, totally.

Which version of Fusion are you using? I'm trying out the beta while i'm not in school. Works pretty well, and has a few interface tweaks which are pretty nice.

[kneshoba]

I use parallels, I like so far, but I only use it to test print drivers on clients networks, other than that I stick with OS X as my primary OS.

[up10ad]

I just installed the new beta for Fusion (over my registered version), and the new one works fantastic. It really is evolving well. If you use Fusion, try the beta, unless you are running mission critical stuff. Mine has had no problems in the several days since I installed the beta.

[up10ad]

New beta 2 is now available, nice improvements. Free download, even for non-paid users.

[acosmichippo]

yeah, i've installed it, but haven't had much of a chance to mess with it yet. I'm hoping they've ironed out some bugs with the latest Ubuntu as well...

[dcom]

I telecommute and my office only supports Windows XP with a Cisco VPN for remote users so I use Fusion on my MacBook Pro and have had no problems with it. I combine it with Expose' and Spaces so all I need to do to switch over to my office net is move the cursor to the upper right corner, Expose then puts up 2 windows and I pick the XP one and I'm back at work. Switching back to the Mac side doesn't disrupt anything and my net connection isn't affected at all. It's the best of both worlds for me.

[up10ad]

The beta 2 has more direct integration with the Mac side of things, or so it says. It has Application Sharing which lets you set any application—whether Windows or Mac—to run any file; Set Windows applications to launch specific file types in your Mac’s shared folders or directly launch Mac applications from inside your virtual machine. You can even set Windows or Mac applications to handle all web, email, and other links by default.

The new Mirrored Folders easily maps special folders on your Mac to their counterparts in your virtual machine. Contents of your Mac “Pictures,” “Documents,” “Music,” and “Desktop” folders automatically show up in your Windows virtual machine as the Windows “My Pictures,” “My Document,” “My Music,” and “Desktop” folders. However, I am having problems with this under Vista. Something may not be set quite right yet.

[ventrj]

I am about to load fusion on my computer and i was wondering if i could install it on a flash drive and run it from there or do i have to load it up on the computer for it to run?

[up10ad]

I am about to load fusion on my computer and i was wondering if i could install it on a flash drive and run it from there or do i have to load it up on the computer for it to run?
I suspect you may have issues running it from a flash drive. Fusion itself interacts intimately with OS-X and the guest OS is created within a virtual drive that is a file on OS-X as well. Placing any of these on a flash probably will not work, but let us know if you try it!

[ventrj]

I tested it out last night and it will not let me. You have to install fusion on the same drive that osx is installed on.

[TarekElsakka]

I tried both and they both suck. Any virtual ones are always horrible. The best way is to boot camp, that's if you play a lot of games on Windows.

[up10ad]

Saying that Fusion sucks is a bit much. It may not be the platform for playing intensive CPU/VPU games, but it is absolutely fine for almost anything else. I can use it with 5 other Spaces active and run Vista doing connections to multiple remote PCs as well as other applications. Horrible? hardly. Fusion on my MBP runs Vista better than on my 3 year old Dell.

[TarekElsakka]

Dell sucks too, lmao. Anyway, I have tried several laptops before, I have had my share of ups and downs with them. The worst laptops I have ever use were HP, the second worst were Dell, and the third worst were Toshiba laptops. My uncle used to work in the Laptops field so I had to test so many laptops. One and the best Windows based laptop I have ever tried is the Alienware Area-51 m17x. Sad enough I couldn't have bought it because there are no people or stores that can fix it if anything happens to it here, I'd have to ship any hardware parts or ship the laptop itself (internationally of course) in order to get it fixed. So I just made it brief and bought the Mbp three months ago.

[acosmichippo]

wow, you need to relax.

[Hondamaker]

Saying that Fusion sucks is a bit much. It may not be the platform for playing intensive CPU/VPU games, but it is absolutely fine for almost anything else. I can use it with 5 other Spaces active and run Vista doing connections to multiple remote PCs as well as other applications. Horrible? hardly. Fusion on my MBP runs Vista better than on my 3 year old Dell.Been using fusion, I like it a lot. I have XP installed via Bootcamp, and Fusion integrates well.

[up10ad]

Anyone else getting Windows 7 today to load on their Fusion/Bootcamp? I am going to give it a try on an older Gateway Vista Ultimate Tablet and then on my MBP under Fusion. They are apparently limiting the number of downloads available, and it is being released at noon PST. I'll post my experiences under Fusion later today.

[TarekElsakka]

Thanks, Rick. I didn't know Windows 7 is out yet. I'm going to give it a try, but using Boot Camp. I hate Parallels, Fusion, and all the other virtual machines.

[patrickj]

I think I'll probably give Windows 7 a go as well ...

[Hondamaker]

Anyone else getting Windows 7 today to load on their Fusion/Bootcamp? I am going to give it a try on an older Gateway Vista Ultimate Tablet and then on my MBP under Fusion. They are apparently limiting the number of downloads available, and it is being released at noon PST. I'll post my experiences under Fusion later today.I can't find a link on MS website, can you post it, Rick?

[dturner]

I can't find a link on MS website, can you post it, Rick?
I think this is it (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx). Hope so.:smile:

[patrickj]

I think this is it (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx). Hope so.:smile:

Thanks - looks like that is probably right - getting lots of 'Server too busy' errors - still trying ...

[Hondamaker]

I think this is it (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx). Hope so.:smile:Thanks, that's it.

[up10ad]

Officially delayed, may or may not show up later tonight. I am watching it here (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx) [/URL] and [URL="http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/"]here (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/evalcenter/dd353205.aspx).

[Hondamaker]

I'm on the website to download, but all it does is show the spinning wheel on the middle of the page.

[Ramesh]

I'm on the website to download, but all it does is show the spinning wheel on the middle of the page.

Try downloading from within Windows.

[Hondamaker]

Try downloading from within Windows.Tried that and it worked, thanks! Getting it now.

[Ramesh]

Tried that and it worked, thanks! Getting it now.

sweet. I have about 4 minutes left.

[Hondamaker]

sweet. I have about 4 minutes left.I still have 30 -- 40 mins left. Let me know how you like it after you install and play with it, ok?

[Ramesh]

I still have 30 -- 40 mins left. Let me know how you like it after you install and play with it, ok?

Ok. I'll be half ass doing it today - I'm watching football and drinking. I'm making the DVD now.

[Eragon]

Ok. I'll be half ass doing it today - I'm watching football and drinking. I'm making the DVD now.

If you're drinking, Ramesh, it may just work!

[Hondamaker]

If you're drinking, Ramesh, it may just work!Ha! Just the opposite for me...Hey, what's new with this version of windows, anyway?

[Ramesh]

If you're drinking, Ramesh, it may just work!

lol. I can't install under bootcamp. OS X only does Fat 16, Windows 7 wants Fat 32.

[Ramesh]

Ok - I am going to install under Fusion - but I only have a bootleg 1.1.1. I'm guessing I would need a newer version?

Rick - how did you install?

[acosmichippo]

aw, ****... you can only download it in windows?

screw that, i'll just torrent it. I have a key, at least.

[Hondamaker]

lol. I can't install under bootcamp. OS X only does Fat 16, Windows 7 wants Fat 32.Doesn't XP install with FAT32 on OSX?

[acosmichippo]

lol. I can't install under bootcamp. OS X only does Fat 16, Windows 7 wants Fat 32.

that shouldn't be an issue. OSX will create a partition, but you should be able to reformat it as fat32 or ntfs while booted to the Windows 7 disc before installation.

[acosmichippo]

lol... as i was installing the IE download manager...

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a393/acosmicfriend/stupidwindows.jpg

[Ramesh]

that shouldn't be an issue. OSX will create a partition, but you should be able to reformat it as fat32 or ntfs while booted to the Windows 7 disc before installation.

Hmmm. I opened up disk utility and I only saw an DOS option, no NTFS...

[acosmichippo]

you won't ever use Disk Utility. You use Boot Camp assistant to create the partition. Then it will tell you to boot to the Windows disc, where you can format it to whatever windows-friendly format you desire.

Actually, Windows 7 can probably only use NTFS. At least that's how Vista is...

[Ramesh]

Did that; but tree was no option to format the partition. I'll have to try again. It simply said it could not install to that partition.

[acosmichippo]

It's kinda hidden in the vista installer, but i don't know how they have it in the w7 installer... i'll give it a shot and let you know if i figure it out...

...my download will probably have to go overnight, though... :(

[acosmichippo]

here...

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/Boot_Camp_Install-Setup.pdf

page 11 details how to format the partition for Vista... maybe it's similar for w7.

[Ramesh]

Got it. Installing now.

[Ramesh]

here...

http://manuals.info.apple.com/en/Boot_Camp_Install-Setup.pdf

page 11 details how to format the partition for Vista... maybe it's similar for w7.

Thanks. Figured it out before I saw this. I was just retarded.

[acosmichippo]

so whaddya think?

i think it's funny how the taskbar is slowly evolving into the mac dock.

[Ramesh]

I noticed that too.

[TarekElsakka]

I was able to install Windows XP on a FAT32 partition using Boot Camp before. But Windows Vista required NTFS only. So, Ramesh, are you saying that it isn't possible to install Windows 7 using Boot Camp yet?

[acosmichippo]

we both have it working just fine.

[TarekElsakka]

Can anyone here please link me to the download link? Thanks.

[Eragon]

Can anyone here please link me to the download link? Thanks.

Try this:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/beta-download.aspx

[Ramesh]

I installed Windows 7 to bootcamp - now do I boot into it now? The only time I was able to access W7 was after the install. If I run bootcamp assistant, I can only delete or install...

[acosmichippo]

hold "option" while turning it on to choose which partition to boot to.

[TarekElsakka]

Try this:

http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windows-7/beta-download.aspx

Thank you very much, I'll try and download it now.

[up10ad]

Well, it is working great for me. My observations:


The dock is ugly, just a plain bar at the bottom of the screen.
It is stable for me on my Gateway Tablet and MBP/Fusion
It seems tolerant of older programs, even if it warns about them prior to install.
It really likes newer video cards.
It does LAN computer sharing MUCH better than Vista, I can easily see and get to all my Macs and PCs
Overall, I am very pleased. It can only get better over the coming months.

[acosmichippo]

I agree with all of that. I noticed the taskbar looks a lot better if you go into its properties and tell it to use small icons... It also works on the side of the screen a lot better than other windows versions.

When I booted for the first time with bootcamp windows7 installed my graphics driver immediately... Without having to use the apple driver installation script on the osx disc.

I also like how quick launch has merged with the whole taskbar.

And the networking icon actually opens when you click on it (which never happens in vista).

[up10ad]

...also, the Sidebar is now gone and widgets float anywhere.

[acosmichippo]

that's cool, i guess. I was never a huge widget fan.

[Hondamaker]

...also, the Sidebar is now gone and widgets float anywhere.Hey, post some screenies!!

[acosmichippo]

standard desktophttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a393/acosmicfriend/Capture.jpg

improved painthttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a393/acosmicfriend/p.jpg



what is really hard to capture are the new options in pop-up menus like pinning an app to the taskbar, the network manager, etc... little interface tweaks that make a huge difference in usability.

[acosmichippo]

i also just installed drivers and software for a guitar recording device that basically also acts as a USB soundcard... surprisingly without any issues.

[TarekElsakka]

I've been trying to install it for two days now but I can't, so I just gave up.

I prefer using Boot Camp to use Windows actually, isn't the maximum video card usage in Parallels and VMWare 64MB? Which sucks in games.

[acosmichippo]

What is preventing it from installing?

[TarekElsakka]

It keeps giving an error at the Expanding Files process. I tried both Boot Camp and Parallels, but it gives the same error. I burned it using two different software and on several blank DVDs, but same error. So I just gave up and installed Windows XP, didn't even go back to Vista.

[acosmichippo]

that sucks... maybe your .iso is corrupt.

[TarekElsakka]

Maybe because I paused it for a long time while downloading? I don't know. But I sure aint going to download another copy, lazy. lol

[up10ad]

Maybe because I paused it for a long time while downloading? I don't know. But I sure aint going to download another copy, lazy. lol
Hey, I understand Tarek, clicking to get it started is a lot of effort. jk ;)

[TarekElsakka]

Hahaha, so true. Not just that, it's because I play an online game called Soldier Front, if I keep the download going, then I am going to lag like hell in the game you know. My clan members need me =/.

[Ramesh]

Windows 7 "dock":

http://i.gizmodo.com/5131933/giz-explains-why-the-windows-7-taskbar-beats-mac-os-xs-dock

[acosmichippo]

Well said. The osx dock has always felt a little foreign to me, but functions like expose help quite a bit.

[TarekElsakka]

I like my Mac OSX's dock, that's one of the few things that I like about it. The other thing is that it doesn't freeze at all, I mean the programs don't keep freezing and giving me the Send/Don't Send error, damn I hate that error in Windows lol. It happens more often in Windows XP though.