Parallels or Fusion??

[grampa dan]

We all have our favorite operating systems and programs. I hope this doesn't become a debate about that.

For us it makes sense to switch to a Mac in the coming weeks. I just feel comfortable after doing tons of research and using my Macbook Pro for the last two years. I'm ready to go totally to the 'other side'.

But I still need Windows to run my EnRoute. So far I've been using Boot Camp but this past weekend while teaching at an EnRoute workshop I see the need to run windows within OSX seamlessly. It would allow me to switch in an instant without rebooting. Doing so would be a LOT easier - especially when using a large screen or projector.

Anybody out there with experience in Parallels or Fusion or better yet with both??? They are priced reasonably and seem to work about the same... but I'd love to hear from someone with hands-on experience.

Thanks!

-grampa dan

 

[CL Graphics]

I use parallels to run flexi. Only problem I have is with the mac not finding shared folders on the other 2 pc I have when parallels is running. Not sure if it is a parallels issue or something else. Maybe I just dont have something set up right.

 

[Mainframe]

I use parallels, man this is a nice program! Windows runs on my Mac like another program! I can do anything while I print-awesome! ps I never used the other-also I have 4 gigs of ram, works well that way

 

[rfulford]

It has been a year since I compared the two. For me VM Ware Fusion came out on top. Here were the top reasons for me.

1 - Fusion allows virtual disks to scale automatically. You do not have to allocate a set size for the disk image or resize it later. You simply set a cap size for the virtual disk.

2 - Unity - This neat feature allows you to run a specific programs from your virtual disk within a mac window. Parallels now has this feature. Coherence I believe its called.

3 - Free VMWare player for windows. If the need arises, you can play a vmware image in windows with the free player. This is a nice way to create demo installs for certain applications. Licensing concerns for windows and your software can be very shady obviously.

4 - The large number of virtual appliances available on the VMWare site. I like to geek out and check out the latest linux distro. VMWare has a very nice collection of virtual machines.

5 - Finally, I felt that VM Ware was the more robust product. . There is a large movement towards virtualization that I find interesting. There are a number of IT professionals turning to virtual machines to simplify installs and shorten time to rebuild or upgrade systems. VMWare dominates in this area whereas Parallels still strikes me mainly as a product to run windows on your Mac.