Virtual Machines for Mac

[s6nculve]

What is the best virtual machine for my macbook pro? Right now I am looking at Parallels 5 and VMware Fusion 3.

 

[McBie]

Welcome ...
You will get different views on this I'm sure.
Both are good.

Have you searched this forum ... there are several threads that discuss this very topic.

Cheers ... McBie

 

[s6nculve]

No, I am new to this site. I was sure there was, I just thought they were old so I would start a new one. Thank you though.

 

[chscag]

Both Parallels and Fusion have trial versions which you can download and test them for yourself before purchasing. If you like either one, just pay for it and they'll send you a registration number via email.

Also, don't overlook the free VirtualBox 3.1.2 from Sun Microsystems. It's not as full frilled as Parallels or Fusion, but it works well and may suffice for you.

Go here to download VirtualBox.

Regards.

 

[asif10]

VirtualBox from Sun, and it's Free.

I have been using it for over a year on my mac pro

 

[s6nculve]

VirtualBox from Sun, and it's Free.

I have been using it for over a year on my mac pro

So you have been using VirtualBox for about a year and it handles windows 7 just fine? What programs/applications do you run with VirtualBox?

 

[vansmith]

It would be better to know what you need to run so we can determine the best solution for you (potentially including BootCamp). What kinds of applications do you run?

If you need 3D or heavy resource usage software, BootCamp is a better option. If you don't, virtualization is a great way to run Windows and many other operating systems on your Mac.

 

[Ekim]

Truthfully, VMWare Fusion v3 is probably the most user friendly of the three virtual software applications mentioned. I have personally used Parallels and VMWare Fusion on my mac, and VirtualBox on a Windows system. I like Parallels because it is intense, it is indeed a very solidly built application however can be tricky at times. VMWare is powerful too, dont get my wrong however as with all GUI applications.. the more GUI the less powerful.

Also, if you plan on just using a Microsoft operating system i would suggest using bootcamp rather than a virtualization package.

Cheers!
Ekim