Virtual Machine questions

I've searched and I guess I'm a little confusioned by the different threads and product info. I've had my 27" i7 iMac for almost a year and only have a few programs that I need Windows for but my girlfriend wants Windows for her just because that's whats she's familiar with. I only want to use the VM program to transfer files from two 1 terabyte hard drives into one and use Windows Media for ripping songs. I was at the Apple store yesterday and suggested Parallels but I think they did because its $20 more than Fusion. I only need it for a couple programs other than Windows Media and Quicken and I could really just use my laptop for them. When I first bought my iMac I was just dropping folders into folders with the same name and didn't realize that when it said replace it actually meant replace and I lost years of photos. So I've been just been letting the two hard drives sit because my laptop isnt as fast as the iMac as far as transfer rates.

I've seen that with Parallels you can run both operating systems at the same time but if I did that and was trying to transfer files in Windows will it combine folders like Windows usually do or will it transfer like Mac OS?

You don't need to pay for VM software. I suggest trying VirtualBox as a free option before paying for anything. I have used VirtualBox on Linux and Mac for years and it's great software. It's almost as good as Fusion. I'm not a big fan of Parallels personally but it's also pretty good. I like Fusion and VirtualBox more. File transfers are easier in Fusion because it supports drag and drop between the host and guest. VirtualBox is a little trickier but it does have strong support for shared folders. Hope that helps.

Okay thanks. Just figured I needed one for my girlfriend to run windows on the Mac and it look and feel like it does on our Dell laptop. I'll try out the VirtualBox.