VMware vs Parallels vs Bootcamp: tested

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If you're wondering which method of running Windows apps is fastest, CNET has run some tests and it looks like the upstart, VMware Fusion, has beaten Parallels, but Bootcamp is obviously still the best.

Here's the story with test results:
http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9760910-1.html
 
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Wow, the performance gap is MASSIVE. I figured maybe a couple of seconds here, a couple frame there, but nowhere close to what I saw on those benchmarks.

Even though Parallels works fine for me, I'm gonna have to give Fusion a try now
 
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Interesting.

I only use Parallels for MS Money, nothing else, so dual core speed is not an issue. However if it was, based on this, I might switch to VM Fusion.

Crossover is not reliable enough for me - I really wish iBank would get onto version 3.0 and allow downloads from banks, because then I could dump my windows installation.
 
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I tried using the demo of Parallels but it was not very stable, which is a shame as I wanted to support them more than VMware as they were a new company.

But VMware also seems a lot faster and many of the links I've read seem to agree (although it's not 100% VMware's way).

http://macmegasite.com/node/3343

http://www.designtalkboard.com/reviews/parallels_vs_vmware.php

http://logicalvue.com/blog/2007/06/shootout-parallels-desktop-vs-vmware-fusion/

Parallels seems to have more features, but, I've decided to go with VMware as I think that they will probably add those features in version 2 or something. Here's hoping. :)
 
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Parallels acted unstable on my system, so I tried VMWare Fusion. Not only does it run non-Windows OSes much better, it actually hardly ever crashes!
 
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I was messing around with the VMware Fusion trial which is available from their website. I enjoyed it but when I didn't have it open it felt like my computer slowed down greatly. I uninstalled it and everything was back to normal then. Maybe I was just imagining it or something.
 
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I was messing around with the VMware Fusion trial which is available from their website. I enjoyed it but when I didn't have it open it felt like my computer slowed down greatly. I uninstalled it and everything was back to normal then. Maybe I was just imagining it or something.

All virtual machine servers install extra background services for things such as NAT networking and virtual disk managers, so that is understandable.
 
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What a crappy test. They've got all the resources, yet they perform just a few tests. Makes it seem almost like they were paid to make Fusion win...
 
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i boosted my macbook memory to 2gig and had a noticeable improvement in performance with fusion. have had no problems at all and use it daily for work.
 
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I'm running parallels and haven't had any problems with it. Might have to check out VMWare.
 
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Sorry for the double post, but I have a quick question.

Anyone know if it's possible to transfer my current Virtual Machine in Parallels to VMWare Fusion?
 
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All virtual machine servers install extra background services for things such as NAT networking and virtual disk managers, so that is understandable.

Yeah that is probably why. I really liked and enjoyed VMware Fusion though.
 
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Codeweaver seems to be what I wanted to get rid of windows yet run the windows apps like Ymessenger, MS Money etc.... Surely gonna try
 
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What a crappy test. They've got all the resources, yet they perform just a few tests. Makes it seem almost like they were paid to make Fusion win...

Well, if one program only accesses one core and the other accesses both, it'll be tough to find a test that will show Parallels working better than Fusion. I think if they did any more testing, it would just be more of the same.
 
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What a crappy test. They've got all the resources, yet they perform just a few tests. Makes it seem almost like they were paid to make Fusion win...

agreed, iirc, in Fusion, it defaults to single core, and you can tell it how many cores to use... so why didn't they simple test Fusion twice? single core and multicore.

like fleurya says though, doesn't matter how many more tests they run, Fusion will win purely because it is a single core vs multi core test. and for that reason alone, that test and many others are just information on performance on single and multi core, until they test Fusion using a single core or Parallels release a multi core version, the tests mean squat as a comparison between the two.

what people must also remember, by giving Fusion access to both cores, OSX could potentially suffer far greater than if you were running Parallels or limiting Fusion to a single core, obviously depends on what you are doing on both OS's.

at the end of the day, each to their own :) the performance of Parallels is more than adequate for me, and aesthetically I prefer Parallels over Fusion, and Smart Select is also a clincher for me :) forget what the tests say, just use what you are happy with ;)
 
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Isn't the default installation of VMware set to run in single core?

The 2nd link that I posted above claims that they didn't notice any siginificant difference in tests between using 1 or 2 processors. Admittedly their tests seemed to be specifically aimed at graphic design software, so it's hard to know if that would apply across the board.
 

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