Parallels or VMWare Fusion?

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Looking to run XP and would like suggestion or comments on options:

Bootcamp - Native only allows XP or OS-X to be running.

Parallels vs. WMWare Fusion - Any feelback or comments which is better?
 
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I honestly don't know much about VMWare, it looks like works similarly like Parallels. But I love Parallels all the way.

From my MacBook I've an external Monitor and One Monitor is running Win XP the other is Running OS X and it works flawlessly, with no issues what so ever not even skipping a beat.

Parallels Rocks.
 

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From my MacBook I've an external Monitor and One Monitor is running Win XP the other is Running OS X and it works flawlessly, with no issues what so ever not even skipping a beat.

Parallels Rocks.

Pretty cool, guess I should go ahead and plunk down the money for Parallels instead of dual booting.

When I first tried Parallels there was no support for the DVD drive - have they implemented this in the latest version?
 
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I have not tried Parallels so I can't comment on it, but VMware Fusion works awesome for me! I installed and ran it with no issues. Works great on my 2Ghz MacBook with 1GB of ram.

I then uninstalled it, installed Bootcamp, and then reinstalled VMware. VMware will work with your previously installed Bootcamp partition. And it works great! I figured since I have to install WinXP, I might as well put it in a Bootcamp partition in case I ever want to boot into XP for finicky apps or to play a game!

VMware has my vote. If you pre-order now during the beta, it's only $39.99. I'll be ordering it!
 
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I like bootcamp because I like having every resource available when I am in either OS X or XP

I will definitely take a look at VMWare if only because of how great they have been for me at work...looking forward to their IPO
 
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Don't forget about Virtual Box too. It currently is on it's first beta but is really solid and free. I use VMware Fusion (beta 4 currently) and I have had a good experience running various versions of Windows and Linux. Good luck!
 
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I've found VMWare Fusion Beta to be more reliable than Parallels, but this seems to vary a lot for different people. Parallels crashes repeatedly when running installers for many of my Apps (MapInfo Map-X, Civilization II), whereas VMWare has performed flawlessly so far. VMWare also feels a bit more polished than Parallels.
 
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I run ubuntu in VMware fusion, and soon XP. I think Ubuntu is much faster than in parallels.
 
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I have Ubuntu under Fusion too - Parallels wouldn't even install it.
 
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I have Ubuntu under Fusion too - Parallels wouldn't even install it.

Ok it would install on mine, but i could not get more than 1024 x 756 :p
 
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Just a quick question. I couldn't find the answer on vmware's site. Does VMware fusion use the bootcamp partition like parallels does?
 
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Just a quick question. I couldn't find the answer on vmware's site. Does VMware fusion use the bootcamp partition like parallels does?
yes it can.

I own both Parallels 3.0 and Fusion and I don't even have Parallels loaded on my MBP any more. Fusion is significantly faster, better implementation of their Unity (vs. Parallel's coherence mode), and Fusion didn't break anything (Parallels broke the Cisco VPN client). If the Fusion BETA is this much better than the Parallels released version, I can't wait to see the final released Fusion.

I did download Virtual Box this weekend to give it a try but I haven't yet, I think they are going to have a hard time competing against VMWare's Fusion.
 
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I've been running Fusion for some time. I've installed XP and various flavors of Linux (Ubuntu 32 & 64 bit versions, Fedora 7 32 & 64 bit versions, PCLinuxOS & openSUSE). The only problem I remember having was with openSUSE connecting to the network, but it may have been something I did wrong.

The 64 bit versions of Linux FLY on Fusion! XP runs faster on Fusion (Mac Pro giving VM 1 gig ram and 2 virtual processors) than it did on my stand-alone peecee.
 
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I've been running Fusion for some time. I've installed XP and various flavors of Linux (Ubuntu 32 & 64 bit versions, Fedora 7 32 & 64 bit versions, PCLinuxOS & openSUSE).

Did you know that PCLinuxOS runs great without using any conversion programs? Just boot from disk and it works great! I have played with it a few times since it was my favorite OS before Mac.
 
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I heard that Linux distros like Ubuntu had issues with installation on Parallels so I opted for VMWare.

Being new to the Mac I was not too sure what to expect but it runs very well.

I have a copy of Windows XP Pro x64, Windows 2003 Standard Edition and a x64 install of Ubuntu. They all run very well for general tasks (I have not tried any graphic intense apps like gaming, I mainly use it for Visual Studio and browser testing).

I loved the addons that came with VMWare that allowed you to easily transfer files between OS X and Windows.

The Unity feature is great as it looks like you are running windows apps in OS X.

The ability to drag and drop files between OS X and windows is also cool.

The ability to auto-resize the desktop/window is great (I use windows based VM apps at work and this does not always work so well with those).

Full screen runs well for both Linux and Windows.

The only issue I have is getting some of the features that VMWare has for windows to work with Linux. For some reason I installed the extras for Linux but I still can't access OS X folders (I currently have the version before the RC release installed and I am not sure if its me or a strange bug) and I don't think Unity works with Linux either although I have not tried this.

I have a 2.0GHz Core 2 Duo Mac with 2GB of RAM and the OS's run without any noticable slow down to me.

All in all it works out great.
 
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VMWare also do a Windows app that you can run in a Parallels VM to create a Fusion hard disk image, so I didn't have to reinstall everything.
 
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I've been running Fusion for some time. I've installed XP and various flavors of Linux (Ubuntu 32 & 64 bit versions, Fedora 7 32 & 64 bit versions, PCLinuxOS & openSUSE). The only problem I remember having was with openSUSE connecting to the network, but it may have been something I did wrong.

The 64 bit versions of Linux FLY on Fusion! XP runs faster on Fusion (Mac Pro giving VM 1 gig ram and 2 virtual processors) than it did on my stand-alone peecee.

You need to install VMWARE Tools
 
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I've installed XP and OpenSuSE on Parallels, and am pleased with the performance. I only load XP for MS Money and watching the occasional WM11 only video.

I've had no crashes at all. I am interested in Fusion though, so might check it out.
 
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I used fusion beta to convert to macbook from xp based pc and have not looked back. upgrade to 2gig of memory recommended as it is much faster now. I like the unity feature as I can have my "have to have for work" windows applications right in the dock and launch like native applications.
 
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I'm mostly interested in using Fusion for the small amounts of gaming that I do (SimCity 4 for work and C&C Red Alert for fun, plus a few extras for spice). I've working off of a MBP 2.16 GHZ with 1GB of memory. Does anyone think that I would have any problems. I currently have bootcamp installed and that works fine for the most part but since most of my gaming time is done in flights of fancy, I'd really like to be able run those games inside of OS X.

The point I am making is that with the $100 credit I'm getting from my iPhone (Thanks Steve) I will have just enough to purchase Fusion through the Apple Store. Is it worth spending my credit on this program, should I shell out the cash and just get Parallels, or should I suck it up and live with bootcamp as it would be best bet for my in first place?
 

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