Experiences: Parallels vs Fusion on rMB

[dyn]

On Parallels all runs like a charm , the installation doesn't need any trick for Win 10 and VS 2015.
In VmWare you need to do some workaround to get the Hyper-v emulator up and running and this is so annoying !!!

Then you are doing it wrong as it only requires enabling the hypervisor option in the processors and memory part of the vm settings. That's just checking a checkbox... There's even official (albeit somewhat outdated) info about it (which hints that if you get an error message you need to set 1 more thing).

 

[delfo]

Then you are doing it wrong as it only requires enabling the hypervisor option in the processors and memory part of the vm settings. That's just checking a checkbox... There's even official (albeit somewhat outdated) info about it (which hints that if you get an error message you need to set 1 more thing).

Hi, this is exactly what i mean.
If you must go into an obscure file and set an obscure option on a config file i cannot give it an high value on users experience.
I think that Parallels give a more out-of-the-box experience than Fusion.
PS:
This is the 2nd link that you must read if you want to develop in Fusion
http://creativewebspecialist.co.uk/...ual-studio-android-emulator-on-vmware-fusion/

 

[pacmania1982]

I don't run Parallels, I'm a VMware Fusion guy here.

Haven't had any performance issues. I've run a Windows 7 and Windows 8 VM plus messed around with some Linux VMs and haven't had any issues.

pac

 

[pastrychef]

It has been a long time since I tried Parallels, but when I did try it, I hated it. Parallels tried too hard to integrate the Windows virtual machine in to the OS X host. What I mean is, it changed many of the default apps in OS X to open in Windows. It created an absolute mess on my computer. I don't know what other users' preferences are, but I want my virtual machine as sandboxed as possible from the host.

With Fusion, I didn't experience and of this "over integration" of the two operating systems. The functionality is still there but it is easily turned on and off by clicking on a checkbox or two. With Parallels, it took my hours to clean up the mess it created.

Secondly, I used Parallels with my Bootcamp drive and it installed all sorts of stuff in my Bootcamp drive that made it unstable when I tried to boot in to Windows rather than using it a virtual machine. I ended up restoring from a backup to regain stability. I idon't have any problems with Fusion using my Bootcamp drive.

Perhaps Parallels has addressed these issues by now, I don't know and will never try it again to find out. Testing it once wasted too much of my time. Fusion has worked very well for me for a long time and I don't have any reason to switch.

 

[dyn]

Hi, this is exactly what i mean.
If you must go into an obscure file and set an obscure option on a config file i cannot give it an high value on users experience.

Like I said, then you are doing it wrong. The only thing you need is the Fusion GUI and your mouse. There is no file to edit. What you need to do is set the hypervisor option which is nothing but checking a checkbox. In some cases this might not work and you need to do 1 additional step: select the hyper-v from the list of operating systems. Editing the vmx file is outdated. It stems from a couple of years ago when it was first introduced (we are talking VMware Fusion 5 here).

This is the 2nd link that you must read if you want to develop in Fusion
http://creativewebspecialist.co.uk/...ual-studio-android-emulator-on-vmware-fusion/

Ah you mean you are doing something Microsoft officially does NOT support at all:

Thanks for using our emulator. Our emulator is not officially supported in a nested virtualization environment (like when running under VMWare Fusion).

Apparently enabling the nested vm settings as I've detailed above is all you need to get it running. No tricks, no workarounds, just turning on settings because enabling these will have a certain effect on the system hence why they are disabled by default.

So will this run any better in Parallels? Nope as it is an unsupported feature so one should not expect that it will work properly or even work at all. Also note that nested virtualisation is known to cause issues in quite a lot of cases on all hypervisors. One should NOT rely on these things!

 

[mkelly]

Your biggest problem is going to be finding people who have both.

Most people buy one or the other. Few people can make an honest comparison between the two.

Hi! I have both: VMware 7.1.2 and Parallels 10.2.2. Does that make me a rare VM unicorn? ;-)

My experience:

Parallels is slightly better at running Windows - battery life tends to be a bit better than VMware, and its Retina support is better (auto-adjusts a number of Windows UI elements for a retina display. VMware does similar, but Parallels does it better)

VMware is better at running Linux and other non-Windows VMs.

Parallels ends up costing you more money if you want to stay current - they release new paid-upgrade versions frequently. I also do not care for the ads in Parallels (you occasionally get pop-ups trying to sell you Windows anti-virus products, etc).

So in general, both will do the trick. If you plan to run anything other than Windows, get VMware.

 

[facrat]

With Fusion, I didn't experience and of this "over integration" of the two operating systems. The functionality is still there but it is easily turned on and off by clicking on a checkbox or two. With Parallels, it took my hours to clean up the mess it created.

I'm not sure why you had such problems, as it takes checking only one box under the Security options to completely isolate any Parallels VM from OSX. Done in 10 seconds. Otherwise the Sharing tab allows toggling individual integrations very easily (in both directions).

Despite its quirks, Parallels is a still significantly better performer than Fusion in terms of power & RAM usage & speed (as every benchmark proves). The question is whether you're willing to pay the premium for this better performance - with more frequent license upgrades, and only single-user licenses for Parallels vs shared licences & better value for Fusion.

And currently only the Fusion Technology Preview supports making VMs from Boot Camp on the 12-inch Macbook (with free license until December 2015). Generally I find the Fusion devs much more active and responsive in their user forums, whereas Parallels devs hide completely behind their dreadful level 1 support.

 

[matt2053]

Hi! I have both: VMware 7.1.2 and Parallels 10.2.2. Does that make me a rare VM unicorn? ;-)

Well it did take almost three months to find you!

 

[delfo]

Hi! I have both: VMware 7.1.2 and Parallels 10.2.2. Does that make me a rare VM unicorn? ;-)

No, me too own both products.
Initially (march 2014) i bought Parallels but due to it's poor support to Nested virtualization support and customer support i switch to VMWare.
But with the release of Ver 7.0 VMWare start to have some problem: foreign keyboard support where on VM's machines some keys was not correctly mapped, nested virtualization, poor High DPI screen scale etc.
So the last month i have switched again to Parallels and now all seem better with good OOTB experience great nested virtualization support and correct screen scale on retina display.

 

[yogeewan]

Parallels unfortunately can not yet read the bootcamp partition on the new macbook. VMware however, has fixed this in their technical preview, however, this is a big gap as of now with respect to both of them