Advice on virtualization software

Hi folks,

I'd value some opinions on choice of virtualisation setup for my needs. Basically I use mac only - 98% of the time; but do need Win apps to run efficiently now and then (maybe once a month?). When I first got my macbook it came with a bootcamp partition, and after researching on what was around at the time (2 years ago) I decided to buy Fusion. I've been happy enough with Fusion as far as functionality, but I really don't need half of what it does - so guess it's really a little high-powered for me. (I've also had trouble getting the VMware tools installation to stick .. but that's another issue.) I probably didn't read the licensing fineprint carefully enough at the time so that may just be my bad. But I must say I wasn't bargaining on another $59 to upgrade to v3, plus $20 a year subscription to stay up to date. That sounds more than reasonable if it's a basic part of your regular workflow, but that's not the case for me.

Along the way I've also come to own a Parallels license through a macupdate bundle. I haven't tried it out. But not surprisingly it looks to have a similar pricing structure to Fusion; so the same financial issues would apply, I imagine.

So right now I'm trying to decide whether to pay the upgrade + subs on Fusion / Parallels, or whether to try something else. I'd consider myself a self-taught intermediate mac geek, but I'm no kind of Windows or (mac) Terminal geek. I've had a bit of a look at VirtualBox, but it looks like it might be just a little bit geeky for me as far as initial setup. Also thought about Crossover; but the Win apps I need tend to be niche ones that I wouldn't expect Crossover to support.

That about covers it I think. Advice / suggestions greatly appreciated. Thanks.