Both Parallels and VMWare Fusion?

[LeicaMan111]

Can you install and/or having running both Parallels 8 and VMWare Fusion 5 at the same time on the same machine? Any long term nasty side effects?

It is my understanding that running two or more hypervisors on the same machine at the same time is either not possible or at the very least asking for trouble.

Thanks.

 

[KPOM]

I think you can technically do it, but it can cause issues. I think the only feasible way would be by using a Boot Camp partition as a VM.

For instance, Parallels Desktop and VMWare Fusion each install their "Tools" in your Windows setup, partly to prevent the Microsoft Activation file from getting overwritten (for instance, if you boot into the VM, and then later go into Boot Camp). Parallels Tools and VMWare Tools might interact, or at least will be taking up system resources in Windows. Similarly, both install hypervisor software on OS X that runs in the background and similarly can use up resources if both are installed.

I've switched back and forth between VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop, but generally have made sure to uninstall the other one first (including going into the Library and deleting the folders left behind by the old program, and also going into Windows and uninstalling the old tools).