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Fusion/Parallels and Mac Pro..

D

dgdosen

macrumors 68030
Original poster
Dec 13, 2003
2,868
1,506
Seattle
Are there many Mac Pro Fusion/Parallels users?

I use Parallels on my MBP - but usually stick with Bootcamp because the juice gets eaten up to quickly running Windows in a VM (at least for my tastes)

But now, with a MacPro with plenty of processor capacity and plenty of memory - are there any users who keep VM's up and running for whenever necessary? I may start to do this in the new setup... That might make me one step closer to switching.
 
If I'm doing a web site I'll often run parallels in the background with XP, using a separate spaces screen - save the bother of closing down, working for a awhile and then starting up to check again.

I only give 512mb ram to parallels, and I have 11GB so it doesn't impact me too much memory wise. Processor wise doesn't appear to make much difference either to my daily workings.
 
XP Pro runs all the time

I run Fusion 100% of the time. My xp pro vm is actually in my user startup options so it runs at boot time. I have 2 displays so Windows on right, OSX on left (can't wait until Fusion supports dual displays, if it ever will). I have no performance or stability probs.

Running 2007 MP, 2x2.66dc, 9gb ram, boats of disk. My xp vm has 3GB allocated memory w/2 processor support.

Rick
 
After running Bootcamp and Fusion for a couple of months, I decided that rebooting between OS's was too much trouble, and Fusion so stable, that I kicked Bootcamp off and use only Fusion for windows programs.
 
louden said:
Are there many Mac Pro Fusion/Parallels users?

I use Parallels on my MBP - but usually stick with Bootcamp because the juice gets eaten up to quickly running Windows in a VM (at least for my tastes)

But now, with a MacPro with plenty of processor capacity and plenty of memory - are there any users who keep VM's up and running for whenever necessary? I may start to do this in the new setup... That might make me one step closer to switching.
Click to expand...

I use Parallels. It runs all the time. No problems. Would recommend it in a minute. :D
 
Is a Mac Pro powerful enough that I can play games in a VM? And if so, also with higher resolutions (1920x1200)? And is DX9 with shader model 3 thinkable in the near future??
 
I haven't ordered my Mac Pro yet but I hear people use it with Parallels and Fusion all the time. I'm not sure but I believe you can use DX 10 even, if you have a supported card that is. So DX 9 should be supported.
 
I run Fusion (in UNITY mode) 100% of the time, as many of my employer's apps require.

Now, if only I could figure out how to use Cisco VPN client inside a VM.
 
jb60606 said:
Now, if only I could figure out how to use Cisco VPN client inside a VM.
Click to expand...
I've used the Mac OS X Cisco VPN client, which then allowed Windows applications in a Fusion "Network: NAT" VM (or under CrossOver) to work, and also used the Windows Cisco VPN client in a Fusion "Network: Bridged" VM without issue. I didn't do anything special though?
 
ColonelSmith said:
I haven't ordered my Mac Pro yet but I hear people use it with Parallels and Fusion all the time. I'm not sure but I believe you can use DX 10 even, if you have a supported card that is. So DX 9 should be supported.
Click to expand...

That sounds really cool! It would be _the_ killer argument for me to buy a Mac Pro instead of an iMac. I've read something about fusion and parallels concerning gaming. Always with bad results. Problem is the performace loss due to virtualization. But this could be no problem with the pure power of a Mac Pro!

Concerning DX 9 and 10: Vmware's features page says "...Use even more Windows 3D applications and games with experimental support for DirectX 9.0 accelerated 3D graphics (without “shaders”)...." (http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/features.html). Thats why I asked about the near future. Wherefrom did you get this information about shaders?? I'm really interested in!
 
Mr. Zarniwoop said:
I've used the Mac OS X Cisco VPN client, which then allowed Windows applications in a Fusion "Network: NAT" VM (or under CrossOver) to work, and also used the Windows Cisco VPN client in a Fusion "Network: Bridged" VM without issue. I didn't do anything special though?
Click to expand...

Right now, I use the Mac VPN client, then open a Windows VM. Of the two Windows Cisco VPN clients I've used in the VM, neither worked for some reason. Couldn't communicate with the concentrator.
 
I also have Fusion running all the time, set up to start on login. There are a few little things that I have in my XP install that won't work too well in OS X. For instance, I have an older Canon N1220U flatbed scanner, and the ScanTools software is windows only. I use the scanner and my printer as a copy machine, (full color copies!) and it runs through XP on the VM.

I tried setting XP up with its own space, and leaving the desktop running all the time, but Unity is much better. I have a few Windows programs on my taskbar, like the scanner program, my Garmin map program, and a couple of other things. It's like having the best of both worlds, all the time.
 
jb60606 said:
I run Fusion (in UNITY mode) 100% of the time, as many of my employer's apps require.

Now, if only I could figure out how to use Cisco VPN client inside a VM.
Click to expand...


I run my Cisco VPN client in my XP VM in Fusion all the time. I have no issues :confused:

I wasn't sure if it would work, but it does.
 
I use Parallels with XP on my MP. I don't keep it running because it restarts in 5 seconds. 5 SECONDS! 5 SECONDS! Also, there is IE-only website that I use for work that has this ridiculous security that logs me out for inactivity every 5 minutes. If I quit Parallels so it saves state, when I start it back up I'm still logged in and can work immediately! One of the coolest things I've found using Parallels.
 
cohibadad said:
I use Parallels with XP on my MP. I don't keep it running because it restarts in 5 seconds. 5 SECONDS! 5 SECONDS! Also, there is IE-only website that I use for work that has this ridiculous security that logs me out for inactivity every 5 minutes. If I quit Parallels so it saves state, when I start it back up I'm still logged in and can work immediately! One of the coolest things I've found using Parallels.
Click to expand...

Hmmm - are your HDDs at RAID 0 or RAID 0+1?

As I think about it - you can use the RAID 0 support in MacOS to create a new fast drive, throw the VM on that drive and boot up from it. I wonder how fast that would be...
 
Qjuu said:
Concerning DX 9 and 10: Vmware's features page says "...Use even more Windows 3D applications and games with experimental support for DirectX 9.0 accelerated 3D graphics (without “shaders”)...." (http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/features.html).
Click to expand...

Why would you want to run 3D Games without shaders?

I plan to install Parallels and/or Fusion this next week on our Mac Pro 3.2GHz to see how it supports games unavailable for Mac (such as Crysis). I also plan to see if games available on the Mac (like Prey) that run 50% faster under Vista 64 will still run faster under Parallels or Fusion.
 
Vista?

Anybody running Vista 64 in a Fusion VM? Just wondering what the Windows Experience Index was in that case...
 
My VMware Fusion suddenly doesn't work in UNITY mode anymore, and I'm pissed. It'll open program windows, though I can't move them, type in them (except for Notepad), or utilize them in any manner.

I uninstalled all apps I installed before it stopped working (Cisco VPN, McAfee Security Center AV/Firewall/Spam & Phish filter, Logitech SetPoint mouse software) and it still doesn't work. The only thing installed on the Mac OS was the Leopard Graphics update which I am not willing to remove.

I updated Fusion to the latest update, and that didn't help either. Has anyone else come across this problem? Any recommendations?
 
i use parallels. i'm a 3day os x user :D
run it on 2x2,8 4gb 8800gt.
but i HAVE to say, i mean, i'm an audio user, and i'm in the middle of setting up my system, but, why the hell do you even use windows anymore? leave very special apps that you URGENTLY need and cant use on os x.
god, the only thing that crashes on this computer is things with "Microsoft" on it
 
Ploki said:
i use parallels. i'm a 3day os x user :D
run it on 2x2,8 4gb 8800gt.
but i HAVE to say, i mean, i'm an audio user, and i'm in the middle of setting up my system, but, why the hell do you even use windows anymore? leave very special apps that you URGENTLY need and cant use on os x.
god, the only thing that crashes on this computer is things with "Microsoft" on it
Click to expand...

I use Parallels mostly for apps that Mac don't have. I am sure there are some forms of the ones I use around but just haven't found them yet. Also I bought "Toaster 8 Titanium" and it don't hold a candle to "Nero". I am not a gamer but there are a lot of user that are and they give there right arm for a program that would let them play games on a Mac.
 
barefeats said:
Why would you want to run 3D Games without shaders?
Click to expand...

No, thats a misunderstanding :) I want to run games with shaders.
"without shaders” is a quote from here: http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/features.html. VMware Fusion 1.1 doesn't support shaders - unfortunately.

I plan to install Parallels and/or Fusion this next week on our Mac Pro 3.2GHz to see how it supports games unavailable for Mac (such as Crysis). I also plan to see if games available on the Mac (like Prey) that run 50% faster under Vista 64 will still run faster under Parallels or Fusion.
Click to expand...

I curious about your results!
 
louden said:
Are there many Mac Pro Fusion/Parallels users?

I use Parallels on my MBP - but usually stick with Bootcamp because the juice gets eaten up to quickly running Windows in a VM (at least for my tastes)

But now, with a MacPro with plenty of processor capacity and plenty of memory - are there any users who keep VM's up and running for whenever necessary? I may start to do this in the new setup... That might make me one step closer to switching.
Click to expand...

Never had a problem with Fusion.

In fact Fusion can run many many programs that Parallels cannot even boot. Plus Fusion runs the programs much faster. Right now the Current version of Fusion is the Best.
 
fusion actually crashed on me several times, i just us parallels now. but to be honest i stil haven't found a piece of software that i miss... :)
 
louden said:
Are there many Mac Pro Fusion/Parallels users?

I use Parallels on my MBP - but usually stick with Bootcamp because the juice gets eaten up to quickly running Windows in a VM (at least for my tastes)

But now, with a MacPro with plenty of processor capacity and plenty of memory - are there any users who keep VM's up and running for whenever necessary? I may start to do this in the new setup... That might make me one step closer to switching.
Click to expand...

I have Parallels running 24/7 on my 1st gen Mac Pro. I leave NewsBin Pro running in the VM and it automatically grabs new headers from newsgroups every hour. I've had the machine up for more than a month on quite a few occasions. Everything runs great.
 
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