Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

Parallels 6 Vs. VMware Fusion vs Virtual Box

shyam09

shyam09

macrumors 68020
Original poster
Oct 31, 2010
2,251
2,514
ok so im planning to buy a apple, and typical me wants to know hte info so when i open it i can install and get on with life :p

so what is VMware and Parallel
i know they are OS visualization (you can run any operating system, etc) but how do you do it exactly.

does it take up much space?
im getting a 250 GB HDD, so it should be enough right? its just for a couple of Apps that doesnt have Mac support and i dont see the point of coot camping if its only a little while/occasional use.

i need windows XP (thats where majority of my apps work) and maybe Chrome OS?
majority of the use will be the OSX (and some time XP) but just wondering, how does this work, and which is the best...
 
Last edited:
hmm virtual box- haven't heard of it. is it good performance wise. im not going to run any games or anything like that, but how is is when comparing the other two virtualizations?
 
Virtualbox is great, it has multicore support as well as 3D/2D acceleration. I have a virtual machine with Windows 7 and I gave it 1 GB of RAM/128 MB of VRAM. With 4gb of RAM, I noticed very minor slowdowns (but with virtual machines, slowdowns are going to be expected), and with 8gb of RAM, I notice 0 slowdowns.
 
karohan said:
Virtualbox is great, it has multicore support as well as 3D/2D acceleration. I have a virtual machine with Windows 7 and I gave it 1 GB of RAM/128 MB of VRAM. With 4gb of RAM, I noticed very minor slowdowns (but with virtual machines, slowdowns are going to be expected), and with 8gb of RAM, I notice 0 slowdowns.
Click to expand...

also does this take up a lot of space on the HDD? or is this like 4-10 GB (depending on what you set it)
 
The program itself doesn't take up much space. What will end up taking the space is the space you define for the virtual hard drive of the virtual machine. And like you said, that depends on what you set it and how many of these virtual machines you want. I think I set mine at 20 or 25 gb, but I don't really remember. Different apps won't really take more or less space because it depends on what you set it as.

One cool thing about VirtualBox (I'm not sure if the other apps do this) is that if you set your storage amount, the hard drive is dynamically expanding. So, if the install only takes up 5 gb at first, it will only consume 5 gb of space on your HDD. As you use more space, it'll occupy more and more space. If you set it at 25 gb, the 25 gb is kind of the maximum space the hard drive can occupy, but it'll be less than that until you use it.

Also VirtualBox is free, so if you're new to virtualization, there's no baggage in trying it out.
 
I prefer Parallels. I tried VMware a long time ago and remember it being worse, though I can't remember why. I currently have a 70GB Bootcamp partition on my 500GB hard drive so that I can play Windows games. And I am using Parallels 6 to allow me to run Windows 7 within OSX using the Bootcamp partition for when I need to quickly get into Windows and don't want to bother doing a reboot.
 
can you use the "upgrade" disk for say Win 7 or something, rather than buy the more expensive full version?
 
shyam09 said:
can you use the "upgrade" disk for say Win 7 or something, rather than buy the more expensive full version?
Click to expand...

Yeah, I'm not sure how Windows 7 works, but I remember with Vista, I was given an upgrade disk but you could do a completely clean install anyway and it worked fine with VirtualBox (and I suppose any other virtualization app). If Windows 7 works the same way, you shouldn't have any trouble.
 
karohan said:
Yeah, I'm not sure how Windows 7 works, but I remember with Vista, I was given an upgrade disk but you could do a completely clean install anyway and it worked fine with VirtualBox (and I suppose any other virtualization app). If Windows 7 works the same way, you shouldn't have any trouble.
Click to expand...

wait so would i need the current system key? cuz all my computers purchased was ordered from HP, dell, etc. this is my first mac!
 
So how do you have a copy of Windows then? If you have one of those factory settings disks that come with an HP for example, this will NOT work. They definitely don't work in VirtualBox, and I think they don't work in VMWare or Parallels. If the disk that came with your computer was an OEM OS reinstall disc (it's kind of confusing as to the difference between a reinstall disc or the factory settings image but a factory settings disc will restore a computer to its exact state when you first turned it on, while an OEM reinstall disc will likely just reinstall the OS at its bare-bones. In other words, it won't have all the bloatware that the computer usually comes with).
The Vista disc I got was from the free upgrade promotion that Microsoft had running before when it was about to be released. On the cover, it had the CD key that I needed. Additionally, it'll usually ask for the serial number of your computer I think. If you are going to be slightly unscrupulous, you can enter the serial number of a computer that you already have the OS registered to (such as an old XP laptop you own), though technically you should buy a new license for this computer.
 
oh i see. hmm i dont think i will need windows 7 as i have vista as my desktop with everything i need. but i will need XP on the mac, so i will just go about using win. XP/ chrome OS...

im just thinking about getting virtualbox... can anyone tell me the performance? also does this "take up" a lot of memory and CPU?

for the XP, i would say giving a allocating a RAM for XP? is this good enough or should it be lower/higher?

but i still dont understand the whole virtual RAM, etc. lol!
 
Just out of curiosity, what apps do you need XP/Chrome OS for?

Any virtualization app will take a major toll on your resources, but computers are fast enough these days, where you really don't feel it very much (and sometimes you don't feel it at all). That being said, the performance hit you will take will depend on how much RAM you allow your virtual machine to use (you can set this in the settings). If you set the RAM too low, you're virtualized OS (XP or Chrome OS) will run too slowly. If you set it too high, you may experience some slowdowns with OS X.

Depending on what you are running in your virtual machine, you should give between 512MB and 1GB to Windows XP.
 
karohan said:
Just out of curiosity, what apps do you need XP/Chrome OS for?

Any virtualization app will take a major toll on your resources, but computers are fast enough these days, where you really don't feel it very much (and sometimes you don't feel it at all). That being said, the performance hit you will take will depend on how much RAM you allow your virtual machine to use (you can set this in the settings). If you set the RAM too low, you're virtualized OS (XP or Chrome OS) will run too slowly. If you set it too high, you may experience some slowdowns with OS X.

Depending on what you are running in your virtual machine, you should give between 512MB and 1GB to Windows XP.
Click to expand...

chrome OS is for basic "try-it-out" use, ill just look into it and try it out and see if i like it enough to consider a chrome notebook in the future as an additional computer

the windows XP is for one lovely program, lol! its this client that allows me to monitor my management sites (lodging). nothing illegal, but i do need to check up on the manager and see if he is slacking and see the consumer flow and the hallways, etc but nothing illegal (only occasional use) :p
 
I hate VMWare Fusion. I installed it on my original Macbook.

TERRIBLE customer support. Complete disdain for their customers. They ignore all emails and phone calls.

VMWare Fusion is the WORST. Do not buy it.
 
If you just need it for that one program, think about the minimum amount of RAM you would need to run a computer with that program. If 512 MB is all you need, I suggest going with that. If you need more, you can up it as needed. How much RAM will you have in your notebook? With 4gb, you won't experience much of a slowdown alotting 512MB-1GB. With 8gb, don't worry about alotting even 2GB if you have to.
 
its a base 4GB RAM, but when OSX lion comes out, i plan to buy some RAM and a SSD drive?

doesnt XP need at least 512 MB to run... i think about 512 MB should be decent :p

also when you install XP for example, do the drivers, etc get installed or is it an application or something. like this sounds confusing but i think im confusing boot camp with virtualization.
you know in bootcamp you have to install drivers, etc. for the sound, mouse, wifi, etc. do you have to do that in virtualization such as virtual box?
 
karohan said:
If you just need it for that one program, think about the minimum amount of RAM you would need to run a computer with that program. If 512 MB is all you need, I suggest going with that. If you need more, you can up it as needed. How much RAM will you have in your notebook? With 4gb, you won't experience much of a slowdown alotting 512MB-1GB. With 8gb, don't worry about alotting even 2GB if you have to.
Click to expand...

i sometimes set up a linux server within virtualbox, and i'm allocating 4GB ram to it, no problem.

shyam09 said:
its a base 4GB RAM, but when OSX lion comes out, i plan to buy some RAM and a SSD drive?

doesnt XP need at least 512 MB to run... i think about 512 MB should be decent :p

also when you install XP for example, do the drivers, etc get installed or is it an application or something. like this sounds confusing but i think im confusing boot camp with virtualization.
you know in bootcamp you have to install drivers, etc. for the sound, mouse, wifi, etc. do you have to do that in virtualization such as virtual box?
Click to expand...

i've seen xp run on a machine with 72mb ram so no worries there :D
virtual box should do most of the translating for you, you might need to install some bootcamp drivers though (their on your os x install disk)
 
shyam09 said:
chrome OS is for basic "try-it-out" use, ill just look into it and try it out and see if i like it enough to consider a chrome notebook in the future as an additional computer

the windows XP is for one lovely program, lol! its this client that allows me to monitor my management sites (lodging). nothing illegal, but i do need to check up on the manager and see if he is slacking and see the consumer flow and the hallways, etc but nothing illegal (only occasional use) :p
Click to expand...

In that case, I'd try Wine or it's paid support version Crossover. They do not need Windows; for the occasional use of 1 program they are a good alternative *if* it runs in WINE. Try the Crossover trial and see if it works.
 
I've tried all three and found all three have their own set of advantages and disadvantages.

Virtual Box: its free has less features and is the worst performance of the three. Lack of vendor support is a concern as well. Oracle's move against many open source initiatives and direction its taking on the open source is trouble and may lead to problems with VB down the road.

Parallels: is the fastest performing, but the company has a long history of pushing buggy updates out the door and the platform is less stable then the other two. Additionally its support is rather poor.

VMware: is more stable product but its performance is less then that of Parallels. Its support is top notch and updates are solid and extend the product in a consistent manner

Personally, I use VMware as it fits my needs the best.
 
Haven't had good results with Virtual Box.

Currently on VMware.

Parallels and VMware work okay for my needs. I tend to leapfrog when I upgrade from one to the other since they offer such good discounts.
 
i looked at wine/crossover, but the program i want is not compatible.. hmm
 
maflynn said:
I've tried all three and found all three have their own set of advantages and disadvantages.

Virtual Box: its free has less features and is the worst performance of the three. Lack of vendor support is a concern as well. Oracle's move against many open source initiatives and direction its taking on the open source is trouble and may lead to problems with VB down the road.

Parallels: is the fastest performing, but the company has a long history of pushing buggy updates out the door and the platform is less stable then the other two. Additionally its support is rather poor.

VMware: is more stable product but its performance is less then that of Parallels. Its support is top notch and updates are solid and extend the product in a consistent manner

Personally, I use VMware as it fits my needs the best.
Click to expand...


I disagree on the VMWare. TERRIBLE customer support...virtually non-existent.

OK program if you have no problems with it...but forget about support from them.

I've reported this company to the Better Business Bureau.
 
Parallels is the best choice - it's very fast, faster than VMWare and Virtual Box;
and it supports Mac OS X gestures! ;) And it has a good stability.

The only problem is that they release a new versions every year, without free upgrades.
But there're a lot of companies who choose this way!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back