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The classic Fusion vs Parallels debate. Crazy they make you spend money each year. I just find a key generator for Fusion about a week later after release and go from there.
 
Version 11 was the last version I will ever buy from this rip-off company. The last nail in the coffin was when I went to use version 11 at home after having just purchased and installed it on my computer at work. They changed their policy to one license per machine rather than per person. I am only ever in one place at a time, so to use this product in either place required me to purchase two bloody licenses - the software enforces it! I was in a bind and had to make the purchase, but it will never happen again.

I so very, very much hate Parallels (the company).
I absolutely agree with everything you say. I like Parellels interface and its features but the "per seat" licensing model made me stop upgrading beyond version 10. This is why Parallels is not in the App Store because App Store policy is "per user" and obviously this conflicts with their greedy business model.
 
Exactly this. I don't know why they just adopt a cloud pricing model. I used to be a big fan of parallels until I was told I had to upgrade again.

I originally started with VM Fusion, then switched to Parallels, upgraded once and then was prompted again to upgrade with a message telling me my current version would no longer work. This is after paying them close to $300.

Needless to say I refuse to pay for it any longer. While I'm happy to pay for software, I resent paying for something in the knowledge it will no longer work if I upgrade my OS when everything else does.

I still use Parallels, but lets just say I'm no longer paying for it.

If they adopt an Adobe Cloud or Office 365 model, I would seriously consider paying once again if I know I'm going to get regular updates.

I pay for Adobe Lightroom / Photoshop and Office 365 and it's a great way to ensure I always have the latest versions.

Parallels offers a subscription model. This model--like Adobe and Office 365--build the upgrade costs into the subscription. That seems to fit what you are looking for, unless you don't want to pay for the software.

Or are you looking for something cloud based so it is not on your hard drive?



VMWare fired most of its Fusion and Workstation team in January. I use it right now myself but I'm not sure of the future of the product...

I read in a blog it was only the UI team that was fired because they wanted to develop a new UI. It also stated that the core of the programmers were retained.


Works fine for me and has all the way through Beta 1 to Beta 6.

I thought I read that PD11 did not have direct copy-paste between OS X and the Windows VM in El Cap.
 
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The new model of Pro versions really left a sour taste in my mouth ($99/year?). Too bad by Vagrant Boxes will no longer work on the standard one past 10...

They ran a promo for $49/year recently so I decided to take the plunge on a subscription. That's where software is headed anyway, and under the old model it was usually necessary to upgrade every 2 years. This is still a little more expensive than that (as doing every other upgrade is $79 for the first copy and $49 every other year), but it's the same as upgrading every year for $49.
 
I don't understand all the hate for Parallels in this thread. This is actually very nice software. As a developer, I love being able to switch between Windows and MacOS. Makes my life so much easier. Also the vagrant plugin is well done, and saves me from having to run virtualbox (which is horrible to use 100% every day). As far as I'm concerned $100/year is WELL worth it.
Have you tried VMWare Fusion 8? It's equal to and cheaper.


I read in a blog it was only the UI team that was fired because they wanted to develop a new UI. It also stated that the core of the programmers were retained.
Wow, they fired the whole UI team over developing a new UI? I wonder what did they do that warranted the company to fire the whole team :eek:
 
I thought Blizzard blamed the lack of OSX support for Overwatch was due to the Mac's hardware limitations.

If they are going to have extra support for a Parallels version, if figure that they might as well just do a OSX version.

It's more to do with software limitations, i.e. the out-of-date version of OpenGL that macOS's uses (OpenGL 4.1) I believe. The makers of Elite Dangerous abandoned Mac support for the same reason.
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Additionally, Parallels has partnered with Blizzard to provide specific support for the hit game Overwatch.

Does this mean they've improved GPU virtualisation/performance? In previous versions you'd lose about 50% of your GPU performance within the VM, and you were stuck with an older version of DirectX (DX 10).
 
That is real expensive for a product that is not really needed. If I want to run windows (or a Linux) on my Mac, I just run it through boot camp partition that as set up.

Seems alot cheaper that 99 bucks IMHO.
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I've been regularly running Linux in the free Veertu app (in the Mac App Store).

Unlike all these other apps, Veertu does NOT have an installation procedure. You just run virtualized OSes with an app straight from the Mac App Store, which in my book is pretty amazing.

Right now Linux/FreeBSD/OpenBSD is free, for Windows you have to pay $40. But why not try it first?
Still like the complete free version....Boot Camp
 
That is real expensive for a product that is not really needed. If I want to run windows (or a Linux) on my Mac, I just run it through boot camp partition that as set up.

Seems alot cheaper that 99 bucks IMHO.

I do not own any version of the Parallels and never used it, but I see the appeal over boot camp.

I have used boot camp, when I absolutely had to use Windows at home.

But, each time I was using Windows(7), I felt miserable and couldn't wait to boot back into my OS X for everything else I wanted to do on the computer.

I thought about getting Parallels or something similar so when I had to use Windows stuff I could do so from the comfort of my Mac OS X.
 
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That is real expensive for a product that is not really needed. If I want to run windows (or a Linux) on my Mac, I just run it through boot camp partition that as set up.

The benefits of a VM is that you can run both macOS and Windows (or Linux) at the same time. For instance, web developers might develop their web app on macOS, but need to test it in Internet Explorer or Edge running in Windows.
 
That is real expensive for a product that is not really needed. If I want to run windows (or a Linux) on my Mac, I just run it through boot camp partition that as set up.

Seems alot cheaper that 99 bucks IMHO.
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Still like the complete free version....Boot Camp
How are you running Linux with Boot Camp?
 
I bought version 11 a couple weeks ago on eBay. I got an e-mail today saying I get 12 for free! Lucky me.
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How are you running Linux with Boot Camp?
That is real expensive for a product that is not really needed. If I want to run windows (or a Linux) on my Mac, I just run it through boot camp partition that as set up.

Seems alot cheaper that 99 bucks IMHO.
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Still like the complete free version....Boot Camp

Boot Camp has terrible battery life because the dedicated GPU is always used. The Drivers suck
 
Quite expensive, but I'm keen to see how well Overwatch performs considering it's being touted as a feature, according to 9to5mac and CNet.
I have a PC for my games and already play Overwatch, but if I didn't, that one point would make me take a serious look at this new version.
 
Slightly high in subscription price. Pass for now.

Parallels also does that with each version.... dunno why... I don't mind some options, but i don't like the how Parallels puts so many options it''s like going through a jungle trying to decide which ones u want on and which ones u want off.. Too to point it felt too cluttered,,, switched to Fusion..

But these two keep out pacing each other slightly with performance.... That may be of interest to some.
 
$50 a year is totally worth it for software that allows me to easily generate tens of thousands of dollars each year in revenue. Especially considering that it includes Parallels Access (or at least it did when I subscribed last year). That allowed me to ditch Logmein, which was changing their pricing structure at the time anyway.

I switched from VMware Fusion to Parallels a few years ago (mainly because the 3D modeling I do was getting to be more tedious with each new release of VMware Fusion) and I haven't looked back.

If you don't want to spend money to use virtualization software, fine. You have free options like VirtualBox. For those of us that need rock-solid virtualization software in order to make a living, it's worth the money.
 
Parallels is enormously useful, for it allows me to run virtually any operating system I want simultaneously with OS X. I don't begrudge the cost because the software is excellent (I have had fewer problems with Parallels than with Apple software), but then again I update only every two years or so.
 
Lots of hate here. I am actually happy this company invest improvements to this product every year. I use this virtualization software daily and I see the value in it over the free alternatives.
 
Still have to use windows for my job, and using parallels means I don't have to have a windows laptop for work. That makes it more than worth the 50 bucks a year.

And Parallels is really good software. It's slick, fast and has great features. I could probably get away with Virtual Box for what I need, but I like the feature set in Parallels and have gotten over the 50 dollar a year upgrade fee. Oh and I typically upgrade a month or two after - it usually gets included in a bundle that has some other stuff that makes the 50 bucks more digestible.

And it's not like the previous version stops working when you upgrade your OS. It works just fine, but as some have stated they tend to drop support and you don't get the new whiz-bang features.

I have to use it for a platform that my company uses that is still windows based. As well I use it to test out software and other environments for IT support.

And then on the geek side I have every version of OS X that I could dig up and also every version of windows I could find that works. :)
 
Will there be a VMWare Fusion 9? I hope so! I really hate parallels so expensive and quirky.

I hope so too. However there is no sign of a 2016 Tech Preview for Fusion, which is a concern. Tech Preview 2015 became Fusion 8 and was available mid July. Would have expected a Tech Preview 2016 by now.
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The classic Fusion vs Parallels debate. Crazy they make you spend money each year. I just find a key generator for Fusion about a week later after release and go from there.

Bloke down the pub said use your "questionable" Fusion key to get a Parallels competitive upgrade.

Then use your Parallels key to get a Fusion competitive upgrade if you feel inclined ;)
 
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What do you all run in a VM anyway?
It's very useful in professional environments, i have several virtual machines running windows 32/64bit (xp, 7, 10, Server), several linux distros, beta testing operating systems like Mac OS Sierra.. I can screw with them having with a cloned fresh install of the virtual machine without killing the main OS.
 
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