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Parallels, vmware or virtualbox. The first two offer trials, so download and try them, virtualbox is free so you can also download and try that.

Personal preference, I like Vmware Fusion, others like Parallels
 
You are starting the eternal discussion that generally focuses around VMware and Parallels

I use VMware and it works fine.

Parallels seemed to have a problem with Mavericks but I saw it working at the Apple store the other day so I guess it's ok now.

A few years back I compared both and it really boiled down (for me) on whether you have one system to virtualize or more. For one Parallels is great,for more VMware proved to be easier to manage.

I'm sure others will give you insight about linux
 
Awsome

So which one is more efficient, meaning not spinning or allocating CPU's and resources when not in use?

I never dealt with Parallels so it would be interesting to find out what they have in store.
 
I've used both in the past. I prefer Parallels for its user interface and its speed concerning 3d graphics (e.g. games). But there's no big difference between those two. Fusion works perfectly fine, too. You can't lose by choosing either.
 
I preferred VMWare Fusion as I found it worked better with Linux vm's and other non-Windows OS's.
At-least with regards to modern distros and the virtual machine tools.
 
Nobody else using VirtualBox? I use Parallels to virtualize Windows and VirtualBox to virtualize Linux. I run Linux VMs under both OS X and Windows and feel the support is better for them with VirtualBox. Parallels seems to only really care about virtualizing Windows.

VMWare I have no thoughts about. I've been using Parallels since it first came out and have had no desire to switch.
 
Nobody else using VirtualBox? I use Parallels to virtualize Windows and VirtualBox to virtualize Linux. I run Linux VMs under both OS X and Windows and feel the support is better for them with VirtualBox. Parallels seems to only really care about virtualizing Windows.

VMWare I have no thoughts about. I've been using Parallels since it first came out and have had no desire to switch.
Agreed re: VirtualBox and Linux. 95% of the Linux distros I've thrown at VM software are handled better by VirtualBox than by Parallels.
 
Nobody else using VirtualBox? I use Parallels to virtualize Windows and VirtualBox to virtualize Linux. I run Linux VMs under both OS X and Windows and feel the support is better for them with VirtualBox. Parallels seems to only really care about virtualizing Windows.

VMWare I have no thoughts about. I've been using Parallels since it first came out and have had no desire to switch.

Most of us running OS X in our organization use VirtualBox, mainly because it's free, and it works. I've got local VMs in VBox for WinXP, Win7, a multiple distributions of Linux (CentOS, Ubuntu, Kali).
 
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