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

VMWare 3.2, Parallels 5 and VirtualBox 3.2.4

P

parajba

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Apr 19, 2008
515
269
Hi everybody,

I'm looking to create a virtual machine on my i5 MBP because I need to run some specific Windows software (Tacx Training Software, I'm into cycling:p).

Which one of the 3 virtual machine programs is better from a performance/stability perspective? Has anybody seen a comparison test yet? I understand that VirtualBox is free for personal use, is it really worth paying for the other two?
 
You can actually try all 3. Both Parallels and VMware have the ability to import the others VMs. Both have trial periods too.
 
parajba said:
Thanks, I read it, but there's nothing specific about VirtualBox and how it compares against the latest incarnations of Fusion of Parallels...I might just have to try it myself...
Click to expand...

The consensus however from that thread is that Fusion is more stable, Parallels is a bit faster (for some things) and of course Virtualbox is cheaper.

As Jaxdialation says you can try all three for free, plus if you intend to use Windows 7 you can download and try that for free for up to 120 days too.

B
 
Virtualbox is alright. I use it on Ubuntu to run windows. I use fusion on my Mac because it lets me drag and drop between the host and guest. With virtualbox I have to setup a shared folder on the host.

I was willing to pay $40.00 to have drag and drop.
 
I just installed virtualbox and win 7 so I can run some programs.... it honestly works perfectly and smooth (I have a 13" MBP w/ 2.53 and 4gb ram). Pointless to me to pay for parallels/fusion when vb works just as well for my needs.
 
I gave up running any VMs for my main apps on my 13". They were painfully slow. Now My i7 with SSD is another story.


SurferMan said:
I just installed virtualbox and win 7 so I can run some programs.... it honestly works perfectly and smooth (I have a 13" MBP w/ 2.53 and 4gb ram). Pointless to me to pay for parallels/fusion when vb works just as well for my needs.
Click to expand...
 
Jaxdialation said:
I gave up running any VMs for my main apps on my 13". They were painfully slow. Now My i7 with SSD is another story.
Click to expand...
I don't do anything intensive as designing or games, I mainly needed it for my trading program to run, in that sense it works excellent and quick.
 
tunerX said:
Virtualbox is alright. I use it on Ubuntu to run windows. I use fusion on my Mac because it lets me drag and drop between the host and guest. With virtualbox I have to setup a shared folder on the host.

I was willing to pay $40.00 to have drag and drop.
Click to expand...

Virtualbox let's you drag and drop, I've done it. Do some research.
 
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