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VMware Fusion 2.0 and Parallels 4.0 Beta
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I've been a Fusion user and advocate since it first launched. I've also received an invite to beta test Parallels 4.0, so I will be giving that a try probably starting today.
Parallels <> Fusion coexistence
I found my email to VMware support (from June):
If I have Parallels (3.x) running & I try to start Fusion 2.x, I
get a warning about "VMX non-root operation". If I click OK, I get a KP.
As I said above, Parallels works fine side-by-side with Fusion 1.x .
I found my email to VMware support (from June):
If I have Parallels (3.x) running & I try to start Fusion 2.x, I
get a warning about "VMX non-root operation". If I click OK, I get a KP.
As I said above, Parallels works fine side-by-side with Fusion 1.x .
Mirrored Folders
So are the mirrored folders new or did I just not see it in 1.x? I think this is a fantastic feature - makes sharing files back and forth between the OSes so much easier.
Liking 2.0 so far - pretty painless upgrade experience.
So are the mirrored folders new or did I just not see it in 1.x? I think this is a fantastic feature - makes sharing files back and forth between the OSes so much easier.
Liking 2.0 so far - pretty painless upgrade experience.
I've been running the Beta, and the new VMWare Fusion is pretty good. I've used Parallels before, and I hated it. Very unpolished, installs virtual network adapters that are hard to remove, and creates lots of junk all over your hard drive.
What I would like is better support for integrated graphics cards (like the X1300). I believe Parallels does this better than VMWare. VMWare should also create a WDDM driver for Vista. Improves stability (user mode) and allows Aero glass (which enables the speedier DWM windowing engine)
DWM is faster than the GDI window drawing. As it is now, whenever anything on the screen changes, the windowing system asks every application to redraw. If the application isn't responding, you get rendering glyphs ('dirty' areas filled with white or ghosts of application). DWM only renders parts of the desktop that have changed, so applications aren't as burdened by rendering. Oh, and DWM is built on DirectX, meaning it should use your GPU power and cause less CPU strain. Oh, and it virtualises GPU VRAM so if your GPU is out of memory, it can use system memory or (worst case) the paging file. That's why dragging and resizing windows on Vista is much smoother than XP, and why you don't see tearing on Vista. You also won't see missing textures in games, where the GPU doesn't have enough VRAM to store them.
What I would like is better support for integrated graphics cards (like the X1300). I believe Parallels does this better than VMWare. VMWare should also create a WDDM driver for Vista. Improves stability (user mode) and allows Aero glass (which enables the speedier DWM windowing engine)
DWM is faster than the GDI window drawing. As it is now, whenever anything on the screen changes, the windowing system asks every application to redraw. If the application isn't responding, you get rendering glyphs ('dirty' areas filled with white or ghosts of application). DWM only renders parts of the desktop that have changed, so applications aren't as burdened by rendering. Oh, and DWM is built on DirectX, meaning it should use your GPU power and cause less CPU strain. Oh, and it virtualises GPU VRAM so if your GPU is out of memory, it can use system memory or (worst case) the paging file. That's why dragging and resizing windows on Vista is much smoother than XP, and why you don't see tearing on Vista. You also won't see missing textures in games, where the GPU doesn't have enough VRAM to store them.
I've used Parallels since it's very first beta. Last week I switched to Fusion and paid the $79.
Parallels does not provide adequate support any more, the company has changed for the worse. I left and am not looking back. Fusion seems to run better and gives me less grief.
Ted
Parallels does not provide adequate support any more, the company has changed for the worse. I left and am not looking back. Fusion seems to run better and gives me less grief.
Ted
Such as? Could you give specific examples? I run Parallels 3.0, and now I'm curious about what kinda crap is lurking...
VMWare 2.0 will allow you to set up your virtual hard drive in 2GB segments. I'll guess that makes it more Time Machine friendly, but haven't tested it out.
This is a known feature/bug of VMWare 2.0. VMWare blames parallels, but as you point out, they both played nicely until the new VMWare product came out.
Personally, I only run Parallels or VMWare for a handful of apps. To run Quicken for Windows, and Vista Media Center with VMCNetFlix plugin mostly. For me, it's 6 of one, half dozen of the other. Neither one does graphics right in Vista Media Center; VMWare seems to drag the system down more, Parallels is more configurable on the VM (mem size, etc). For real Windows stuff, just dual boot, otherwise either Parallels or Fusion will serve you nicely.
3D on Windows 2000?
I use Windows 2000 with VMware Fusion. I'd like to run some of my old games (Morrowind, Grand Theft Auto, etc.), but I haven't gotten around to it. I notice that the release notes specifically mention 3D support for Windows XP and Vista. Has anyone run 3D games under Windows 2000 with either VMware or Parallels?
I use Windows 2000 with VMware Fusion. I'd like to run some of my old games (Morrowind, Grand Theft Auto, etc.), but I haven't gotten around to it. I notice that the release notes specifically mention 3D support for Windows XP and Vista. Has anyone run 3D games under Windows 2000 with either VMware or Parallels?
Have they solved the big memory leak with the RC1 beta? I used to quit the program and find that 1Gb of my RAM was unusable unless I reboot....
Actually now that I am playing around with the Mirrored folders (which I honestly don't know if they are new to 2.0 or not) I realised this solves a lot of my Time Machine problems. I pretty much save everything from my VM to either the "Desktop", "My Documents" or "My Pictures". With Mirrored Folders set to on - these folders on XP actually just become pointers to their Mac OSX counterparts. So I tell Time Machine not to bother backing up the VM, I set VMware to do automatic Snapshots every day and Time Machine backs up all the documents etc...from my Win XP VM because they are actually saved outside of the VM and in the folders Time Machine is already backing up.
Seems to work....
Parallels...
I think that's an inaccurate statement. Parallels does indeed install a Network adapter for each network adapter you have... but this is a good thing IMO as it gives you a ton of control.
As for other "stuff" I have no idea what you're talking about... Please clarify. I personally find Parallels to be much less taxing on your Mac system. (iMac May 08) VM ware bogs everything down.
I think that's an inaccurate statement. Parallels does indeed install a Network adapter for each network adapter you have... but this is a good thing IMO as it gives you a ton of control.
As for other "stuff" I have no idea what you're talking about... Please clarify. I personally find Parallels to be much less taxing on your Mac system. (iMac May 08) VM ware bogs everything down.
Yeah I also disagree with Saladinos' statement. Parallels seems pretty clean, and keeps each virtual machine's files in separate folders, and doesn't leave a lot of junk around, not that I've seen. But I could be wrong. If he has something concrete, I'd like to see it.
Problems with VMWare and XPSP2
I installed VMWare 2.0. When I run my virtual machine, which I created with Fusion 1.1.3, I get an error message on bootup; some cryptic windows error saying that biosinfo.inf is missing or corrupted and that I should fix my installation. Tried that, but it didn't work.
I also installed SP3 and tried to run it in VMWare 1.1.3. I got the same error in 1.1.3 and 2.0.
Any advice?
I installed VMWare 2.0. When I run my virtual machine, which I created with Fusion 1.1.3, I get an error message on bootup; some cryptic windows error saying that biosinfo.inf is missing or corrupted and that I should fix my installation. Tried that, but it didn't work.
I also installed SP3 and tried to run it in VMWare 1.1.3. I got the same error in 1.1.3 and 2.0.
Any advice?
I kick myself every time I read an article about Parallels.....
I had the opportunity to get a full version of 1.0 for FREE back when it first came out, but I didn't own an Intel Mac at that point.
Now I do. And have since about 3 months after that offer came and went.
I had the opportunity to get a full version of 1.0 for FREE back when it first came out, but I didn't own an Intel Mac at that point.
Now I do. And have since about 3 months after that offer came and went.
Lucky me... can't install the new vmware tools because it won't remove the old ones. Some error about a path "On My Mac" having an invalid character, which is BS. Not to mention I can't even find the path it's referring to. Disappointing.
Be careful
Fusion 2.0 is not ready for prime time. For starters, it's slow and jittery on my iMac, which version 1.x never was. It also has a huge problem with capturing my mouse--the cursor jumps around all over the place completely unexpectedly and without any pattern. While 2.0 adds many new features that will be excellent once the bugs are ironed out, it's made my Mac and Windows-in-Mac unusable. I can print just fine from within Windows in Fusion, but now my ability to print directly from the Mac has been killed. I've tried everything. The only way to fix it is to learn how to use the terminal or format and reinstall. I've done everything, but the CUPS Mac printing is toast.
Not impressed. Once I get the printer issues ironed out, I'm going back to 1.x.
Fusion 2.0 is not ready for prime time. For starters, it's slow and jittery on my iMac, which version 1.x never was. It also has a huge problem with capturing my mouse--the cursor jumps around all over the place completely unexpectedly and without any pattern. While 2.0 adds many new features that will be excellent once the bugs are ironed out, it's made my Mac and Windows-in-Mac unusable. I can print just fine from within Windows in Fusion, but now my ability to print directly from the Mac has been killed. I've tried everything. The only way to fix it is to learn how to use the terminal or format and reinstall. I've done everything, but the CUPS Mac printing is toast.
Not impressed. Once I get the printer issues ironed out, I'm going back to 1.x.
This already works with both Parallels 3.0 and Fusion 2.0. You can make shortcuts in your dock to any Windows program, and when you click on it, if Windows isn't already running it will fire up, and then the program will be run.
Of course the "fire up" part can take a couple of minutes while Windows boots up, but that's not any different than what people used to put up with when running MacOS Classic programs on early versions of OS X.
glad to see both of these companies competing against each other with this. just drives each other to make better products for us. and with their software, helps pc users to switch to mac