Vmware vs parallels

makeli's pick

I would recommend virtual box. It's free and works very well in unity mode. Parallels and vmware are both good, but it's hard to beat free.
Virtual box also gets updated very frequently, so it's good free software sponsored by Oracle. You can download it here
www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads

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makeli's pick

jescott418 8 months ago

I have used Parallels,Fusion and Crossover. Parallels is the best in my opinion but not without issues. You definitely need ram at least 4GB to run any VM Ware well. Virtual box is not without issues. Read some of the reviews. Its half baked compared to Parallels and Fusion but it is free.
Personally I most like BootCamp, it too is free and runs Windows in a native state which is faster and saves battery life over using VM ware. Some don't like the switching between OS X and Windows but in reality for me I rarely find myself needing to do that on the fly. I am either using Windows or OS X.

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thenns 2011-08-28 14:24:48

honestly if you just want to run a vm why would you want to pay to do so? If all I want is to have a copy of windows running when I need it, virtual box is just fine. Can you please explain why fusion and parallels is better? And what are the issues with virtual box?

jescott418 2011-08-28 15:47:48

The main reason is support. All this free stuff is all about community help and that's it? But your right, why pay for something when your happy with the free stuff. That's why I have no problem with people trying free if they wish. It has been my experience that it lacks support. But I now question why even use a Virtual program when BootCamp runs Windows in a native mode? To me native is better then anything else?
I have never tried Virtual Box but just from a Google search and what few reviews and experiences from others. I felt paying for a better recommended product obviously provided more positive feedback. Their has to be a reason that a paid solution over a free solution is more popular. I went with the path travel most.

thenns 2011-08-28 16:40:09

support for doing what though? virtual box runs vms, that's it. What more do you want? It does what it does as well as any products I've used and it does it for free.

makeli 2011-08-31 08:24:54

I haven't yet tried out virtual box, I tried both vm ware and parallels and stayed with parallels. I also got the vibe that virtual box wasn't without it's issues.

thenns 2011-08-31 09:23:56

can somebody tell me what these unknown "issues" are with virtual box? It runs VMs just fine, what the freak else does it need to do?

makeli 2011-08-31 11:12:44

I can't say from experience since I haven't used it but the issues I've heard are just the overall polished feel you get from VMware and parallels vs virtual box. I first tried VM then switched over to parallels to try them out. I really appreciated the easy migration process, virtually (no pun intended) dummy proof. Who knows, maybe virtual box is just as good, I'll probably never know. For all I know the reviews on the polished aspect were written by parallels PR.

gdgt

Vmware vs parallels

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