Hi guys,

I'm currently on Parallels 2.0 and contemplating on either upgrading to 3.0 or go for the new kid in the block, VMware Fusion. Anyone has tried both? Parallels 2.0 has worked well for me for sure, just one or two problems with unexpected shutdown on the virtual machine .. but since the upgraded version is out and there is a new competitor .. might want to give them a go. Pricewise I believe to be the same for now.. saw a lot of those Parallels 3.0 boxes at Machine .. (could I get a discount if I upgrade?? Still have the original box and proof of purchase).

TA

for parallels 3.0...if u need to upgrade...u can only buy it online...
in stores u'll have to pay full price...as if u r buying new...=)...

Wiraone, don't go buy a boxed set, buy online and save money. I'm on Parallels 2.0 myself and they did have an upgrade offer before 3.0 came out. It's still there but online only ($40). You're also a bit too late to take advantage of the VMware pre-release offer, since it's already out now you'll have to pay full price.

I have personally switched to VMware. I was using Parallels 2.0 since it came out last year, the only technical problem I've had with it is the lack of support for 64-bit OS which I absolutely need. However I've had a not too pleasant experience with their sales support earlier so when the VMware offer came, I switched.

I find VMware to be a bit faster, but the big advantage is the 64-bit support and the ability to move VMs from my Mac to my Linux box running VMware server.

hehehe...virtual box is the best ...not so heavy duty application for running VM in mac

Tested the VMWare just now on trial run. I did the migration from Parallels to VMWare but I couldn't get my VPN to work. Returning back to Parallels for now.. will try again tonight. It seems that VMWare Fusion is fully supported by VMWare and not like Parallels which customer service is almost non-existence.. Had a problem trying to do a minor upgrade since I've the boxed copy (EU version). Will compare the VMWare Fusion vs my current Parallels 2.0 and see if it is worth to get the full version afterward.

I use both for various things and depends what you want them for heres my quick opinion:

VMware Fusion: Faster, better support, speed improvements make it good for most things but lacks Directx9 support (it only does 8.1 and very bad OpenGL).

Parallels: Far more features DirectX9 Support and very stable for the basic stuff but sluggish and some features are kind of buggy or not very well thought out
eg "Bootcamp Support" which is great in theory until you have to content with windows activation which makes you reactivate windows whenever you go to bootcamp and have been running it in parallels or vice versa because of "hardware changes", until your windows activations expire and you have just wasted a full copy of windows.

Overall I wouldn't use either for gaming even with 4 gigs of ram and a core2 duo you still can feel that sluggishness in some ways.

General applications you can go either really its a matter of taste, if you need support vmwares the way to go, if you like all the bells and whistles parallels wins hands down.

VMWare is NOT the new kid on the block. They've been in the VM business for a long long time and many multinational companies rely on their software. That being said however, I think VMWare would be better than parallels from a resources point of view. Parallels 3.0 sucks up too much resources. In terms of DirectX support, Parallels technically also does DX8.1 only. But for now for games parallels seems to have a bit better support. I use it to play RO all the time. Didn't manage to get it working on VMWare...

i got Parallels 3.0 upgrade for FREE~!

Not going for an argument here.. When I said a new kid in the block .. I mean new product for the Mac. I've been following VMWare news from the start but I just couldn't jump into the beta testing bandwagon.

Anyway, I have got everything setup last night and finally got VPN working. I'm going to test it the whole day today and see if it worth the switch.

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Added on August 10, 2007, 8:32 amGosh .. my CPU usage went up to 100%++ .. No idea what went wrong, the WinXP shows 1-4% CPU usage .. Going back to Parallels at the moment. Will test it further tonight .. need to do some real work first

This post has been edited by wiraone: Aug 10 2007, 08:32 AM

CPU usage going up to 100%+ is normal while using VM's. And yes it is true but all I'm saying is that, they're bringing with them a heck load of experience and expertise which is a good thing. Will give Parallels a run for its money. When I use Parallels, which I do now (also thinking of whether to switch) it stays at a constant 50+% even while doing nothing. It jumps to >100% whenever I do something which requires DX

It surely not normal, my normal CPU usage with Parallels 2.0 is around 10-20% depending on what I was doing at that particular moment. When the CPU goes over 100% all the time, there must be something greatly wrong there.

Anyway, I've reinstalled everything from scratch .. creating a new VM, going through all reinstallation of WinXP etc.. and the CPU usage is currently hovering around 10-20% .. There must be something that made the converted vm from Parallels runs > 100%. Will monitor again and see if I could get it to run stable ..

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Added on August 11, 2007, 7:56 pmHad everything installed as what I have in the Parallels VM, run the usual applications .. and hey..hey, it is quite alright now .. no more > 100% CPU usage anymore. So .. no easy migration from Parallels I guess.. will monitor for another few days before deciding if I'm going to do a full migration.

This post has been edited by wiraone: Aug 11 2007, 07:56 PM

Well, I'm using Parallels 3.x which I can assure you takes up much much more resources.

I keep getting disconnected from my wireless router when using VMWare. I have not experience this with Parallels 2.0. There seems to be a known problem with VMWare. Search in the forum seems to pinpoint this with the bridged mode. Thing that I could see is that, if I'm a bit far from my router, I'll get this problem .. Anyway, for those who're thinking of going for Fusion .. check this out:

http://www.vmware.com/community/thread.jsp...=96699&tstart=0

It is annoying for sure, every now and then the pop-up saying

"The wireless network appears to have been compromised and will be disabled for about a minute"

HI~ all
Anyone tried MSN live messenger in VM fusion to use the audio mic.
Im using Boot Camp 1.4 partition for the VM fusion but it cant detect the mic only webcam detected. But when i run the Skype.. the mic & webcam are working...

Anyone know what causing it ~

VMware fusion + winXp service pack 2 . anyone tried video chat msn live messenger. Is mic working ~

This post has been edited by Ferrari_83: Aug 16 2007, 09:54 AM