“The test was done on the current model MacBook Pro. Specifically, the MacBook Pro 15 inch 2.66GHz, with 4GB of RAM, 320GB 5400RPM hard drive, and the dual graphics processor configuration (NVIDIA 9400M + 9600M GT),” Ticktin reports. “The test was performed on Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.2 with all the current updates from Apple applied. Parallels Desktop 4 Build 4.0.3848, and Parallels Desktop 5 Build 5.0.9220.”
Ticktin reports, “The difference in graphics performance between Parallels Desktop 4 and Parallels Desktop 5 is stunning. The first thought that came to everyone’s mind when seeing the two versions perform side by side was ‘Wow … simply wow.’ In answer the question ‘Should I upgrade to Parallels Desktop 5?’ In short, the answer is a resounding yes.”
Full article, with benchmarks, here.
In a sister article, Ticktin compares VMware Fusion 3 vs. 2 and reports, “We decided to put VMware Fusion 3 to the test and compare it to VMware Fusion 2, the previous version.
“The test was done on the current model MacBook Pro. Specifically, the MacBook Pro 15 inch 2.66GHz, with 4GB of RAM, 320GB 5400RPM hard drive, and the dual graphics processor configuration (NVIDIA 9400M + 9600M GT),” Ticktin reports. “The test was performed on Mac OS X Snow Leopard 10.6.2 with all the current updates from Apple applied. VMware Fusion 2.0.6, and VMware Fusion 3.0.1.”
Ticktin reports, “In answer the question ‘Should I upgrade to VMware Fusion 3?’ In short, the answer is a resounding yes. If for no other reason than the disk footprint, and the significant speed increases in launching the virtual machine and File IO, you should.”
Full article, with benchmarks, here.
