“VMware Fusion 8, the latest version of VMware’s OS X virtualization software, launched last week, shortly after the appearance of its primary rival, Parallels Desktop 11,” Jim Tanous reports for TekRevue.
Today “we’re focusing on the Fusion line, and we’re specifically interested to see how Fusion 8 compares to Fusion 7, released around the same time last year, and how both options compare to native performance via Boot Camp,” Tanous reports. “VMware Fusion 8 really impressed us this year, and we were surprised by both its new features and its relatively consistent performance gains over its predecessor.”
Tanous reports, “We can give you a teaser from our forthcoming VM Benchmark Showdown and report that Fusion 8 doesn’t win every performance battle with Parallels 11, but it comes in very strong this year, and is a no-brainer upgrade for Fusion 7 customers looking for support for the latest operating systems or significantly improved graphics performance and capabilities.”
Tons more in the full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: For those stuck having to slum it with Windows on your Mac, what’s your poison: Parallels, Fusion, Boot Camp, VirtualBox, or something else?
Sun’s virtual box is the worse of all, but it makes a pretty danm good emulator for a free program.
I use VMWare with a BootCamp partition.
Approach:
Setup Bootcamp partition. Have VMWare use launch Bootcamp installation. I always have the option to boot Windows through VMWare or with a direct starting up BootCamp.
Reason:
1. VMWare more cleanly separates Windows and OSX software (low level) than Parallel while still providing good User Interface integration.
2. VMWare can, optionally, use a BootCamp partition.
3. VMWare performance is very good for the cpu-intensive Windows-only applications. (e.g. SolidWorks and AutoDesk Inventor Pro)
I use Parallels with a BootCamp partition.
Approach:
Setup Bootcamp partition. Have Parallels use launch Bootcamp installation. I always have the option to boot Windows through Parallels or with a direct starting up BootCamp.
Reason:
1. Parallels can clearly separate or merge the Mac and Windows environment depending on your taste.
2. Parallels can, optionally, use a BootCamp partition.
3. Parallels performance is exceptionally good for the cpu-intensive Windows-only applications. (e.g. SolidWorks and AutoDesk Inventor Pro).
I can pop open multiple virtual machines. Windows, LINUX, other OS Xs while running Parallels.
I use all three. They each have there strengths and weaknesses.
I user VMware mostly.
VirtualBox. Of course, my Windows usage at home is exceptionally small.
Parallels and bootcamp here. It seems sacrilegious to put Windows on a Mac, but the ability has allowed me to remain a Mac user in the face of corporate mono-culture.
Ditto.
I have used Parallels (now version 10) without bootcamp for years with PC based (windows 7) Electronic medical record and Dragon dictation. Works better than the PCs in our office. I have some minor problems with USB devices at times.
I like vm’s because it lets you cleanly uninstall any Redmond produced clusterf*ck OS by simply dragging it to the trashcan.
Ha ha, I’m slumming it with a BootCamp partition running Windows 10 on an iMac Retina. I only use Windows for a couple of technical applications and some games. There are a few typical Windows design issues, but it certainly looks beautiful. So far I would rank Windows 10 on par (or even slightly better) than Windows 7.
Alas I didn’t get the spec-check OK to “upgrade” to Win 10. Win 7 is the least worst for an occasional user like me, just installed VMF 8 and it seems faster all around for what I do. (ChemOffice Ultra-superdupertothemax-but-only-for-Windas :(…
Windows 10 is a new world of Google-like spying on everything a user does when you are in Windows 10.
You can strip it down or pay extra for business/enterprise copies that don’t have the spyware installed on “Win10 for Dummies”, but there is another way for some users.
Put Windows in Boot Camp and once it is updates, never turn on networking or WiFi. That way you get cheap Win10 and it doesn’t/can’t “phone home” to Uncle Satya.
Fusion 7. I keep getting the pop up saying to upgrade to Fusion 8, which I need to do because Windows 10 doesn’t play very well with Fusion 7. But I don’t use it that often right now. I haven’t tried parallels, anyone have any major reasons to look at parallels versus upgrading to Fusion 8?
By the way, my windows is a full BootCamp partition that I access both through VMware and occasionally through direct boot up (when I need all my computing power as opposed to a small fraction, such as for PC games or working with huge files).
Last I checked Parallels had superior Multitouch support. That still the case…?
I use Boot Camp for gaming.