• Parallels Desktop Vs Vmware Fusion
• Parallels Desktop Review
• Parallels Or Vmware Fusion
• Vmware Fusion Vs Parallels
• Parallels Desktop For Mac Review

Windows on Mac Q&A - Updated March 22, 2010

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Actually to get the full picture you need to use both VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop yourself. Fortunately both VMWare and Parallels offer fully functional trials of their software, so you can try both and see which works best for you.

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With Parallels Desktop, you can switch between Mac and Windows without ever needing to reboot your computer. If you have already installed Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, or Windows 7 on your Mac using Boot Camp, you can set Parallels Desktop to run Windows from the Boot Camp Partition or import Windows and your data from Boot Camp into. Since buying my first Intel Mac in 2006, I have used Parallels Desktop for virtualization. I used it mainly for running Windows for when I needed to either test something or run an important application in Windows. Since last year, I have been running Mac VMs in Parallels to build packages, to test.

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Is there a free alternative to Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMWare Fusion?

Both Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMWare Fusion are available for download with a free trial and are reasonably priced. However, Innotek released a free open source 'virtualization' program called VirtualBox that makes it possible to run Windows and other operating systems 'inside' or 'alongside' MacOS X in much the same way as Desktop for Mac and Fusion.

On February 12, 2008, Sun Microsystems purchased Innotek to 'strengthen Sun's leadership in the virtualization market' and this acquistion has greatly increased awareness of VirtualBox.

• Time management tools—an alarm, timer, date countdown and stopwatch. Desktop parallels for mac. • Unpack files from ZIP, RAR and many other formats.

Sun describes the program as 'the world's most popular open source virtualization platform because of its fast performance, ease of use, rich functionality, and modular design.' No doubt the fact that it's free has something to do with it as well. Please note that although VirtualBox is free, the license needed to run a version of Windows is not.

Photo Credit: Sun Microsystems

In general, VirtualBox is not quite as full featured as the commercial alternatives, but it still has numerous features including 'seamless windows', shared folders, a shared clipboard, and more. It may meet your needs quite well.

Download VirtualBox for yourself and see. MakeUseOf.com has provided a great walk-through covering installation and configuration of the program that you may find to be useful and ArsTechnica offers an in-depth 'quick look' as well.

If VirtualBox does not meet your needs, site sponsor Other World Computing sells the latest versions of Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMWare Fusion.

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Parallels Desktop Vs Vmware Fusion

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Ironically, it's one of the biggest decisions you make when you get a Mac: How should I run Windows on it? Parallels or Fusion? An exhaustive battery of benchmarks by MacTech reveals a clear winner.

Parallels Desktop Review

The short story is that in most cases, Parallels runs a solid 14-20 percent faster than Fusion, except in the rather limited scenario of running Windows XP 32-bit on two virtual processors.

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Parallels Or Vmware Fusion

Overall, running 32-bit Windows OSes with a single virtual processor, Parallels is 14 percent faster; with two virtual processors, Parallels is 20 percent faster with Vista, while Fusion is 10 percent faster with XP; and for 64-bit Vista, Parallels is 15 percent speedier. Depending on the task, the numbers vary—like transcoding MP3s can be up to 30 percent faster on Parallels.

Vmware Fusion Vs Parallels

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Parallels Desktop For Mac Review

MacTech's tests are ridiculously comprehensive, spanning multiple machines with tons of different applications—the whole them took a couple months—so if you want the full, chart-heavy breakdown, head over there: [MacTech]