Parallels or VMware?
Jim Backus
programmes that need Windows and was considering installing one of the
virtual machine solutions on my Macbook. As the most up to date
version of Windows I have is Windows 98SE I was considering installing
that on a virtual machine.
The programmes I want to run include an antenna measurement software,
a sound level meter, Visio 5 and Lotus Smartsuite version 9.7. All of
these run under Win 98SE. The first two use a serial interface so I
was proposing using a USB to serial converter.
Which of the two leading virtual machines is likely to be best for my
needs? Parallels seems to get more publicity but I've heard that
VMware is considered better.
TIA for any advice
Jim
--
Jim Backus running OS/2 Warp 3 & 4, Mac OS X and Win98SE
bona fide replies to j <dot> backus <the circle thingy> jita <dot>
demon <dot> co <dot> uk
Howard Brazee
wrote:
>Which of the two leading virtual machines is likely to be best for my
>needs? Parallels seems to get more publicity but I've heard that
>VMware is considered better.
I've heard that they take turns being better. At this stage,
features might be what you should look at.
That said, I will say that Parallel's support was terrible for me.
--
"In no part of the constitution is more wisdom to be found,
than in the clause which confides the question of war or peace
to the legislature, and not to the executive department."
- James Madison
Jamie Kahn Genet
> My old IBM thinkpad has exhausted its battery. I've still got a few
> programmes that need Windows and was considering installing one of the
> virtual machine solutions on my Macbook. As the most up to date
> version of Windows I have is Windows 98SE I was considering installing
> that on a virtual machine.
>
> The programmes I want to run include an antenna measurement software,
> a sound level meter, Visio 5 and Lotus Smartsuite version 9.7. All of
> these run under Win 98SE. The first two use a serial interface so I
> was proposing using a USB to serial converter.
>
> Which of the two leading virtual machines is likely to be best for my
> needs? Parallels seems to get more publicity but I've heard that
> VMware is considered better.
>
> TIA for any advice
>
> Jim
What about the free and excellent <http://www.virtualbox.org/> instead?
Though if you want to go commercial for some reason (and there are not
many now VirtualBox is so good), I prefer VMware's Fusion.
--
If you're not part of the solution, you're part of the precipitate.
David Empson
> My old IBM thinkpad has exhausted its battery. I've still got a few
> programmes that need Windows and was considering installing one of the
> virtual machine solutions on my Macbook. As the most up to date
> version of Windows I have is Windows 98SE I was considering installing
> that on a virtual machine.
>
> The programmes I want to run include an antenna measurement software,
> a sound level meter, Visio 5 and Lotus Smartsuite version 9.7. All of
> these run under Win 98SE. The first two use a serial interface so I
> was proposing using a USB to serial converter.
>
> Which of the two leading virtual machines is likely to be best for my
> needs? Parallels seems to get more publicity but I've heard that
> VMware is considered better.
Given the need for a special USB peripheral, I'd lean slightly towards
VMware, because earlier versions had better support for USB devices than
Parallels. I believe Parallels has resolved this issue now, but I
haven't used it myself so can't say for certain.
I got VMware Fusion at its introduction, mainly due to a half price
sale, but also because it had several technical advantages over
Parallels Desktop at the time (most of which no longer apply because
Parallels has caught up). I haven't regretted that purchase.
--
David Empson
dem...@actrix.gen.nz
Jim Backus
wrote:
David, Howard & Jamie,
Thanks for your advice. It looks as though VMware Fusion get two votes
without anything adverse against either. Virtualbox, which I hadn't
heard of, being a viable alternative. I'll do more investigation and
report back to the group in due course.
Thanks again
Tony Lawrence (pcunix)
> On Mon, 18 May 2009 00:39:23 UTC, demp...@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson)
I was a long time Parallels user who recently switched to Fusion 2.
My main reason for switching was that I could install some obscure
OSes on Fusion that wouldn't work on Parallels. As I needed access
to those, and didn't want the overhead or the confusion of using both,
I just dropped all the Parallels and went strictly Fusion.
--
Tony Lawrence
http://aplawrence.com/MacOSX
Kevin Michael Vail
dem...@actrix.gen.nz (David Empson) wrote:
> Jim Backus <b...@jita.demon.co.uk> wrote:
>
> > Which of the two leading virtual machines is likely to be best for my
> > needs? Parallels seems to get more publicity but I've heard that
> > VMware is considered better.
>
> []
>
> I got VMware Fusion at its introduction, mainly due to a half price
> sale, but also because it had several technical advantages over
> Parallels Desktop at the time (most of which no longer apply because
> Parallels has caught up). I haven't regretted that purchase.
I bought Parallels originally because that's what was available, and was
happy with them right up until I upgraded to Version 4. The first
version of v4 was rushed out too soon, and I was having major problems
with it, so I bought VMWare. I'm pretty sure Parallels has fixed the
problems I was having, but I'm happy with VMWare now.
--
Kevin Michael Vail� � | I would rather have a mind opened by wonder
ke...@vaildc.net� � � | than one closed by belief. � -- Gerry Spence
Howard Brazee
<ke...@vaildc.net> wrote:
>I bought Parallels originally because that's what was available, and was
>happy with them right up until I upgraded to Version 4. The first
>version of v4 was rushed out too soon, and I was having major problems
>with it, so I bought VMWare. I'm pretty sure Parallels has fixed the
>problems I was having, but I'm happy with VMWare now.
That was a disaster. I lost one of my VMs then, and my experience
with their help desk, even after they fixed the 4.0 problems (trying
to get my VM back and working from Time Machine), was even a bigger
disaster.
If I get a new computer, I will start off with a boot partition along
with either Parallels or VMWare to access that Windows machine from
within OSX.
The Windows program I use most often is semi-compatible with
CrossOver.
Kadin2048
> Which of the two leading virtual machines is likely to be best for my
> needs? Parallels seems to get more publicity but I've heard that
> VMware is considered better.
I know this is getting a bit old now, but I just thought I'd toss in a
vote for VMWare Fusion. I picked it up for my first Intel Mac last
month, and have really nothing bad to say about it.
The major plus of VMWare, to me, is that the image format is a de
facto standard. There are a lot of 'virtual appliances' you can
download in VMWare format, and you can create a VMWare image in Fusion
and be assured that it'll run on someone else's system with a copy of
VMWare.
For what I do, that's a huge plus. If I'm having an issue with a
virtual machine, it's trivial to copy it to a portable HD and pass it
to someone else who can fire it up and help me with the problem.
Although I think some of the other virtualization solutions will
convert to/from VMWare format, not having any extra steps to work
through and knowing that it'll 'just work' pushed me to VMWare versus
the alternatives.
Also, they were doing a $20 rebate on Amazon recently, which pushed
the price down to $50 or so, IIRC. Not sure if it's still going on,
but they do seem to run deals from time to time.
-Kadin.
Jamie Kahn Genet
Academic pricing also knocks off a fair bit, but really people should
IMO try the free Virtual Box before Fusion. I prefer Fusion, but it's a
very close run thing! :-)
Michael Dines
macupdate.com currently have a bundle with Parallels, Techtool pro, and
some other useful stuff for $49.99. I bought and installed it and
Parallels seems ok, but I may stick with Fusion, since that's what I use
when I have to.
Howard Brazee
How hard is it to copy a Parallels VM to VMware, if I wanted to do
that?
How hard is it to create a boot manager partition on a computer
without one - and copy/move my Parallels (or VMware) VM to it,
accessible from booting or from the VM?
Calum
> A couple of questions:
>
> How hard is it to copy a Parallels VM to VMware, if I wanted to do
> that?
Video/info at <http://www.vmware.com/download/fusion/importer_tool.html>
Howard Brazee
Looks good. I assume I can create a VMware/boot manager before
copying it over. I haven't looked at all of the videos yet.