Running the current generations of these two virtualization programs—Parallels 8 Desktop for Mac () and VMware Fusion 5 ()—on one of today’s ultrafast Macs, only the most hardcore Windows.
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.
- Features Review of VMware Fusion 10 Pro. VMware has launched it Fusion 10 Pro, and one can easily pot the enhanced GPU plus 3D graphics performance, as well as a new intuitive Touch bar support.
- In part 1 of my Running Windows on a Mac series, I made it very clear that virtualization solutions such as Parallels or VMware Fusion are merely a compromise for anyone who needs to get serious.
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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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.
Parallels For Mac Vs Vmware
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Parallels Versus Vmware
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]