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    Ready to buy a new MBP - Parallels or VMWare Fusion?

    Discussion in 'Apple and Mac OS X' started by jjfcpa, Jun 14, 2007.

  1. jjfcpa

    jjfcpa Notebook Evangelist

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    I'm ready to buy a new MBP 15.4" 2.4 but I need to run Vista Ultimate.

    What's my best option - Parallels (I use it currently with XP) or VMWare Fusion.

    I need to run Vista Ultimate because I am developing software for windows and I need to ensure Vista compatibility.
     
    jjfcpa, Jun 14, 2007
    #1
  2. LiveDesign

    LiveDesign Notebook Evangelist

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    Look at Boot Camp (FREE) from Apple. Works wonders.
     
    LiveDesign, Jun 14, 2007
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  3. odin243

    odin243 Notebook Prophet

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    Boot Camp will give you a completely native instance of Vista, no emulation so no slowdown with games. However you can only run one OS at a time.
     
    odin243, Jun 14, 2007
    #3
  4. awes1003

    awes1003 Notebook Guru

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    I've had a great experience (3 days so far with my MBP) with Parallels. Although I am running XP Pro and not Vista. I would think any VM software will have some hitches with Vista because it's the latest and greatest. But the good thing about any VM is that you can always kill it/ reset windows easily if it fails.
    I do not think Parallels supports the 64 bit editions of Vista if that is the version you need, but I did read they will be offering support for it soon.
     
    awes1003, Jun 14, 2007
    #4
  5. hollownail

    hollownail Individual 11

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    Coming from havint tested both VMWare Fusion and using Parallls, I have to say Parallels is MUCH better than VMWare.

    And of course, XP > Vista.
     
    hollownail, Jun 14, 2007
    #5
  6. jjfcpa

    jjfcpa Notebook Evangelist

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    Thanks for the quick responses.

    I've read some issues with running Vista in bootcamp... have those been resolved with Bootcamp 1.3?

    Is there anything that doesn't work when running Vista in bootcamp? Do all your USB components work ok?
     
    jjfcpa, Jun 14, 2007
    #6
  7. ourfinal

    ourfinal Notebook Geek

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    can someone give me a % of how much slower parallels is compared to bootcamp when running xp?
     
    ourfinal, Jun 14, 2007
    #7
  8. nikhsub1

    nikhsub1 Notebook Enthusiast

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    Ult vista runs great with 1.3... so long as you use 32 bit and not 64. I tried to install 64 bit TWICE, no drivers would install even after disabling the mandatory driver signing. 32 bit works very well though.
     
    nikhsub1, Jun 14, 2007
    #8
  9. gusto5

    gusto5 Notebook Deity

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    Bootcamp unless you need to run something in OSX at the same time as something in windows, then parallels
     
    gusto5, Jun 14, 2007
    #9
  10. jjfcpa

    jjfcpa Notebook Evangelist

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    But as I understand, Vista Ultimate will not run Aero in Parallels?
     
    jjfcpa, Jun 14, 2007
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  11. sandifop

    sandifop Newbie

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    I have used Parallels for several months and VMware for a week. The VM product feels like it was coded by professional business people. Their Beta4 feels more complete than Parallels 2.x. The factor that decides when I consider software is support.

    I would not give either side 5 of 5 stars but the crud that Parallels just pulled (releasing Parallels 3 w/3D Direct 8.1 support) has cost them my business. They dropped that bomb as a completed product, took my money (my bad) and will not respond to my reasonably toned requests for assistance. It is as though their support team vanished over the last 10 days.

    When I first tried VMware Fusion (beta2) I did not receive a reply either but that was on a bug report for beta software. I am now using beta4 and I am very impressed.
     
    sandifop, Jun 17, 2007
    #11