VMware Fusion Or Parallels Desktop For Mac?

Gee, I never thought that choosing a virtualization solution would be this difficult. All I want is to be able to run multiple operating systems, like Windows and Linux, on our new MacBook. When Macs started using Intel processors, virtualization software for Macs started appearing as well.

So what makes choosing difficult? First, there are actually choices to choose from. There are two very good products. There is the already released Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac and the soon to be released VMware Fusion. Parallels has a head start. Here is a picture of Parallels with Windows XP running full screen. (Yes, it is Windows running on a Mac!)



VMware is the industry leader but is playing catch up here. But it promises better features like being able to run both 32- and 64-bit operating systems, which makes our investment future-proof. Here's a picture of VMware Fusion with Ubuntu running full screen (again, it is Linux running on a Mac!):



And second, VMware is pricing Fusion similar to Parallels: $79.99. This is around PhP3,700+. But if we pre-order before August 15 (which is near Fusion's target release date), we get it for $39.99 or PhP1,800+. Another good deal.

So which one? We'll decide later.