Parallels or VMware Fusion for 2020 iMac?

[kurtster]

I'm eyeing a 2020 iMac in the local classifieds at a great price to replace my 2012 iMac, which has ground to a halt. I plan to use the new iMac as a stopgap for 3 or 4 years, and then think about a longterm solution. For various reasons, an intel Mac running x64 Windows suits my workflow better than Mac silicon.

Anyway, I've been using Vmware Fusion on my iMac ever since I got it in 2012, I'm wondering if there's a good reason to switch to Parallels when the new iMac arrives. Interested to hear from people who jumped ship from VMWare to Parallels.

 

[Jim Lahey]

I made the jump to Parallels because VMWare had a habit of changing the adapter IP address irrespective of a fixed IP allocated in Windows. It was unusable for me. Basically impossible to pin down an IP with equipment that didn’t support DHCP. Parallels fixed the issue immediately. This was 10+ years ago mind you.

 

[Bigwaff]

VMWare's consumer division is being decimated after the acquisition by Broadcom. It's probably not long before Fusion is EOL. I'd go w/ Parallels, especially if you plan to use an Intel Mac.

VMware admits sweeping Broadcom changes are worrying customers

Broadcom has cut VMware products, perpetual licenses, and its partner program.

arstechnica.com

 

[gerdgoebel]

I have been using Parallels since version 13 in Intel MBPs, since 2021 I use it on my MBP M1. Hardly ever had any problems. I could download Windows versions directly from Parallels, even the ARM version on my M1.
Nearly all defaults set by Parallels worked for my 3 VM.
Just keep in mind that the standard edition limits you to 8GB of RAM, and 4CPUs. It was never a problem with my VM, but I don't have many demanding apps.
If you have those, you should check out the Pro version.

I had tried the free version of Fusion, but had errors on my M1 and for that version I did not get any support, thus, I remained on Parallels.

 

[kurtster]

I made the jump to Parallels because VMWare had a habit of changing the adapter IP address irrespective of a fixed IP allocated in Windows.

Yeah, I seem to remember having some IP address issue too ages ago. Remember contacting support but can't remember the outcome

VMWare's consumer division is being decimated after the acquisition by Broadcom. It's probably not long before Fusion is EOL. I'd go w/ Parallels, especially if you plan to use an Intel Mac.

Wow, I'm really out of the loop. Had no idea they'd been acquired, or that Fusion is now free (for personal use).

I have been using Parallels since version 13 in Intel MBPs, since 2021 I use it on my MBP M1. Hardly ever had any problems. I could download Windows versions directly from Parallels, even the ARM version on my M1.

That's a relief to hear. For my use case, 8GB should be enough.

 

[ifxf]

Have used Parallels for years and never had an issue. One downside is you need to buy a new version when you upgrade your macos to a new version. This is ok with me since apple hasn’t released a new feature un years that I find useful. i do now occasionally use a program that requires a newer macos then what I am running and my workaround is you run the newer macos in a virtual machine under Parallels.

 

[chrfr]

Wow, I'm really out of the loop. Had no idea they'd been acquired, or that Fusion is now free (for personal use).

If the free version of Fusion does what you need, use that, but don’t pay VMware any money at this point. I’m sure Fusion will either be discontinued or moved to subscription in the near future.

 

[Boyd01]

Have had a Parallels subscription since 2020 for my 2018 64gb hex-core i7 Mini. I needed a 32gb VM, so the standalone version was not an option. Still very pleased, it's been very robust with Windows 10 in spite of some very heavy use - I wrote about my usage recently here.

I also use it from time to time for some very expensive legacy software with MacOS Sierra and Mountain Lion VM's. These work surprisingly well and are noticeably faster than my old Macs natively running the same software. Sorry, no experience with Fusion. When I first set this up, I did some research and got the feeling that Parallels might be a little better solution for me. Of course, things may have changed since then and our needs could also be very different.

 

[gerdgoebel]

One downside is you need to buy a new version when you upgrade your macos to a new version.

Well, you not always need to upgrade your Parallels to a newer version when a new MacOS is available.
I normally just checked if Parallels stills works. Sometimes it does, thus, you can skip a Parallels upgrade, but sometimes you get too many errors and you need to upgrade Parallels.
I think it was with P16 that whenever I startet Parallels I got an error that it's not compatible with the new MacOS, but it still worked just fine.

 

[dewalt]

When I tried both, Parallels was far superior to Fusion, especially in the coherence mode. Fusion was always bad at it. Parallels made it so that when I opened my Windows outlook, it looked like I was using a MacOS program.

 

[ixxx69]

For heavy usage Windows users, Parallels is far more problem free and better supported.

For casual use where the Parallel's cost isn't justified, the free version of Fusion works just fine for most apps.

 

[gilby101]

I'm wondering if there's a good reason to switch to Parallels when the new iMac arrives.

Unless your workflow involves games, I would stick with Fusion. Works well and is free (I am assuming personal use). Whatever happens with Fusion in the future (which does not look good), the current version will continue to run on Intel Macs.

Ps. If you do get the 2020 iMac (and it is 27"), take care if you need to upgrade memory.

 

[HDFan]

I'm eyeing a 2020 iMac in the local classifieds at a great price

Be aware of the risks of buying privately. Some prefer paying more in order to buy from a reputable source with some warranty and a return policy. People have lost all of their money with such purchases.

I moved to Parallels a long time ago when VMWare corrupted all of its data. Haven't had any major problems with parallels.

 

[Benhama]

I've been Parallels for a number of years, and it's always been good to me.

 

[kurtster]

Unless your workflow involves games, I would stick with Fusion. Works well and is free (I am assuming personal use). Whatever happens with Fusion in the future (which does not look good), the current version will continue to run on Intel Macs.

Ps. If you do get the 2020 iMac (and it is 27"), take care if you need to upgrade memory.

Since it's free and I'm not a PC gamer I guess I should give it a shot first. Anyway, good to hear that Parallels works well for so many people.
The iMac I'm looking at has 64GB, so RAM shouldn't be an issue.

 

[jlc1978]

Anyway, I've been using Vmware Fusion on my iMac ever since I got it in 2012, I'm wondering if there's a good reason to switch to Parallels when the new iMac arrives. Interested to hear from people who jumped ship from VMWare to Parallels.

I have used both over the years since they were first introduced. Recently I've been using Parallels pretty much exclusively since it integrates better, in my experience, with the Mac OS file system. I can't seem to get the latest version of Fusion to have direct access to the Mac file system like I can with Parallels; so I wind up using cloud storage to access files on both when needed. Plus, I usually bought the perpetual license of Parallels at a discount, often as part of a bundle, every 2 - 3 years, so the annual cost was low.

However, as others point out, a lot depends on how you use it. I used either to test documents to ensure they looked teh same on both systems, and to use a few programs, such as Visio, not available on the Mac. My use was occasional, and can live with Fusion's limitations for a price of free. Both run just fine on my M1 MBP and M3 MBP. Parallels ran great on my 2020 MBP as well.

Looking at activity monitor, Parallels appears to be more memory intensive than Fusion, but 64GB is way more than enough for what I consider normal use, i.e. running Office, or other similar programs, gaming or resource intensive programs such as video editing, 3d modeling, etc. is more challenging on a processor and memory basis.

Parallels has a trial, IIRC, so why not give it a go and see if it is better than Fusion?