Win a Samsung 22-inch LCD monitor from Joystiq!

Parallels vs. VMWare: Benchmark results

Like it or not, lots of us who own Intel-based Macs have to run Windows from time to time. Although Boot Camp is pretty fantastic if you need to run a processor intensive application (or you want to play games), virtualization is the more attractive solution for users who need to access productivity applications, like Microsoft Office 2007, but don't want to have to live in the Windows environment. The two big players in the virtualization field are VMWare's Fusion and Parallels' Parallels. Both applications let you install a Windows XP or Vista virtual machine on your Intel Mac without having to leave OS X, both offer a level of integration between the two operating systems and both retai for $79.99 (USD). So, which virtualization program is the fastest? Well, that's what MacTech attempted to find out in their exhaustive benchmarking trials, comparing Fusion 1.0 (build 51348), Parallels 3.0 (build 5160) and Boot Camp head-to-head-to-head in a variety of different computing tasks.

So what's the bottom line? Because of how the software if designed to integrate between the two platforms, Parallels came out ahead in many of MacTech's tests. For certain more processor heavy uses, VMWare, thanks to its ability to take advantage of both cores, came out the best. For networking performance, Boot Camp was king.

While I found the benchmarking tests very interesting - and useful - prospective buyers should be aware that in the middle of MacTech's testing procedure, all three Windows options for OS X were upgraded. With the release of Leopard, Boot Camp came out of beta and VMWare is now at version 1.1 and Parallels was updated on December 5 to build 5582. I know just from my own unscientific experience, Fusion 1.1 improved significantly in speed and overall performance from version 1.0 and while I was a big fan of Parallels under Tiger, I have "switched" to Fusion for Leopard.

Trial-versions are available for both programs. Remember that in order to use Windows XP or Vista, you need a valid user license.

Thanks, Rich.

Related Headlines

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

TUAW Features

back-to-school
Mac 101 ask-tuaw
Mac News
WWDC (251)
.Mac (66)
Accessories (652)
Airport (75)
Analysis / Opinion (1424)
Apple (1698)
Apple Corporate (580)
Apple Financial (200)
Apple History (51)
Apple Professional (54)
Apple TV (164)
Audio (450)
Bad Apple (131)
Beta Beat (155)
Blogging (87)
Bluetooth (19)
Bugs/Recalls (57)
Cult of Mac (879)
Deals (225)
Desktops (116)
Developer (282)
Education (110)
eMac (10)
Enterprise (147)
Features (412)
Freeware (399)
Gaming (397)
Graphic Design (38)
Hardware (1308)
Holidays (37)
Humor (589)
iBook (66)
iLife (240)
iMac (185)
Internet (340)
Internet Tools (1342)
iTS (982)
iTunes (823)
iWork (23)
Leopard (376)
Mac mini (112)
Mac Pro (54)
MacBook (206)
MacBook Air (83)
Macbook Pro (226)
MobileMe (47)
Multimedia (459)
Odds and ends (1489)
Open Source (282)
OS (940)
Peripherals (214)
Podcasting (183)
Podcasts (95)
Portables (198)
PowerBook (136)
PowerMac G5 (51)
Retail (612)
Retro Mac (50)
Rig of the Week (42)
Rumors (642)
Software (4459)
Software Update (428)
Steve Jobs (254)
Stocking Stuffers (50)
Surveys and Polls (98)
Switchers (114)
The Woz (35)
TUAW Business (257)
Universal Binary (281)
UNIX / BSD (61)
Video (908)
Weekend Review (84)
WIN Business (47)
Wireless (89)
Xserve (39)
iPhone/iPod News
iPhone (1789)
iPod Family (2118)
App Store (158)
SDK (29)
Mac Events
One More Thing (27)
Liveblog (2)
Other Events (226)
Macworld (489)
Mac Learning
AppleScript (4)
Ask TUAW (107)
Blogs (85)
Books (26)
Books and Blogs (62)
Cool tools (451)
Hacks (472)
How-tos (490)
Interviews (44)
Mods (191)
Productivity (591)
Reviews (114)
Security (167)
Terminal Tips (66)
Tips and tricks (575)
Troubleshooting (173)
TUAW Features
iPhone 101 (36)
TUAW Labs (4)
Blast From the Past (19)
TUAW Tips (150)
Flickr Find (38)
Found Footage (90)
Mac 101 (111)
TUAW Interview (31)
Widget Watch (198)
The Daily Best (1)
TUAW Faceoff (6)

RESOURCES

RSS NEWSFEEDS

Powered by Blogsmith

Sponsored Links

The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) bloggers (30 days)

#BloggerPostsCmts
1Cory Bohon551
2Robert Palmer5339
3Steven Sande4915
4Mike Schramm250
5Erica Sadun231
6Michael Rose2328
7Dave Caolo210
8Giles Turnbull190
9Mat Lu188
10Christina Warren1328
11Brett Terpstra120
12TUAW Blogger70
13Victor Agreda, Jr.512
14Scott McNulty10
15Jason Clarke11

Featured Galleries

DNC Macs
Macworld 2008 Keynote
Macworld 2008 Build-up
Apple Vanity Plates
DiscPainter
Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D
Macworld Expo 2007 show floor
Apple Texas Hold 'Em
The Macworld Faithful in Line

 

    Most Commented On (7 days)

    Recent Comments

    More Apple Analysis

    More from AOL Money and Finance

    Other Weblogs Inc. Network blogs you might be interested in: