Parallels Desktop 5 ships with a host of new and improved features

I've been running Boot Camp, Parallels 5, and Fusion 3 on my MacBook Pro (15-inch, Mid 2009, 3.06 GHz) with Windows 7 for a couple of days now. I've done some testing and thought I'd give you my thoughts and observations. Each was running it's own, clean install of Windows 7, nothing was shared.

I ran the "Windows Experience" test in all 3 (64-bit Win 7 in Boot Cam, 32-Bit in both Parallels & Fusion) to see how Windows rated my system.

Boot Camp: 5.9
Parallels 5: 4.5
Fusion 3: 3.6

These are just numbers, but in reality it's a very good approximation of how they feel in real world usage. Parallels is undeniably faster than Fusion. It's snappier, has a more responsive GUI, and often feels like the real thing. Fusion on the other hand is very sluggish at times, and I get the spinning wheel far too often.

Another big advantage for Parallels is disk space. The "60 GB" hard drive that Windows sees under Parallels, in reality is less than 10GB on my OS X drive. On the other hand, what Windows sees under Fusion is exactly how much space the file takes up on your drive. It's a significant difference if you're pressed for space.

On the other hand, there is no denying that Fusion 3 is more polished than Parallels. There are some weird, quirky things with Parallels that you don't ever see using Fusion. Odd files will appear on the desktop, your dock will disappear and reappear, and occasionally you'll find Windows or Mac apps launching to do things you were trying to do in the other OS. None of this seems to affect the reliability or function of either OS X or Windows, but it's a bit off putting for a version 5 release.

Finally, and this probably matters little in the grand scheme for most users, but Fusion 3 is 64-bit under Snow Leopard, while Parallels is not.

If speed is your priority, use Parallels. If a polished user experience without any quirks is your thing, go with Fusion 3. You already know when to use Boot Camp, but with either solution, for the best performance and experience, don't use the Boot Camp partition.

Just bought 3 copies for all my systems and installed on my OctoMac Pro first. When I started it, it clobbered my VMs such that Windows boots then stalls at a completely black window with 3 CPUs running at 100%.

I tried to file a bug report but the Parallels Support system keeps telling me that I have 30 days of free help but I need to get a support code first. There doesn't seem to be any way to get a support code without paying additional for it.

I uninstalled Parallels 5 and am now restoring Parallels 4 and my VMs from Time Machine. Great way to run a company, right?

This really makes me want to throw things. After MONTHS, of constant emails from Parallels asking me to upgrade, I finally did on September 13th, and now this happens!

But, that's not all! I was cheated the first time too! I bought my copy of 3.0 at Target, for the same price as version 4, when version 4.0 was already out!!

I guess I'll try to talk them into giving me a free upgrade, and if that doesn't work, I guess I'll have to find "alternate methods"........

I upgraded and got BSOD over and over. Need to go into config and adjust the number of processors. Once I did this, the Virtual XP and 7 both booted up fine. I saw a few others on the Parallels forum have the same issues.

Well, Parallels 5 runs a lot faster than Fusion 3 on my Mac, and Coherence seems to work a lot better than Unity does (no weird artifacts, etc...) Aero also runs plenty fast - I think in this round, Parallels will get my money.

The just released version 5 is not a 64bit app. It does not appear to run any faster than v4. on my 10.6 machine. VMWARE Fusion 3 is at least partially a 64bit app, the VM environment runs 64bit the Fusion extensions do not... Also It drives me nuts that one has to create a account and be sent a email with the download link to get updates..

Just from playing around with the trial, I noticed that Parallels now supports Compiz effects in Linux, something that VMware and VirtualBox still can't do. And on an Intel X3100, at that. Color me impressed.

Ok.. just installed it with a fresh install of Windows 7.

I have to say, meh. VMWare Fusion 3 seems much more polished. I don't know who decided on the "Spotlight" esque menubar item, but VMWare simply works better. Also, I don't like how Parallels will kill and relaunch my Dock just to add it's icons, etc..

Performance seems ok, but VMWare tends to idle better on my machine. Parallels would jump from 3% to 25% while doing nothing in Crystal mode.

Aero on both VMWare and Parallels in a joke in Unity/Coherence. It just looks awful and not what I was expecting at all by their claims. It seems to do fine in window or full screen mode though.

I haven't had a chance to test out 3d performance, but so far I haven't been convinced that it's worth it for me to switch after just shelling out $40 for Fusion 3 last week.

They really should've said they were launching this, and they might have gotten some more people to jump ship. I actually would be more likely to think about purchasing Parallels if I hadn't just bought the upgrade to Fusion 3.

Oh well... I'm gonna run the trial through it's paces some more over the next couple days.

I was just testing out version 4.0 this week because I needed something after I finally upgraded to Snow Leopard…..this is cool that they've updated it right from under my nose. Heck, I was happy with the speed increase with 4.0.

I just installed this and it's fast. I also like the new interface you can apply to make your windows look like mac.

I'm a fan.