Revision 266421541 of "Comparison of VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop" on enwiki

Represented by their respective products, [[VMware]] and [[Parallels, Inc.|Parallels]] are the two major commercial competitors in the [[Macintosh|Mac]] consumer [[virtualization]] market. Both products are based on [[hypervisor]] technology and allow users to run an additional 32- or 64-bit [[x86]] [[operating system]] in a [[virtual machine]] alongside [[Mac OS X]] on an [[Intel]]-powered Mac.  The similarity in features and functionality between '''[[VMware Fusion]]''' and '''[[Parallels Desktop for Mac]]''' has given occasion for much comparison.

== Overview ==

VMware Fusion is currently a second generation product. It was first officially released on August 06, 2007<ref>{{cite web|title=WWDC: VMware brings virtual machines to Mac OS X |url=http://www.macworld.com/news/2006/08/07/vmware/index.php |publisher=Macworld |date=[[2006-08-06]]}}</ref>, and version 2.0 was released on September 16, 2008 [http://twitter.com/vmwarefusion].  Parallels Desktop is currently a fourth generation product. It was first officially released as version 2.5 on February 27, 2007, while version 3.0 was released June 7, 2007<ref>[http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/07/technology/07pogue-email.html?ei=5087&em=&en=4d3f0a590bb133c1&ex=1181793600&pagewanted=all Breaking Down the Walls Between Mac OS X and Windows - New York Times<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref> and version 4.0 was released November 11, 2008<ref>http://www.macworld.com/article/136717/2008/11/parallels.html</ref>.  VMware Fusion initially focused on performance and platform features while Parallels Desktop initially focused on more end-user features.  However, as shown in the features table below, each product has made additions in both areas with each of its succeeding versions.{{Or|date=January 2009}}

==Features==

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: smaller; text-align: center; width: 100%; table-layout: fixed;"
! rowspan="2"| Feature
! colspan="2"| Product
|-
! VMware Fusion 2
! Parallels Desktop 4.0
|-
| 64-bit support
| {{yes}}'''<sup>1</sup>'''
| {{yes}}'''<sup>1</sup>'''
|-
| 32-bit support
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| Run Mac OS X Server virtual machines
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| Run Mac OS X Snow Leopard
| {{yes | experimental - guest}}
| {{yes | experimental - guest and host}}
|-
| Run Windows 7 virtual machines
| {{yes | Runs (Identified as WIndows Vista)}}
| {{yes | experimental}}
|-
| SMP support
| {{yes|Up to 4 processors per VM }}
| {{yes|Up to 8 processors per VM }}
|-
| Adaptive Hypervisor resource optimizer
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| Max RAM per VM
| {{yes|16 GB}}
| {{yes|8 GB}}
|-
| [[DirectX]] support
| {{yes|DirectX 9.0c with Shader Model 2}}
| {{yes|DirectX 9.0c with Shader Model 2.0}}
|-
| [[OpenGL]] support
| {{no}}
| {{yes|OpenGL 2}}
|-
| Video memory
| {{yes | 128}}
| {{yes | 256}}
|-
| Intel Streaming [[SIMD]] Extensions
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| High-definition support
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| [[Bluetooth]] support
| {{yes}}'''<sup>2</sup>'''
| {{yes}}'''<sup>2</sup>'''
|-
| Spaces support
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| USB 2.0 support
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| [[Power management]] function
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| Easy Install with Automatic Windows Setup
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| iPhone remote access
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| Scalable VM window function
| {{no}}
| {{yes | Modality}}
|-
| Integrated window function for Windows
| {{yes | Unity}}
| {{yes | Coherence}}
|-
| Integrated window function for Linux
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|-
| Windows Start Menu integration with Mac Dock
| {{partial|yes (no icons)}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| Smart selection function
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| File integration function
| {{yes}}'''<sup>4</sup>'''
| {{yes}}'''<sup>4</sup>'''
|-
| Shared screenshot utility
| {{yes}}
| {{yes | Clips}}
|-
| Speech Recognition
| {{no}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| [[Boot Camp (software)|Boot Camp]] support
| {{yes|Windows XP (32-bit), Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit)}}
| {{yes|Windows XP (32-bit), Windows Vista (32-bit and 64-bit)}}
|-
| VM conversion function
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| Multiple display support
| {{yes|Up to 10, unique separate display}}
| {{partial|Up to 2, single logical display}}
|-
| Multiple snapshot support
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| Snapshot manager
| {{yes | linear display}}
| {{yes | tree display}}
|-
| Option to schecule automatic snapshots
| {{yes | AutoProtect}}
| {{yes | SmartGuard}}
|-
| Mount virtual machines in finder (VM explorer function)
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| Windows Security Software
| {{yes|12-month subscription to McAfee VirusScan Plus}}
| {{yes|12-month subscription to Kaspersky Internet Security}}
|-
| Windows Backup Software
| {{no}}
| {{yes|[[Acronis True Image]] Home}}
|-
| Windows Disk Management Software
| {{no}}
| {{yes|[[Acronis]] Disk Director Suite}}
|-
| Security Manager
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| Pause/Resume/Suspend functions
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| Automated Linux Install and Setup
| {{yes}}
| {{no}}
|-
| Linux virtual machine support
| {{yes|Window resize, time sync, shared folders, drag and drop}}
| {{partial|Window resize, time sync, shared folders}}
|-
| Multi-language support
| {{yes}}
| {{yes}}
|-
| FireWire support
| {{no}}
| {{no}}
|}
'''<sup>1</sup>'''An Intel-based Mac with a Core 2 Duo or Xeon processor is required to run the 64-bit guest operating system<ref>[http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/system_requirements.html Fusion System Requirements: Run Windows on Mac and Get Two Operating Systems - VMware<!-- Bot generated title -->]</ref>

'''<sup>2</sup>'''Must install Apple Boot Camp drivers.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.macworld.com/2007/04/features/windows_vmware/index.php|title=VMware: New Kid on the Block}}</ref><ref>http://forum.parallels.com/thread8813.html</ref>

'''<sup>3</sup>'''Not enabled by default.

'''<sup>4</sup>'''Shared folders and virtual mirroring of Document folders.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://parallelsvirtualization.blogspot.com/2007/08/beta2-automatically-share-movies.html |title=Parallels blog on automatically sharing of Documents between Windows and Mac OS X |last=Rudolph |first=Ben |date=[[2007-08-24]] |accessdate=2007-09-28}}</ref>

==Minimum system requirements==

{| class="wikitable" style="font-size: smaller; text-align: center; width: 100%; table-layout: fixed;"
! rowspan="2"| Requirement
! colspan="2"| Product
|-
! VMware Fusion 2
! Parallels Desktop 3.0
|-
| Host OS
| Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later
| Mac OS X 10.4.11 or later
|-
| RAM
| 1 GB (2 GB Recommended)
| 1 GB (2 GB Recommended)
|-
| Disk space for product
| 400 MB
| 100 MB
|-
| Recommended disk space for virtual machine
| 10 GB
| 15 GB
|}

==Benchmark tests==
MacTech and CNET have each compared the performance of Parallels and Fusion side-by-side in a series of virtualization benchmark tests, each with different results.

===MacTech===
In Volume 24, Issue 02 of [[MacTech]], the editors published the results of one-step and task tests between VMware Fusion, Parallels Desktop and Boot Camp and used a PC running Windows XP as a baseline comparison in a native PC environment.<ref>{{cite web |last=Ticktin |first=Neil |title=Virtualization Benchmarking How do Boot Camp, Parallels Desktop, and VMware Fusion stack up? |accessdate=February 2008 |url=http://www.mactech.com/articles/mactech/Vol.24/24.02/VirtualizationBenchmark/ |publisher=MacTech}}</ref> 
*One-step Test: After clicking the mouse or pressing a key, this test requires no further human action.
* Task Test: This tests the interaction between Mac OS X and the virtual environment and requires multiple tests throughout the process.

MacTech found that the faster the physical host computer, the more similarly Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion performed. MacTech did not test multiple processor performance. The following graphs displays the results in seconds.  Shorter bars indicate faster performance.

[[Image:Mactech---cross-platform.png‎]] [[Image:mactech---network---file-io.png]]

Each test was run on a [[MacBook]] (2 GB RAM; 1.83 GHz Core Duo processor), a [[MacBook Pro]] (4GB RAM; 2.16 GHz Core 2 Duo processor) and a [[MacPro]] (4GB RAM; Quad Core configuration with two 2.66 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon processors).  MacTech tested Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac Build 5160 and VMware Fusion 1.0 Build 51348.
All tests were done on clean host systems with new installations of Mac OS X 10.4.10 and Office installations and included all of the most up-to-date patches.  No third party software was installed other than Mac OS X, VMware Fusion, Parallels Desktop, [[Windows XP]], [[Windows Vista]], [[Adobe Acrobat|Adobe Reader]] and [[Microsoft Office]].

====Cross-platform task tests====
MacTech’s cross platform tests timed how long it took users to perform multi-step tasks that moved data between Mac OS X and Windows.  VMware Fusion, which is designed for increased isolation from the host, requires more manual steps to move data between the host and the virtual environment.  Parallels Desktop, which is designed to run transparently with the Mac OS X host, requires fewer steps to perform the same tasks.  Therefore, Parallels Desktop was faster.

====Networking and file I/O tests====
Parallels Desktop occasionally displayed lag anomalies while VMware Fusion's virtual drive performance was very close to that of a physical drive.  VMware Fusion preferred a bridged connection for reliable performance, and Parallels Desktop was consistent regardless of the type of virtual network adaptor used.

===CNET===
On August 16, 2007, [[CNET]] published the results of several benchmarks<ref name=cnet_benchmarks>{{cite web |last=Begun |first=Daniel |title=Inside CNET Labs: Windows virtual machine performance on the Mac |url=http://crave.cnet.com/8301-1_105-9760910-1.html |publisher=CNET |date=[[2007-08-17]] |accessdate=2007-10-04}}</ref> in which Fusion demonstrated better performance than Parallels Desktop for Mac in SMP-aware applications, which Fusion supports while Parallels does not.  It should also be noted that Boot Camp is a tool for natively booting Windows XP on Intel Macintosh, and is not a virtualization product.  

[[Image:Fusion chart01.png]] [[Image:Fusion chart02.png]]

This comparison was tested on an eight-core, 2.66GHz MacPro running [[Mac OS X v10.4|Mac OS X 10.4.10]], Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac (build 4560) and VMware Fusion 1.0 (build 51348). Fusion and Parallels were both set to 1,024 MB of system memory and a 32 GB hard disk.  Fusion was set to 128 MB of graphics memory, and Parallels Desktop for Mac was set to 64 MB of graphics memory (the maximum for each)<ref name=cnet_benchmarks/>.

== See also ==
*[[Comparison of platform virtual machines]] for a list of related virtualization software products
*[[Desktop virtualization]]
*[[Virtualization]]
*[[Virtual machine]]
*[[x86 virtualization]]

== References ==
{{reflist|1}}

[[Category:Software comparisons|VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop]]
[[Category:Virtualization software|*]]
[[Category:VMware|*]]
[[Category:Mac OS X software|*]]

[[it:Confronto tra VMWare e Parallels Desktop]]