Those first two options are the most popular—and, for most users, the most sensible—alternatives. The two developers have pushed each other hard, and their products have leapfrogged each other to introduce new features and improve performance, resulting in two excellent alternatives.
Another result of this competition is that the two programs have evolved into near twins of each other. They offer similar features, similar performance, and at times, even look similar. The two virtualization apps do differ in speed—not the speed of the virtual OSes themselves or the apps in them, but the speed with which they open, sleep, resume, and shut down those OSes. In some very simple testing, I found that Parallels is notably faster at each of those tasks, but particularly at suspending and resuming.
If you need to open and close virtual machines all day, these time savings could add up. Both virtualization apps are relatively stable.
In Fusion, for example, entering and exiting full-screen mode causes more flicker and redraws than it does in Parallels.
While both Fusion and Parallels support literally hundreds of guest operating systems, most users will be employing them to run one or more flavors of Windows. Overall, both do an excellent job.
In earlier reviews, I found that both Parallels and Fusion do well running earlier versions of Windows, so this time I focused on the upcoming Windows 8. For testing purposes, I used the final Windows 8 Developer Preview which should be identical to the consumer version due out soon. Both handle it well, for the most part. For the traditional Windows interface the Desktop button in Start , both apps run Windows as well as their predecessors.
Office applications run without delay, and I never felt as if anything was lagging in either program. The Windows interface itself was fast and fluid, Web browsing was trouble-free, and the two email apps I tried worked fine.
It can be done in Fusion, but only if you run one Start application at a time. So what else is new? There are actually 50 new features. If I was to sum it up in one sentence: Parallels Desktop 14 feels very light. Everything is just fluid. For IT departments who deploy virtualization software to their users, the overhauled design Licensing Portal is a great way to simplify management of your users who need to run Linux, Windows, or additional copies of macOS.
You can invite users via e-mail to set up an account. You can deploy the application using Jamf Pro , and you can replace existing virtual machines as well. This section was one of the more interesting ones to work through in my head. As a long time Fusion user, I wondered — how different could it be? What I found was that everything about Parallels felt a lot smoother than Fusion.
Fusion feels heavy and slow where Parallels was more fluid. Using Parallels 14 feels like it could be built into macOS, and it was developed by Apple. Everything just feels native and well thought out. Your usage may vary depending on the current virtual machine setup you have now, but I encourage you to download the day trial.
If you have the storage space, you can easily import one of your existing Fusion VMs to try it out. After using it for the past two weeks, I am a convert.
Like I said, I was prepared to be underwhelmed by the app, but I am sold on it now. Parallels Toolbox is included with your purchase of Parallels It has a way to download audio and video from websites, quickly lock your screen, prevent your computer from going to sleep, and much more. In all, it contains 30 useful utilities. Version 14 is a paid upgrade if you are a perpetual license holder.
You can buy Parallels Desktop 14 for Mac by visiting their website. FTC: We use income earning auto affiliate links. Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:. September 2, Compared to VMware Fusion This section was one of the more interesting ones to work through in my head.
Parallels Toolbox Parallels Toolbox is included with your purchase of Parallels Wrap Up Version 14 is a paid upgrade if you are a perpetual license holder.
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