It's an undeniable fact that more Apple products are finding their way into the workplace. The wildly successful iPhone and iPad have been steadily
making inroads into the enterprise. According to a
January 2012 Forrester Research survey of more than 10,000 information workers, more than 21 percent
of them are using Apple products in the workplace.
Apple's global share of the PC market has also been increasing over the past few years, reaching a high of 5.2 percent of worldwide computer sales,
according to an
analyst cited by GigaOM (gigaom.com/apple/mac-making-a-move-in-the-enterprise-grew-44-percent-in-q3).
The net result of Apple's inroads into the workplace is that more IT professionals will be tasked with helping support Macintosh users, so having a way
to run virtualized Windows applications on a Mac can come in handy. For that reason, I decided to take a look at Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac and VMware
Fusion 4.1, the latest versions of the two leading hardware virtualization products available for Macs.
My test machine for this comparative review was a 15" MacBook Pro running OS X 10.7.2, with 4GB of RAM, a 2.53GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, a 300GB
hard drive, and a discrete NVIDIA GeForce 9400M graphics chipset. Astute readers might recognize this MacBook as the same test machine I used to
compare VMware Fusion 2.0 and Parallel Desktop 4.0 in the comparative review "VMware Fusion vs. Parallels Desktop." I specifically wanted to use the same machine to see how well both products have improved after nearly three years of ongoing refinement and
improvements. I'm happy to say that both products have improved significantly since then, but which one has the edge? Let's find out.
Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac
Parallels Desktop was first released in 2006 and has been steadily updated since then. The latest release, Parallels Desktop 7, is benefiting from
those years of updates and revisions. Installation is slick and polished, and a new Parallels Wizard feature (as well as the included tutorials) makes
installation a snap -- you can even purchase and download a copy of Windows 7 directly from within the setup program, which obviates the necessity of
chasing down Windows installation disks. One noteworthy feature of Parallels Desktop 7 is that you can install the Windows 8 Developer Preview directly
from within the application, a feature that VMware Fusion lacks. As Figure 1 shows, the Windows 8 Developer Preview option is in the lower right
corner.
Figure 1: Parallels Desktop 7 VM creation screen
One of the most impressive new features is the integration of multi-touch gestures (introduced in OS X 10.7 Lion) into Windows 7. This feature works
across other Windows applications as well. For example, it worked seamlessly with a trial edition of Microsoft Office 2010 that I installed. Other
noteworthy features include the ability to use the Mac launch pad for Windows applications and share Mac OS X devices.
Parallels claims that it improved 3D performance in this latest release -- a claim I was eager to test using the Windows version of
the game Quake 4. Parallels Desktop 7 supports up to 1GB of video memory per virtual machine (VM) and enhanced audio support (up to 192kHz).
It also supports the Windows 7 Aero interface. Overall, Parallels Desktop 7 has significantly improved in this area, and its performance approaches
that of native Mac applications. However, office workers with fairly intense 3D hardware requirements (or Mac gamers looking to play Windows games on
the side) will still be better off with a native PC with a fast discrete graphics card.
Besides testing 3D performance, I tested the Windows 8 Developer Preview using the built-in option. It installed and loaded without any problems. I
have to admit it felt strange using multi-touch gestures to navigate through the Windows 8 Metro-style interface, but the multi-touch gestures
generally work, given the hardware limitation of my admittedly long-in-the-tooth test machine. Overall, VM performance was faster than I remember with
previous versions, so Parallels has clearly done its homework here.
Both Parallels Desktop 7 and VMware Fusion 4.1 support USB devices, but only Parallels Desktop 7 offers an Enterprise Edition (for more than 100 annual
licenses). This edition adds improved policy support for deployments and enhanced licensing options.
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Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac
PROS: Fantastic 3D performance; improved stability over previous versions; speedy I/O and disk throughput; offers enterprise version with more IT-focused support features
CONS: Interface isn't quite as polished as VMware Fusion's interface
RATING: 4.5 out of 5
PRICE: $79.99
RECOMMENDATION: With superlative 3D performance, an available enterprise edition with enhanced functionality, and an integrated Windows 8 Developer Preview VM installation option, Parallels Desktop has emerged as the leading Mac virtualization product.
CONTACT: Parallels • 888-811-2489 or 425-282-6400 • www.parallels.com
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VMware Fusion 4.1
I initially began my testing with VMware Fusion 4.0, but VMware Fusion 4.1 was released in the middle of my review process. Version 4.1 is a definite
improvement over version 4.0, as the latter had some bugs and speed issues. Version 4.1 fixes those problems and brings other improvements, including
changes to the native Lion full-screen mode.
Installing VMware Fusion 4.1 was quick and painless, and the video tutorials on the welcome screen make creating the first VMs a straightforward
process. Both VMware Fusion 4.1 and Parallels Desktop 7 have improved their installation processes over the years, but VMware's approach seems more
streamlined and effective, especially with video training just a mouse-click away.