I see an advert or reference to Parallels Desktop for Mac in my monthly subscription of Mac Format magazine. At least once a year there’s a review of VMware Fusion in this magazine with references to the Parallels offering and how close they always seem to be in terms of performance.

Of those of you that know me will remember that I’m a huge fan of VMware products since my introduction to them in 2005 so to begin to even think of using something else is huge wrench from my bubble of safety. Even after this pull from utopia I can say I’m no worse off, have been pleasantly surprised and am enjoying life ‘on the other side’.

Over the past week I’ve been using my spare time to run up a few virtual machines, compare the ‘to the eye’ performance and see how the user experience feels. I’m using nothing more than a Macbook 13″, 2ghz CPU, 2GB RAM, 250gb 7200k RPM disk running OSX Snow Leopard with the latest patches.

This post is by no means an in depth review but just my observations from curiosity.

The Mission

I set about testing 2 operating system installs, Windows XP (still the choice for performant VMs on a desktop) and the resource hungry / desktop killer that is Windows 7.

I completed a virtual to virtual migration from Fusion to Parallels.

Used Parallels in favour of Fusion for a few days to better grasp the features.

Install of Windows 7

Using a TechNet x64 ISO on an external USB drive I rattled off an install of the operating system in 15 minutes with Parallels compared to 20 minutes in Fusion. Ok, be clear about this, no stopwatch was ticking and I was responding to the installation prompts manually. Rest assured I was still diligent on the responses without dragging out the screen input times.

This doesn’t make for much benefit given the amount of times you install a bare OS, we’re not talking a VDI deployment but still, a noticeable difference.

Interestingly the recurring comment within the Mac Format review states Windows 7 runs quicker in a virtual machine under Parallels over Fusion but I have to say using the bare operating system it performed the same. Admittedly I didn’t install and run applications but from a starting point both were on a level par.

Install of Windows XP

Using a TechNet x86 ISO on an external USB drive I completed a working installation in 30 minutes. Fusion delivered the same working installation in the same time.

Virtual to Virtual migration

I imported 2 virtual machines from Fusion. Windows 7 and Windows XP. Both transitioned across successfully with excellent guidance throughout their wizard.

In summary…

The creation and migration of a virtual machine is more than just a wizard prompted process. Post build screen tips draw your attention to features in the guise of Apple Widget style applets. For the new user there’s no excuse not understand and explore the new features without having to even look at a manual.

Using Parallels

Aesthetics

There’s no competition as to which product looks and feels better. The Parallels user interface, transitions, menus and attention to detail leave Fusion in the locker room in the aesthetics running race (yet to be officially recognised in the 2012 Olympics). It’s arguable it shouldn’t be judged by it’s appearance but for an end user this makes the product more desirable and enjoyable to use.

One of the interesting attentions to detail is the insertion of a virtual machine ‘thumbnail preview’ in the Parallels icon when you switch between applications using ‘Apple’ + ‘Tab’. You can preview your operating system without switching to the host application. That’s nice.

There are no bells and whistles with VMware’s Fusion during the navigation of the user interface or while configuring a virtual machine. Ultimately this increases the interaction time although I found it was no quicker than revealing the similar configuration screens.

Considering the user

The configuration of a the virtual machine covers the core concepts you’d expect. Where Parallels add value is to the Mac user experience. The layout and options have been well thought out and applied as to how the user will make the most of the virtualisation application as a useful tool rather than an ‘another’ application.

As an example, I’m using the View feature Modality as I type. I only have a single screen and don’t want to keep switching back and forth to see how my virtual machine is building. I look to my top left to see a faint blended in version of the virtual machine, fully active, above. Excellent.

Virtual machine feature highlights

I found some interesting features that personally contribute to my experience and how I use my desktop virtualisation solution. A few screen grabs below that took my eye upon first use.

Virtualisation Tools

Optimal performance within a guest operating system is achieved by installing the virtualisation tools. I really like the countdown timer feature on the Parallels Tools install. You instigate the installer but forget to click through the wizard? Well the buttons accept for you after 10 seconds elapse. Easy.

VMware – take note.

Time Machine

Backup time is important as is the data you store.

Rather than excluding directories manually with Time Machine, this takes the pain out of it. Ideal if you back up all your working virtual machines but don’t want quick development / test ones captured.

Optimise the virtual machine AND your host

Balancing the resources your virtual machine demands is very important. Choke your host and the virtualised experience is ruined.

The option to Tune Windows and balance the utilisation between host and virtual machine offers greater control of the desktop experience.

Pause an idle virtual machine

I couldn’t resist to enable this feature, this is really a ‘nerd knob’ but still it has a use.

This works, well sort of. I had my Windows XP VM running a Newsgroup tool downloading files in full screen mode. When I minimised the application to the tray (an application feature) the VM paused. Hmm.

Desktop convergence

I mentioned earlier in this post about the view feature ‘Modality’ and how I was using it. Here’s a quick view of the blended view (you may want to choose the larger screen grab).

Tuning the combined Mac desktop and guest Windows desktop is also an option.

Upping the Video RAM

Easy slider scale to increase the video RAM.

No need to edit the virtual machine configuration file here – VMware take note.

Secure the Virtual Machine

I can see in a small office supported by a ‘light’ IT presence the Isolation, Exit Full screen and importantly Manage Snapshots could be a big win.

Conclusion

In the past 7 days (I have 7 days remaining on my trial) I’ve throughly enjoyed my Parallels experience. It’s a great application, slower to initially load than Fusion but far quicker to close. The virtual machine operations (standby, snapshot, etc…) appear to perform better than Fusion for the machines I’ve used.

I’m sold on the screen transitions, the virtual machine configuration options and still by far the most useful is feature for a single screen is Modality.

I notice there’s an option on the Parallels website to upgrade to their software for VMware Fusion users too, there’s a link at the bottom of this page.

http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/whyswitch/switchfromvmware/

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Now get adding.

There seems to be a mis-conception that the VMware HA (High Availability) component gives application level available near-zero downtime. In a recent document review I found a reference touting it to be better than Microsoft Cluster Services and could replace the MSCS offering. Err, let’s have a look at the differences.

 

Microsoft Cluster Services IS application aware. It’s aimed at the high end / high service availability applications such as MS Exchange or MS SQL.

If you can’t suffer application downtime choose the MSCS and stick it in VMware although I would highly recommend reading the VMware and MSCS documentation first – there are caveats.

VMware KB Article 1004617 aligns the support statements of VMware ESX versions to Microsoft Cluster Services

http://kb.vmware.com/selfservice/microsites/search.do?language=en_US&cmd=displayKC&externalId=1004617

(steps down off soap box)