I just got a copy of Parallels Desktop for Mac and have been playing with it on my MacBook.
I have been using VMWare for a long time, initially with their Workstation product for Linux development on a Windows PC, then recently with VMWare Fusion on the MacBook.
I have to say, after several days with Parallels and after migrating my Windows VM from Fusion to Parallels, that I am impressed.
The Windows-OS X integration of Parallels is a lot better than Fusion. One thing I am impressed with is the ability to launch Windows applications from within the OS X environment: you right-click on a file and you can choose to open it with either a Windows or OS X application. What I found especially delectable(!) is that I can rightclick on a calendar attachm-ent (ics file) in OS X Mail and open that with Outlook.
Wow! Now, I can see all those calendar events I have been missing!
What is even more incredible is that the Windows VM can be either powered off or suspended. When you want to open a file with a Windows application, Parallels will automatically launch, boot/resume the Windows VM, launch the application and have it open the file. All this is without your intervention!
The clincher came this afternoon. I have a Blackberry Pearl which I have not been able to back-up since switching to a MacBook. I can run the Blackberry Desktop Manager in a Fusion VM. But the moment I connect the Pearl, the entire Windows+OS X environment will crash i.e. the MacBook becomes a brick. How Windows can you get?!
With Parallels, I plug in the Pearl, tell Parallels to connect the Pearl to the Windows VM and view the connection settings in Desktop Manager. Guess what: Desktop Manager sees the Pearl! Nothing hangs, nothing stutters.
I was able to back up the Pearl and synchronize everything with Outlook. When things work just like that, you just want to start up and applaud. Well, I didn’t applaud; I wrote this blog…
I am pretty sure VMWare will catch up quickly with Parallels. But as it is, I am pretty happy with that $80 I just paid. Of course, I also paid $80 for Fusion at VMWorld 2007. But that means I’ll be able to test out VMWare’s next release of Fusion.