VMWare Fusion to Parallels - my feedback

dchiaramello

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Hello virtual fellows...

I would like to share my experience about switching from VMWare Fusion to Parallels Desktop, in case some of you are wondering if it's worth it.

After I had download the evaluation version, I followed the indications about converting a VMWare image disk to Parallels Desktop. 30 minutes later, the conversion was done. I had to re-register my Windows XP version on Microsoft site, but the whole process was clear, explained and painless - a very good point.

Second very good point: it's REALLY more powerful for 3D applications. While I was unable to play Rift on VMWare, I can now play it with correct settings!

But everything was not so nice.

The first problem I was confronted to was an incorrect mapping of my french keyboard. For example, when pressing the "!" character, a "_" was displayed. After googling, I found a workaround: installing Bootcamp drivers from my MacOSX Install disk. After a restart, my keyboard was correctly mapped!

Second problem I had: some intermittent flickering while playing in full screen. I found on these forums the workaroud: disable the synchronization between Mac and PC time in the settings. Surprising, but true...

The third problem I am confronted to is the most annoying one - some mouse events are sometimes lost. Typically, mouse up events. In the games I play, it's problematic to loose the mouseup events. When you want to click on something, you don't want to move the camera or move your avatar - but it's what happens when you mousedown without mouseup'ing. Very annoying, all the gamers will understand me...

I tried to remove the VMWare tools from my image disk - it was really a BAD idea. My image disk became unusable... I had to trash it and toreconvert the original VMWare image disk...

So.. What's my conclusion?

Well.. If you want to use 3D or resource-consuming applications, you don't have to hesitate - Parallels Desktop!
But if you don't need that power, if you only need it to make Office run on your Mac... I found VMWare Fusion better integrated. Everything worked immediately without any problem.

I am confident in the fact that Parallels Desktop will improve over the time - that's why I am now a new customer. If you know how to solve my last problem (mouseups lost), I would be soo happy!

Have a nice day,
Daniel
 
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