 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Mac Forum / Country Specific / UK Mac Group / July 2007Parallels or vmware
I realise this has been discussed previously, but its a fast moving target. What are everyone's current thoughts on parallels or vmware. I've just started a new job, and have a MacPro on which I want to virtualise linux [1]. We have some instrument control software which only runs on linux and I want to run test versions before I deploy to the instruments. What is linux support like in Parallels these days? A few months ago, I got the impression that parallels was better for Windows and vmware won for linux support. Is this still the case? Any comments appreciated. Thanks, Iain [1] Ideally, I need a free alternative to RHEL4, ie binary compatible. I was looking at CentOS, any thoughts, or other suggestions (sorry, this bit is OT). > I realise this has been discussed previously, but its a fast moving > target. What are everyone's current thoughts on parallels or vmware. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > was looking at CentOS, any thoughts, or other suggestions (sorry, this > bit is OT). I administer ESX server at work, so I'm biased. I spent money on Fusion when I saw the demo. Get VMWare. If you don't want to run Windows games (and maybe even if you do) then VMWare is the only way to go.  Signatureremove stars for email g*a*r*y*c*o*w*e*l*l*a*t*m*a*c*d*o*t*c*o*m Stargazing blog at <http://tinyurl.com/398eom> > [1] Ideally, I need a free alternative to RHEL4, ie binary compatible. > I was looking at CentOS, any thoughts, or other suggestions (sorry, > this bit is OT). Centos is equivalent to RH EL, except it is free. Cheers, Chris > I realise this has been discussed previously, but its a fast moving > target. What are everyone's current thoughts on parallels or vmware. > I've just started a new job, and have a MacPro on which I want to > virtualise linux [1]. We have some instrument control software which > only runs on linux and I want to run test versions before I deploy to > the instruments. Then I'd advise going the VMware route, for the simple reason that it's more compatible than Parallels when it comes to using your machine on platforms other than a Mac. I use Parallels still due to its drag'n'drop onto the desktop from OS X, a feature I really like. However that's only for my 'home' install of Windows, for personal use. For any machines I'm using professionally, I always pick VMware. Cheers, Ian > Then I'd advise going the VMware route, for the simple reason that it's > more compatible than Parallels when it comes to using your machine on > platforms other than a Mac. I use Parallels still due to its > drag'n'drop onto the desktop from OS X, a feature I really like. > However that's only for my 'home' install of Windows, for personal use. > For any machines I'm using professionally, I always pick VMware. I've not use Parallels, so how is its drag'n'drop better then the one in Fusion then? I drag a file from the mac, It lands on the Windows desktop (or whichever folder) - I drag from Windows, it lands in the Mac. Is it more than this? Can Parallels do the Fusion desktop integration thing? Signatureremove stars for email g*a*r*y*c*o*w*e*l*l*a*t*m*a*c*d*o*t*c*o*m Stargazing blog at <http://tinyurl.com/398eom> > I use Parallels still due to its > drag'n'drop onto the desktop from OS X, a feature I really like. As Gary has pointed out Fusion does Drag and Drop between the MacOS X Finder and Guest Windows OSes installed in VMs. If anything it's faster than the Parallels version. As I posted last week, I've switched to Fusion RC1. Very happy so far. Ian SignatureIan Robinson, Belfast, UK <http://www.canicula.com/wp/> > I realise this has been discussed previously, but its a fast moving > target. What are everyone's current thoughts on parallels or vmware. [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > got the impression that parallels was better for Windows and vmware won > for linux support. Is this still the case? VMware Fusion seems to be better for Linux, and it's the only game in town if you want to run 64-bit Linux. Paul >> I realise this has been discussed previously, but its a fast moving >> target. What are everyone's current thoughts on parallels or vmware. [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > VMware Fusion seems to be better for Linux, and it's the only game in > town if you want to run 64-bit Linux. Well, I've got CentOS 5 running quite well, and the filesharing thing seems to be working, at least the guest can see the host filesystem. Is it possible the other way round? Also, I've been struggling with the keyboard mappings. I've got it down to a US mac keyboard, which mostly works well, I get # instead of £, but given I'm doing mostly programming in the linux guest isn't an issue. The problem is that the ~` symbols come from the ±§ key, and the ~` key gives <>. Any ideas? Thanks, Iain >>> I realise this has been discussed previously, but its a fast moving >>> target. What are everyone's current thoughts on parallels or vmware. [quoted text clipped - 13 lines] > seems to be working, at least the guest can see the host filesystem. Is > it possible the other way round? I don't think so, but I've never actually tried. > Also, I've been struggling with the keyboard mappings. I've got it down > to a US mac keyboard, which mostly works well, I get # instead of £, but > given I'm doing mostly programming in the linux guest isn't an issue. > The problem is that the ~` symbols come from the ±§ key, and the ~` key > gives <>. Any ideas? I have both a US and a UK keyboard here (built-in keyboard on the MacBook Pro is US, USB keyboard which I use with the MBP when deskbound is UK) and both /seem/ to do the right thing. Although I don't do a huge amount of work with the Linux VM, just compile/run/test/debug code, that sort of thing - all the actual codinf and other work gets done under Mac OS X. Paul > I realise this has been discussed previously, but its a fast moving > target. What are everyone's current thoughts on parallels or vmware. [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > was looking at CentOS, any thoughts, or other suggestions (sorry, this > bit is OT). VMware. There are no Parallels tools for Linux (last time I looked), but VMware provide them for lots of OS flavours. This is handy for things like video support, and free flowing mouse cursor (no command-option key combo to release the mouse to the Host OS). VMWare virtual machines are also more portable between machines - having tried to move a Parallels vm from one Mac to another several times, I can confidently tell you it's much easier in VMware. Cheers, Signaturejames dore IT Officer, New College, Oxford http://www.new.ox.ac.uk/ it-support@new.... > VMWare virtual machines are also more portable between machines - having > tried to move a Parallels vm from one Mac to another several times, I > can confidently tell you it's much easier in VMware. I store my VMs on an external portable FW drive. So that I can move them between machines. With Parallels I'd never had any problems. Just plug in the drive and go. This morning when I moved the FW drive to my desktop for the first time with a VMware Fusion VM it asked me if the VM had been moved or copied. I selected moved (maybe a mistake - I was in a hurry) and now I can't drag and drop files from the Guest VM to the Mac Desktop. I can drag and drop from the MacOS into the VM though. Grrr. Ian SignatureIan Robinson, Belfast, UK <http://www.canicula.com/wp/> >> VMWare virtual machines are also more portable between machines - having >> tried to move a Parallels vm from one Mac to another several times, I [quoted text clipped - 10 lines] > > Ian Thanks all for the info. I've now installed the vmware beta, and CentOS 5, which took all of 20 minutes, I was quite impressed (I last installed linux on a PII, 350 MHz). Seems to be doing the job perfectly. Iain > > VMWare virtual machines are also more portable between machines - having > > tried to move a Parallels vm from one Mac to another several times, I [quoted text clipped - 8 lines] > the Mac Desktop. I can drag and drop from the MacOS into the VM though. > Grrr. Yes, this is where VMWare assume some familiarity (or good ol' RTFM'ing) with their previous versions. It's consistent with moving a VMWare vm from all their other products. Our cases have been moving Parallels VM's from one user's machine to another's, which required some manual editing of textfiles about the path to the virtual machines' hard disk file. There's nothing that re-generates SIDs for Windows machines, either. This is all achieved in VMWare (fusion/server/workstation/ESX) by clicking the 'I Copied It' button. It updates the paths for virtual hdd's and sorts out the Windows SIDs before you get in a pickle. There is no smooth way to import a parallels VM up to our ESX cluster either, but VMWare Converter does the job (for Windows and Linux guests, at any rate :-) with the minimum of fuss. Cheers, Signaturejames dore IT Officer, New College, Oxford http://www.new.ox.ac.uk/ it-support@new.... > I realise this has been discussed previously, but its a fast moving > target. What are everyone's current thoughts on parallels or vmware. Don't know about VMWare, but Parallels nuked all my network locations when I installed it including my GPRS config (which I only discovered when I was on the road and needed to use it). Also the Parallels "Transporter" on the Mac is at one version while the Windows agent is at a later version so they won't talk to each other, and the only way I can update the Transporter on the Mac is to upgrade to v3.0 (for which I'm still awaiting an u/g key from their UK distributors). Think I'll give VMWare a shot - it's about the same cost as upgrading Parallels 2.5 to 3.0. SignatureSak Wathanasin Network Analysis Limited http://www.network-analysis.ltd.uk |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2008 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.