On Parallels Desktop for Mac…

Their uninstall icon sums up my feelings quite well. Their support is horrible, the forums are filled with people complaining and even their phone system is a joke; the IVR has a computer reading the name – Para-lel-ells – instead of a person.

The real deal breaker is the sticky keys bug.  Which ever the CMD key is mapped in a Windows VM doesn't work right. If you map CMD to ALT, Alt+Tab will 'stick'.  If you map CMD to WIN, modifier keys like WIN+D don't work right.

This bug with sticky keys was introduced a couple years ago when Parallels Desktop 4 was released, and still exists with v5.

Maybe VMware Fusion is slower1, but VMware does virtualization right. I trust close to 90% of my servers to ESX/vSphere, and I'll continue to trust my desktop virtualization to Fusion. On a Windows desktop it's not even a question, VMware Workstation has no competition.

  1. Fusion 3.1 RC is in public beta, so the MacTech benchmarks are already outdated [back]

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Posted in Software, Technology, VMware on May 10th, 2010 at 09:05am

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VMware Fusion 2 Beta Released

VMware just announced a public beta of their OS X virtualization product, Fusion. Fusion 2.0 will be a free upgrade to all registered users.

Already it addresses a number of issues I've had including:

  • Multiple monitor support
  • Correctly handles plugging & unplugging display
  • Option to use one or all displays in Full Screen mode
  • Handles changes to resolution and display orientation automatically
  • Allow USB mice/tablets in a virtual machine without custom configuration
    Note: I just barely wrote about how to work around this in Fusion 1.1.2.
  • Virtual machines in Bridged networking mode now know when your Mac's network connection is available or becomes unavailable, and will refresh their network address automatically
    Note:     This is HUGE. When I'm moving between home and my downtown office networking is always an issue.
  • DirectX 9.0 with Shader Model 2 graphics

Full release notes are here, lightweight notes and sample videos are here, download Fusion 2 beta here.

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Posted in Software, Technology on May 6th, 2008 at 02:05pm

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