The only thing that I knew about the Parallels Desktop for Mac application was of it’s competition with VMware’s Fusion. I was contacted by a Parallels representative regarding a different project, so I discussed briefly with them about the Desktop edition. I was so impressed with Parallels’ Virtuozzo Containers application, that I decided to give Parallels Desktop for Mac a proper go.
In a word… Brilliant!. I am extremely impressed with everything about this virtualisation application. I created a Windows 7 virtual straight away, and noticed how much faster the install and boot-up was compared to a Windows 7 VM created with Fusion. What I particularly noticed was that Parallels was less demanding of the Mac’s resources, again comparing Parallels to Fusion.
The Parallels’ tools install simply, and cleanly. Extremely simple with Ubuntu. More importantly, Parallels’ graphics support Ubuntu’s "Desktop Visual Effects" once the Parallels’ tools are installed… Something that I was unable to do with VMware Fusion.
The Parallels Desktop for Mac application has more features than I can begin to describe, and it has become my virtualisation of choice for Ubuntu and Windows.
