Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion vs. Windows Vista

It has been about two years since Apple released the first Intel Macs. We've come a long way from when I wondered out loud on March 31, 2006 if Apple had a virtualization strategy (which turned out to be to leave it to capable third parties) or when I asked for feedback on the just released Parallels Beta on April 7, 2006 since I didn't have an Intel Mac yet. I started playing with Parallels Desktop as soon as my Macbook arrived. Even in the year-and-a-half since the Windows for Intel Macs Short Cuts (PDF) book came out, there's been some major changes in the computing eco-system when looking at virtualization on the Mac. Since I finally replaced my 1st generation G4 Mac mini with a Core 2 Duo based iMac, I can finally take a look at these changes with an updated perspective. Here's some of the things I've noticed with a special focus on Microsoft Windows Vista since I'm guessing that the most commonly virtualized operating system is some version of Windows. So, in no particular order, here are the changes I noticed that might be useful to someone considering virtualization on their Mac.

1. Core 2 Duo (or better)
The Intel Core Solo (for the low-end Mac mini) and Core Duo processors were the standard back in 2006. Current Macs use Core 2 Duo or better (quad processors in the case of the Mac Pros). Not all Core 2 Duo processors support the Intel VT technology in firmware. However, all Mac's use the processor models that do support it. Windows PC users have to check what processor is in the PC they buy if they want to use Intel VT for virtualization work.

2. 1GB RAM Standard, 2GB is Affordable
Macs used to ship with 512MB RAM back in early 2006. Upgrading to 1GB was somewhat affordable. But, you had to buy 3rd party RAM and crack open your Mac (pretty hard for the Mac mini owners) to upgrade to 2GB and beyond. You really want at least 2GB RAM if you are going to work with virtual machines frequently on your Mac. You should allocate at least 512MB RAM for Windows Vista. Even current Linux releases are more memory hungry. Fedora 8 for example, refused to continue its installation routine when it saw that VMware Fusion's default Linux configuration only had 128MB RAM. VMware's presets don't allow modification during the installation process, by the way. Parallels gives you the option to change memory before starting the installation process. This is great for newbies. And, since I'm still a VMware Fusion newbie, I tend to select presets.

3. External USB and Firewire hard drives are big and relatively inexpensive
I recommend having two external drives if you work with virtual machines frequently. Use one as the regular Time Machine backup devices and the second for backing up versions of virtual machines.

4. It is OK to virtualize Windows Vista Home and Premium Editions
Microsoft did not sanction virtualizing Windows Home and Premium Editions (even under their own Virtual PC for Windows) for a long time. However, it is currently ok to virtualize those cheaper Windows Vista versions now. And, in my opinion, it makes sense to use the cheapest Windows Vista version since you really don't need (or can't use) features like Flip 3D or Media Center. By the way, as far as I can figure, both Parallels and Fusion can't install Windows Vista from an ISO file. I got identical errors messages when I used Vista ISO files.

Installing from a Windows Vista DVD worked fine.

5. Virtual Choices!
In the beginning we had, well, nothing. Then, Apple provided Boot Camp beta. But, dual booting is not virtualization and makes you give up a lot of disk space from day 1. Then, Parallels Desktop came out of nowhere and showed us what a great platform the Intel Mac is for pretty much everything: BSD, Linux, Windows, whatever. VMware, the virtualization market leader, was slow out of the gate but delivered a solid product in the summer of 2007: VMware Fusion. I'm still more comfortable with Parallels Desktop for Mac. But, I'm giving VMware Fusion a good workout right now by using it to run both Fedora 8 and Windows Vista Home Edition along with Mac OS X Leopard.

Here's a quick tip if you or your team use both VMware Fusion (for the Mac) and VMware Workstation 6 (for Windows). When creating a virtual machine using VMware Workstation, you need to chose the older VM format to be compatible with Fusion.

Happy virtualizing!