VMWare or Parallels for macOS VM's?

[Carter]

I will soon be testing DEP and JAMF deployments and want to boot up some VM's but trying to figure-out which program would be best.

 

I from reviews that Parallels maybe easier from a user perspective but VMWare has more options.

 

Thank you!

[FN-GM]

I found VMware fusion better for performance.

 

Don't consider Virtual Box on the Mac - I was very disappointed. It was so slow and laggy when I tried it out.

[Arthur]

I have always used VMware Fusion (Pro) for similar reasons to @FN-GM.

 

As the following article mentions, there are also more guides/tools available for Fusion than Parallels. Things like VFuse for example.

 

https://jerbecause.wordpress.com/2018/02/09/creating-a-dep-vm-using-parallels-desktop

 

Not sure who made the decision, but at some point in the past, my org decided to standardize on Parallels Desktop instead of VMware Fusion. Overall this is fine, but I have found Parallels struggles a bit more with testing things like preboot stuff, such as FileVault. The other thing that Parallels (or really the community) is lacking is guides and tools for MacAdmin tasks using Parallels. Most admins I’ve seen, or guides I’ve found, use VMware Fusion for their macOS VM testing. Since I don’t have a license for that, but have Parallels at my disposal, that’s what we had to make work.

 

We have just recently started acquiring DEP-enrolled Macs, and with that, wanted to put to test our planned workflow for provisioning a new machine.

 

I stopped using Parallels Desktop a long time ago when they added adverts in the paid version. It looks like they are still doing that...

 

https://itnerd.blog/2018/02/21/fail-parallels-nags-users-who-pay-for-their-software-with-ads

[Brimstone]

I will soon be testing DEP and JAMF deployments and want to boot up some VM's but trying to figure-out which program would be best.

 

I from reviews that Parallels maybe easier from a user perspective but VMWare has more options.

 

Thank you!

 

Your going to test cloud based solutions in a VM........? Why?

[Carter]

Your going to test cloud based solutions in a VM........? Why?

 

Guess I said that wrong. More for runnng composer tests and the ability to test general deployments.

[Carter]

Now when looking at Fusion vs Fusion Pro are there many key features between the two outside of:

 

Includes everything in VMware Fusion, plus:

 

• Create linked clones to save time and disk space
  
• Create custom virtual networking configurations to simulate complex web or cloud environments
  
• Connect to vSphere to run, download or upload virtual machines
  
• Create restricted virtual machines that can expire