In my earlier post I provided some of the reasoning behind why I’m experimenting with Fusion. This article focuses solely on the experience itself and how it relates to “upgrading” to Fusion on a mac with Parallels already installed.
Step 1. Get Fusion
I downloaded and installed Fusion from the vmware.com site. The install went seamlessly and I have a happy fusion icon right next to Parallels in my dock. On opening fusion you are presented with a VM screen and can create or download new VM’s.
Step 2. Import VM
Immediately missing is an option to “import from Parallels” which is one of my top requirements.
No matter, I can google just as well as anyone else. After being disappointed an excellent post on VMware’s forums looks like the right approach. Sure enough, after about an hour I was able to successfully import my parallels VM into fusion.
Step 3: Use Fusion
Since then, I’ve been using VMware and have found no reason to use Paralles. VMware is faster on resuming states, and I like the quick launch utility for applications.
There are a few nagging items, such as the fact that the launch menu needs to sync with the system every now and then. This means that after installing visio (one of the only reasons I use windows on mac) I had to wait several hours before it showed up in the app menu. If there was a way I could regenerate this on-demand it wouldn’t be such an annoyance.
I haven’t experienced one application crash in the last three weeks and VMware Fusion seems exceptionally stable.
Final note: Parallels 3.0 GA’d last week, but I don’t plan on switching back. This probably isn’t because of functionality – I’ve used and liked Parallels for quite some time. However, the companies policy to treat all customers equal when charging for upgrades really rubbed me the wrong way.
I’d purchased a previous version about one week before their next GA and had to pay full upgrade price for the next release. I should have received it free or had the option to upgrade at a steep discount. Parallels decision to do this contributed heavily in my decision to switch to VMware. My understanding is that VMware doesn’t make these types of decisions… only time will tell.