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I've been using Parallels Desktop to develop & test Windows software from a Mac for the last decade. It's excellent, and I would definitely grab a perpetual co

I've been using Parallels Desktop to develop & test Windows software from a Mac for the last decade. It's excellent, and I would definitely grab a perpetual copy of the current version while you can. VMware Fusion is the other contender, but consensus seems to be that Parallels is now dramatically faster than all the competition [1]. I just bought a Thinkpad and switched back to Windows, so I'm looking for VM software on the Windows side now. Hyper-V is just painfully slow compared to Parallels. If the Corel acquistion means Parallels is coming to Windows I'll be very happy, but I'd still like to know the best Windows VM software in the meantime. [1] https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/02/a-long-time-vmware-fusion-users-tries-parallels-14/ https://9to5mac.com/2018/09/02/a-long-time-vmware-fusion-use...

tracker1 8y ago
I would give VMWare a test on the Windows Side, it was always the best option from my own experience in Linux and Windows. That said, I mostly don't notice too much these days and mostly use Docker for (windows|mac) for anything Linux I'm working on in development. The only issue is anything that is a "shared volume" between the host and native will be very slow as it's copying actions in/out of the VM. Staying all in vm is better. Are you using a GUI in the VM a lot?
- SyneRyder 8y ago
  Yep, I'm 100% GUI. I use Parallels to test how my Win32 based apps work on different versions of Windows. I'm also testing against different Photoshop plug-in compatible graphics programs, so its useful to be able to restore to a clean snapshot taken just after installing Corel Paint Shop Pro, for instance. Everything in Parallels has been running at near native speed lately. On the Mac I was also using Parallels to test GUI apps I was writing for different versions of ElementaryOS / Ubuntu and also for different macOS versions, but I realize I'll lose the Mac compatibility with the switch back to Windows.
  - tracker1 8y ago
    There's ways around the Mac client limitations, though I really wish Apple would just give us a decent power user option already. I almost wish they'd sell a "Developer Kit" which would be an apple branded mobo with an Apple bios with install media. Then you could stick any compatible intel cpu, compatible gpu, and diy it... maybe mobo + case as a barebones... even if it was $500-600 for the barebones, I and many others would still pay that much vs. hackintosh route. Then they'd just need to release maybe 1-2 motherboards every 12-18 months. Say a full ATX and an ITX variant.
- starik36 8y ago
  One of the issues I found is that Docker and WMWare on Windows are incompatible. Dockers enables Hyper-V, which in turn prevents WMware from running.
  - tracker1 8y ago
    Yeah... which sucks. That said, I really don't have much need for full VMs anymore. At work it all gets deployed in Windows. I try to keep everything I make cross platform and use docker to keep the services I'm not actively working on running local for other stuff. (really appreciate MS SQL Server docker image) If I need a full VM would probably just use Hyper-V anyway as it's "good enough" ... on my home hackintosh, I haven't needed windows much at all... I use the kid's PC for the handful of projects that must have windows when I have to touch them. Docker really gets me pretty much all I need in terms of linux support. Even building node projects for AWS Lambda. If I did gui development (other than browser ui/ux), I would probably be a bit more involved.

tracker1 8y ago

I would give VMWare a test on the Windows Side, it was always the best option from my own experience in Linux and Windows. That said, I mostly don't notice too much these days and mostly use Docker for (windows|mac) for anything Linux I'm working on in development. The only issue is anything that is a "shared volume" between the host and native will be very slow as it's copying actions in/out of the VM. Staying all in vm is better. Are you using a GUI in the VM a lot?

SyneRyder 8y ago
Yep, I'm 100% GUI. I use Parallels to test how my Win32 based apps work on different versions of Windows. I'm also testing against different Photoshop plug-in compatible graphics programs, so its useful to be able to restore to a clean snapshot taken just after installing Corel Paint Shop Pro, for instance. Everything in Parallels has been running at near native speed lately. On the Mac I was also using Parallels to test GUI apps I was writing for different versions of ElementaryOS / Ubuntu and also for different macOS versions, but I realize I'll lose the Mac compatibility with the switch back to Windows.
- tracker1 8y ago
  There's ways around the Mac client limitations, though I really wish Apple would just give us a decent power user option already. I almost wish they'd sell a "Developer Kit" which would be an apple branded mobo with an Apple bios with install media. Then you could stick any compatible intel cpu, compatible gpu, and diy it... maybe mobo + case as a barebones... even if it was $500-600 for the barebones, I and many others would still pay that much vs. hackintosh route. Then they'd just need to release maybe 1-2 motherboards every 12-18 months. Say a full ATX and an ITX variant.
starik36 8y ago
One of the issues I found is that Docker and WMWare on Windows are incompatible. Dockers enables Hyper-V, which in turn prevents WMware from running.
- tracker1 8y ago
  Yeah... which sucks. That said, I really don't have much need for full VMs anymore. At work it all gets deployed in Windows. I try to keep everything I make cross platform and use docker to keep the services I'm not actively working on running local for other stuff. (really appreciate MS SQL Server docker image) If I need a full VM would probably just use Hyper-V anyway as it's "good enough" ... on my home hackintosh, I haven't needed windows much at all... I use the kid's PC for the handful of projects that must have windows when I have to touch them. Docker really gets me pretty much all I need in terms of linux support. Even building node projects for AWS Lambda. If I did gui development (other than browser ui/ux), I would probably be a bit more involved.