We performed a comparison between Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion, and VMware Workstation based on real PeerSpot user reviews.
Find out what your peers are saying about Microsoft, VMware, Citrix and others in Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI)."Parallels Desktop integrates seamlessly with macOS. It works better than VMware on Apple operating systems."
"I like how, with Parallels, you can either boot into Mac or Windows to get better control over the resources of the laptops since you're sharing the resources in dual mode."
"The product is easy to use and has a simple user interface."
"The whole point of it is to run Windows VMs on a Mac. This is the most valuable feature. There is snapshotting, but we don't really use that. The Pro version allows me to actually attach to the Windows ESXi infrastructure at the backend, and I'm able to create a session that I can attach to the VMware hooks at the backend, so one is running a VM, and the whole operating system is running on the actual Mac. The other one is literally a frontend to the VMs that are running in the infrastructure at the backend. These are the two main features I use."
"It is a highly stable solution."
"The most value that it provides is that it is versatile."
"It is much more mature compared to Nutanix or SimpliVity when it's cross-platform based."
"VMware Workstation allows you to run a virtual machine."
"Instead of relying on dual-boot operating systems, I can utilize open-source tools within my infrastructure. This approach allows me to create an in-house cloud platform suitable for testing. VMware Workstation enables me to perform tasks across various operating systems using a single device. It has helped me save time."
"Technical support is very good."
"The most valuable feature of the solution stems from the fact that it is an easy-to-use product."
"The product's initial setup phase was simple."
"We can undo some changes using the snapshot feature."
"The most valuable features of VMware Workstation are the DirectX support, you can run Microsoft Hyper-V in virtual environments which is good for me to test different installations. Additionally, you can set up different VLANs, and overall it is a complete solution."
"There may have been some issues with device drivers on my Mac. Similarly, there are some issues with transferring data from Parallels to the Mac."
"The biggest challenge is compatibility between VMware and Parallels because the two systems are incompatible. It can be challenging if you are switching between Windows and Mac. I recommend sticking with one product because there isn't good compatibility between the different products."
"I would like to see newer and updated cloud functions."
"VMware Fusion's licensing cost needs improvement."
"Its installation process could be simpler."
"The way they handle snapshotting can be improved. One time, I moved a machine from one to another, and I tried to pull it up on the second machine, but it didn't work. This was because I had not cleaned up the snapshot before I deleted it and moved it across. So, when I tried to pull it up, it wouldn't let me bring it up. The backups for the VMs themselves can also be improved. I pretty much have to rely on Windows backups and not something on VMware. That's where it needs improvement. I am able to upload from my Fusion into the ESXi easily. I'm able to spin something up on Fusion and push it into the big arena, but the reverse is not as easy, that is, trying to pull something down from that. I would love to have a functionality where I could pull something from the VMware infrastructure into Fusion, but I'm not sure if I can take something from ESXi and pull it into Fusion."
"Its price could be better."
"They could add more integration between them, and compatibility with the standard virtualization format."
"I would like to see more detailed reporting capabilities, particularly around snapshot activity. It would be helpful to have a summary of changes made prior to deploying an application, allowing us to provide comprehensive reports to our management on a regular basis."
"Lacks the ability to clone onto another system rather than starting from scratch."
"It takes too much time to load all the plug-ins and software."
"The price of VMware Workstation is an area of concern where improvements are needed."
"The product’s virtual machine data backup feature needs upgrading."
"VMware Workstation could improve the export and import of virtual machines."