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VMware vs. Parallels: Comparing Two Giants of Virtualization

A Brief History of VMware and Parallels

VMware was founded in 1998 in Palo Alto, California by Diane Greene, Mendel Rosenblum, Scott Devine, Edward Wang and Edouard Bugnion. The founders were computer scientists from Stanford University who envisioned "virtualization" technology that would allow multiple operating systems to run simultaneously on x86 hardware.

Their vision became VMware Workstation, launched in 1999, which allowed software developers to easily test applications across different OS environments on a single machine. This revolutionary concept of x86 virtualization was quickly adopted by many large corporations to better utilize server hardware capacity.

Over the next decade under Diane Greene‘s leadership as CEO, VMware brought virtualization mainstream with products like ESX Server, vSphere, and vCenter for large scale data center management. They pioneered concepts like live migration of virtual machines. In 2004, EMC Corporation acquired VMware, then spun off the company in 2007 via an IPO while retaining majority ownership.

In 2016, Dell Technologies acquired EMC Corporation and its stake in VMware which operates as an independent subsidiary company today. Under CEO Pat Gelsinger since 2012, VMware has grown beyond just virtualizing compute into areas like networking, storage, security and cloud management with acquisitions and new products continuing to expand their footprint.

Parallels, meanwhile, was founded in 2000 by Serguei Beloussov, a Russian-born entrepreneur and software developer now based in Switzerland. Targeting the Mac platform user base, Parallels launched Parallels Desktop for Mac in 2006 – software allowing Windows, Linux and other operating systems to run like applications within macOS.

This "containers" based approach, as opposed to full machine virtualization, enabled greater efficiency and performance. Parallels also expanded the concept beyond desktops into enabling cloud service providers and web hosting companies to run Linux containers securely isolated from each other on shared servers.

Led by CEO Birger Steen since 2015, over the years Parallels has launched tools for software developers and expanded support for Linux and Chrome OS while Parallels Desktop for Mac continues to be their premier product allowing Apple users to seamlessly run thousands of Windows applications. Microsoft even endorses Parallels Desktop as the best way to run Windows on Macs with Apple Silicon chips.

The Virtualization Problems VMware and Parallels Solve

Fundamentally, both Parallels and VMware provide solutions centered around running multiple operating systems on a single physical server or personal computer.

VMware targets IT infrastructure efficiency – allowing companies to consolidate their Windows and Linux server workloads by running each on virtual machines rather than dedicating a separate physical server. This enables server hardware optimization and flexibility in resource allocation. VMware positions itself as a "digital foundation" spanning on-premise data centers to public clouds.

Parallels, on the other hand, focuses on delivering a consumer desktop solution for non-Windows platforms like Macs to run Windows applications and games. Parallels also sells productivity tools optimized for Macs. Their virtualization technology allows one computer to function as both a Mac and PC via isolated OS instances.

Both companies aim to abstract away software from hardware dependencies and provide portability of OS environments, with Parallels geared for client computing and VMware for the enterprise data center. This allows customers to shift OS workloads between machines.

Ultimately the value proposition is increased flexibility – enabling OS environments otherwise restricted by hardware platforms to freely mix and match. Developers and IT admins are empowered to test software across OS versions without managing multiple physical boxes. Both Parallels and VMware enable companies to decrease hardware costs.

Pricing Comparison

Since VMware offers a broad suite of enterprise infrastructure products, the pricing model differs vastly from Parallels Desktop‘s simple annual subscription targeting consumers.

VMware‘s core hypervisor, ESXi, starts at free for limited deployments. The vSphere product with management capabilities and support starts at $415 per physical CPU. A license for vCenter management server costs over $6000. Add-ons like disaster recovery or load balancing rise into tens of thousands. Workstation pro for desktop development costs around $250.

Parallels Desktop for Mac pricing is simpler – a 1 year subscription costs $80 for the basic version with volume and multi-year discounts available. Pro and business editions bundle in enhanced support and features for $100 annually. Windows itself must be purchased separately too.

Clearly enterprises deploying VMware‘s infrastructure suite across data centers are investing far more financially given the mission-critical roles. But Parallels neatly fills the niche of delivering an affordable yet capable Windows compatibility option for Mac users.

Performance and Resource Utilization

When it comes to efficiency benchmarks, Parallels Desktop outperforms VMware Fusion across the board for running Windows 10 on a Mac.

In tests by Tom‘s Hardware, a Windows 10 VM under Parallels Desktop scored 21% higher than VMware Fusion on the GeekBench5 CPU benchmark. For reference, native Windows via Bootcamp on that same Mac scored just 11% higher than Parallels.

The storage footprint for the Windows install was 40GB under Parallels compared to 62GB with VMware Fusion. When both Mac and Windows were booted up simultaneously sharing the host Mac‘s 16GB RAM, Parallels consumed 5.3GB RAM vs VMware‘s 6.7GB RAM impact.

Boot time for Windows was blazingly fast at around 10 seconds with Parallels compared to over 30 seconds for VMware Fusion. Similar significant differences were seen in shutting down Windows, with Parallels taking under 5 seconds while VMware Fusion took over 15 seconds. Across the board, Parallels delivered superior performance running Windows workloads on Macs due to efficiency optimizations.

However, when used in data center contexts for server workloads, VMware‘s hypervisors like ESXi and vSphere routinely benchmark well against alternatives like Hyper-V and Xen for metrics like VM density per host. But this is an aspect Parallels Desktop isn‘t designed to compete on.

Ease of Use

For the everyday user who simply wants their Mac to conveniently run essential Windows apps transparently, Parallels Desktop is engineered specifically to be intuitive and user friendly. Graphical wizards guide even non technical customers through setting up a Windows 10 VM efficiently in minutes without needing to adjust technical configurations. USB devices, networks, printers, and files can be easily shared across the macOS host and the guest Windows OS with click or drag actions. The "Coherence" mode neatly integrates Windows application windows directly into the macOS dock and task switcher.

Alternatively, VMware Fusion indeed allows Windows VMs for development purposes but needs far more technical know how for setup. Working efficiently requires grappling with advanced configuration around virtual hardware, networking and storage. While not designed for this, technically capable users can build templates and automate VM deployment at scale. VMware vSphere servers meant for data centers require expert IT admins to operate so usability here aligns to serving infrastructure management experts rather than end users looking for simplicity.

So while VMware serves critical yet complex enterprise needs, Parallels Desktop strives to deliver a streamlined, easy Windows application experience specifically for ordinary Mac users. This difference in usability stems from their distinct target customer segments.

Available Support

Given its datacenter infrastructure positioning targeting IT professionals and DevOps teams, VMware provides a vast range of documentation and learning resources for its various products. There are also vibrant community forums focused on tips, troubleshooting and best practices leveraging VMware virtualization across private and public clouds.

Additionally, since uptime of mission-critical systems is imperative, VMware offers production support services and subscription packages starting from $699 per year for around the clock coverage. For large accounts, VMware provides designated technical account managers and operational reviews. Training and professional consulting services are also available for enterprises adopting VMware‘s stack.

For consumers and small business running Parallels Desktop for Mac, the company provides decent email ticketing support during business hours and online knowledge base articles. However advanced issues like Windows BSOD errors or game crashes will likely require scouring user forums and troubleshooting tweaks around hardware allocation. For most straightforward use cases though, Parallels support meets needs.

Clearly the stakes and complexity are far greater when issues arise in a VMware managed data center environment – hence the paid premium support models and managed services offerings become necessary.

Key Feature Comparison

Given their distinct usage contexts, Parallels Desktop and VMware infrastructure products have vastly different feature sets and capabilities.

Parallels Desktop allows configurable allocation of 2 to 32 vCPU cores and up to 64GB RAM for each Windows 10 VM. GPU resources can also be directly passed through for 3D accelerated gaming. Parallels also supports running Linux, ChromeOS and legacy macOS versions like Mavericks or Yosemite. Convenient integration features allow macOS apps to open files associated to Windows apps and vice versa. Useful tools are offered like an isolated Windows sandbox and travel mode to pause Windows when not needed.

VMware vSphere targets data centers so focuses on server specific capabilities – direct LUN access for storage, vMotion live migration, high availability clustering, distributed resource scheduler, Storage DRS, fault tolerance and backup integrations being just some examples. There are also diverse disaster recovery, backup, and security add-ons. Integration with cloud for hybrid deployments is a key focus recently.

Both platforms support snapshots to easily rollback OS instances if needed. Networking capabilities also differ – Parallels Desktop offers choices between shared, bridged and host only networking appropriate for home usage. VMware teams with Cisco, Arista, Juniper and others to deeply integrate virtual networking + load balancing capabilities into vSphere environments.

So in summary, Parallels delivers a polished Windows application experience for ordinary Mac users while VMware arms data center IT teams with advanced infrastructure automation capabilities.

Pros and Cons of Parallels Desktop

Pros:

  • Seamless Windows application support for Macs with fast performance
  • Easy to setup, maintain, and snapshots rollback if needed
  • Cost effective pricing given extensive capabilities
  • Suits software developers needing to test across OS versions
  • Integrates tightly with macOS features like gestures and dictionaries
  • Improved stability and battery life optimization over time

Cons:

  • Lack of phone support and reliance on forums, FAQs for troubleshooting complex issues
  • Annual subscription model rather than one time license purchase
  • Confusing array of pricing editions
  • Advanced tuning still requires moderate technical skills
  • Windows licensing cost not included

Pros and Cons of VMware vSphere

Pros:

  • Rich ecosystem of capabilities for data center automation
  • Enterprise scale – can virtualize thousands of server workloads
  • Tight integration with disaster recovery, backup, security tools
  • Networking and storage performance optimization
  • Integrates with all major public cloud providers
  • [TRY TO ADD 2-3 MORE BENEFITS]

Cons:

  • Very steep learning curve and designed for expert IT administrators
  • Substantial costs for licenses, hardware requirements and professional services
  • Fragmented portfolio from acquisitions can be complex to navigate features
  • Lacks self service UI – relies on manual run books and scripting skills
  • Upgrade compatibility issues have plagued some releases

6 Key Differences

To recap, here are 6 major ways that Parallels and VMware technology offerings diverge:

  1. Intended User – Parallels serves mainstream computer users while VMware targets infrastructure engineers

  2. Learning Curve – Parallels has simplified set up wizards tailored for novices while VMware requires significant domain expertise

  3. Pricing – Parallels delivers affordability winning mass consumer appeal whereas VMware‘s breadth of capabilities carries premium enterprise pricing

  4. Performance – Parallels optimizations provide snappier response for desktop apps while VMware maximizes server density

  5. Support – Parallels offers best effort email/community user assistance while VMware delivers production level SLAs

  6. Cloud Strategy – Parallels focuses on Mac endpoint solution while VMware pursues hybrid data center approach spanning public clouds

Clearly, Parallels excels at bringing Windows application convenience to Mac users via local virtualization while VMware dominates the corporate data center space with server workload automation across private + public clouds.

Use Case Recommendations

So which is better for your needs? Here are some guidelines:

  • For running Windows apps on your Mac alongside macOS seamlessly, Parallels Desktop remains best in class for simplicity, hardware integration and performance. Gamers can benefit from GPU acceleration too.

  • Software developers working across multiple OS environments for application testing flexibility will thrive on either Parallels Desktop or VMware Workstation.

  • IT teams looking to gain infrastructure efficiencies via server consolidation, business continuity and centralized orchestration are firmly in the VMware suite‘s wheelhouse.

  • Startups with hybrid or multi-cloud distributed workloads need VMware‘s breadth of public cloud partnerships coupled with on-premise management.

  • Businesses that want employees using heterogeneous BYO devices to remotely access Windows desktops benefit from VMware Horizon‘s strengths.

In summary – consider Parallels primarily for your personal Mac experience integrating Windows apps, while evaluate VMware for large scale, complex data center infrastructure needs spanning private data centers and the public cloud.

Industry Analyst Viewpoints

INSERT QUOTES FROM 1-2 ANALYST REPORTS ON STRENGTHS / WEAKNESSES OF BOTH PLATFORMS

The Road Ahead

As a forward leaning company Parallels continues to optimize performance for Apple silicon chips while still supporting Intel macs – the 2020 v15 release decreased storage needs by further leveraging macOS spare capacity. Developers benefit from Linux guest additions and automation SDKs. Support for new Apple APIs keeps Parallels vital for Mac enthusiasts seeking Windows compatibility.

VMware is betting big on subscriptions, SaaS management and multi-cloud deployments – evident through introducing Tanzu application modernization offerings and the recent spin off positioned to better integrate with public clouds long term. Integrating technology from acquired startups like Bitfusion, Nyansa, Veriflow indicates VMware is looking to maintain relevance as data center complexity grows exponentially.

Both companies align broadly on trends like Kubernetes containers, edge computing and enabling choice across cloud platforms – but serve distinct user segments. For the next half decade as the dust settles on the VMware spin off, its outcome coupled with Apple silicon adoption rates will shape the Parallels strategic response.

Conclusion

Parallels Desktop and VMware virtualization solutions don‘t compete head to head, rather they excel at vastly different use cases. For everyday Mac users who prioritize usability and seamless Windows application compatibility, Parallels remains the de-facto solution bringing together the best of both Apple and Microsoft worlds without compromises through its lightweight container based approach. VMware on the flip side reigns supreme managing Windows and Linux server fleets across on-premise data centers while its vRealize and vCloud Suite integrate hybrid workloads spanning public clouds – though at the cost of significant licensing fees and requiring dedicated specialists to operate.

Both companies will continue innovating features leveraging emerging trends in their respective wheelhouses. Parallels will attract majority mainstream consumer spend from Mac loyalists thanks to its stellar convenience features and continual performance fine tuning. VMware on the other hand must maintain its enterprise credibility as the "digital foundation" through cloud partnerships and steeping up security capabilities in the data center, which while indispensable in large businesses comes at a premium cost. Businesses will find the greatest value in adopting both Parallels and VMware solutions for different teams rather than viewing the two platforms as an either-or choice.

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