Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion have long competed to be the best virtualization program for Mac. Every year, companies release updates that promise faster Windows virtualizations, better 3D graphics support, and more. And every year, loyal customers invest in these updates, which are often needed to keep running on the latest version of macOS.
After the launch of Big Sur last fall, as always, both companies released updated versions of their virtualization programs: Desktop 16 and Fusion 12.
Parallels Desktop has always been considered a little better than Fusion, but in late 2020 VMware surprised us with a new method: it made Fusion 12 free for individual users. For those who don’t need the best Windows experience on Mac, this is a tough option to beat.
The free VMware Fusion Player 12 software was previously only available for Windows. You will need a MyVMware account to take advantage of the free version and you must not use it for commercial purposes. You can register your personal use license here.
Play video games
If you are into games, you will know that there are many that are only developed for Windows. You can improve this by starting the computer in a Windows installation using Boot Camp on your Mac, but that means you will have to start and shut down the computer all the time.
For two versions, Parallels offered support for DirectX 11, which VMware has not offered until now, as DirectX 11 is also included with Fusion.
This means that many new games perform better, because Fusion can translate DirectX code to Apple Metal.
Additionally, Fusion 12 also supports eGPUs, which don’t always perform well through Boot Camp.
Unfortunately, it is not as optimized for Game like parallels. But if your intention is to play moderately intense Windows games without having to restart the computer to use Boot Camp and without having to spend any money, then this is a good option.
You can use the whole computer
Unlike the standard version of Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion can use almost any Equipment Mac if you want. Virtual machines can be configured up to 32 processor cores and 128 GB of memory, i.e. more processor cores than the faster Mac Pro model and more memory than most home users .
New in version 12 is that the virtual USB controller has been updated to USB 3.1 and therefore supports speeds of 10 Gbps on Macs with USB-C ports.
If you have already installed Windows through Boot Camp, you can create a virtual machine that boots on that system and runs with the same files and programs virtually or by restarting. It works much better if you’ve linked your Windows license to a Microsoft account, as activating Windows may mean you’ve switched between Equipment
Best in full screen mode
Like Parallels, VMware has developed technologies that integrate a Windows virtual machine into macOS so that you can use Windows applications alongside Mac applications. It’s called Unity and it works quite well, but it’s not as perfect as Parallels Coherence mode.
Generally speaking, Fusion performs best in full screen mode and works best on an external monitor, so you can have everything from Mac to one screen and everything from Windows to another.
However, we encountered a bug when using multiple displays. You must activate the ‘Full Screen Minibar’ function. Otherwise, the screen flickers (or at least on our computer). One exception is that only games work best in windowed mode.
Verdict
VMware Fusion 12 emulates Windows 10 and many other operating systems on Intel Macs and does it perfectly, but that obviously doesn’t include M1 Macs. It’s fast and today you can run DirectX 11 programs, which means a powerful Mac can play Windows games without having to install Windows through Boot Camp.
It doesn’t perform as well as Parallels in some modes and has some drawbacks, but it also has things that Parallels doesn’t offer, such as support for more processor cores and more memory. Most importantly, it is free for individual users.
Original article published in igamesnews Sweden.
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