Why buy Parallels when VirtualBox is free?
Posted on : 07-02-2008 | By : Andy | In : fun, tech
Tags: os x, Parallels, virtualbox, virtualization, vmware
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If you’re looking to run Windows on your Mac (without booting into BootCamp), you can surely shell out $80 for Parallels, or VMWare Fusion. They run well, and have some schnazzy features. But what if you could pocket that $80, (or put it towards your legal copy of Windows that you’re installing) and get a similar software program for free?
Yeah, duh. If it worked…
Now it does. InnoTek just put out VirtualBox for OSX Beta 3 yesterday, and it’s sweet.
No, it does not have a few of the super fancy effects that Parallels and VMWare Fusion have (coherence, etc) Beta 3 even includes “Seamless” mode, allowing to run your Windows windows “inside” OSX. It runs fast, and it runs well, and it’s free. You owe it to yourself to give it a shot–what are you waiting for?!? The worst that could happen would be that you didn’t like it, and you’d be out, oh, about $0.
Download this Free Parallels Alternative now!
OK, some chinks in the armor. Since this is only Beta 3 for Mac, it still doesn’t have everything worked out perfectly. Some annoyances:
- I can’t get the shared clipboard function to work (minor frustration)
- Shared folders are supposed to be working, but I can’t get Windows XP to cooperate
- While the desktop “disappears” in Seamless mode, it still treats the entire OS as one app, so you can’t apple-tab between Win and Mac programs
- Apple-R is the shortcut to restart the virtual machine, which is a huge pain if you’re used to using Apple-R to refresh webpages in Firefox…
Nevertheless, great strides are being made with this, and I have high hopes considering that Sun Microsystems just bought Innotek.