Parallels Desktop 4.0 is well worth the upgrade price, thanks to some welcome new features. You can get an additional 10% off with our coupon code MACM-VXKD-SALE.
I own both Parallels Desktop and VMWare Fusion, and I’ve switched between them several times. I always found Fusion tempting because of their superior Linux support, and with 2.0, the ability to virtualize Mac OS X Server, however even with the most recent version, “Unity” always feels sort of clunky and not quite as smooth & responsive as Parallels “Coherence”.
Parallels Desktop 4.0 further improves their already excellent Windows integration by optionally showing Windows taskbar icons in the Mac’s menu bar and providing start menu access from the dock. The new version also adds a unique modality view, which lets you shrink the VM to a floating window that lets you watch lengthy operations such as software installations while you’re doing something else.
In addition to the Windows improvements, Parallels Desktop 4.0 improves their Linux support with folder sharing between OS X and Linux. The major enhancement in 4.0 is the ability to run Mac OS X Server in a virtual machine.
[...] of the most intense competition occurred in virtualization software, with Parallels & VMWare both releasing major upgrades and allowing Mac OS X Server to be run [...]