Mac virtualization: Parallels and VMware want you to buy new versions

Parallels and VMware both announced new versions of their virtualization products for Macs today, with performance improvements and optimizations for the upcoming releases of MacOS and Windows. VMware is also releasing a new version of Workstation, its desktop virtualization software for Windows and Linux PCs.

Parallels Desktop 13 for Mac will be available today. Although VMware Fusion 10 for Mac and Workstation 14 for Windows and Linux are being announced today, the VMware upgrades will be available for sale sometime in October.

Parallels stuck to its yearly paid upgrade schedule a year ago, while VMware released free updates to Fusion and Workstation. This year, both companies are asking customers to pay for upgrades.

Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion are both adding support for the new MacBook Pro's Touch Bar, though Parallels' Touch Bar implementation is more extensive. Both companies said the new releases will be more user-friendly while adding power features for IT pros and developers.

Fusion has friendlier pricing for multiple Macs

For people who need to run Windows or Linux on more than one Mac, the VMware pricing is better. A Parallels Desktop 13 license for one Mac costs $79.99 as a one-time purchase. That gets you the entry-level edition; Parallels' professional edition with extra features is licensed as a subscription costing $99.99 a year for each Mac. Customers upgrading from version 11 or 12 can get a perpetual license for a one-time charge of $49.99 or the subscription for $49.99 a year.

VMware Fusion licenses are more budget-friendly to people with multiple Macs. One perpetual license for the standard version of VMware Fusion is good for all the Macs you own, while a Fusion Pro license works on three Macs.

A standard VMware Fusion 10 license costs $79.99, or $49.99 if you're upgrading from Fusion 7, 8, or 8.5 (there was no version 9). A Fusion 10 Pro license costs $159.99, or $119.99 for upgraders.

Unlike Fusion, Workstation is licensed by device, so you need to buy one license for each Windows or Linux computer you install it on. Each Workstation license also costs more than a Fusion license—although there is still one totally free option.

A Workstation 14 Pro license will cost $249.99, or $149.99 if you're upgrading from version 11 or 12 (yes, they skipped version 13). Workstation 14 Player, the stripped-down version, will cost $149.99, or $79.99 for those upgrading from a recent version. While Player doesn't have all the advanced Workstation features, it does let companies provide restricted virtual machines that comply with company policies to employees.

Workstation Player only has to be paid for in commercial environments. So while a business that wants Player for its employees must purchase licenses, Player is free for personal use for those of you using it at home.

New Parallels features

Parallels and VMware products from the past few years will keep working in most scenarios, but the new releases have performance improvements and new features.

Parallels developed Touch Bar integrations for Microsoft Outlook, Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. The company also has integrations for Web browsers, including Internet Explorer, Microsoft Edge, Google Chrome, Mozilla Firefox, and Opera.

In Word, for example, the Touch Bar will display formatting options such as bolding, italics, underlining, font sizes, and text alignment. Standard function keys and a few other options will be available in the Touch Bar for other Windows applications.

"Additionally, when you are using the Windows Start Menu or Desktop, Parallels Desktop 13 features Taskbar pinned elements, along with Cortana, Task View and settings in the Touch Bar," Parallels' announcement said.

Parallels also developed a new Picture-in-Picture (PiP) view that displays an active virtual machine in a small window that is always visible on top of other applications. It's supposed to be a convenient way to keep track of what's going on in a guest operating system while you're doing other stuff on your Mac.

Parallels is also adding support for Microsoft's People Bar, an upcoming Windows 10 feature. This integration makes it possible for Mac users to pin a contact to the Dock and click that dock icon to send the person an e-mail or start a Skype call.

Parallels said the new Pro edition will come with these features:

• Assign up to 32 cores (vCPU) and 128GB of vRAM per VM, so upcoming iMac Pro users can create super powerful VMs.
• View Set Resolution menu to immediately switch resolutions for podcast, video tutorial or Web browser testing—including common 4:3, 16:9 and 16:10 ratios with resolutions from 1024x768 to 3360x2300.
• Quick Virtual Machine IP Address Lookup to check and copy IP address from GUI to the clipboard in one click.

A separate business edition will also have a new "single application mode" that will let IT departments provision a single Windows application to end users. That means employees won't have to be "distracted by unfamiliar Windows and virtualization elements," Parallels said. The business edition has the same pricing as the pro edition.

VMware boosts security

VMware's Fusion announcement said the new version improves GPU and 3D graphics performance and has a revamped user interface, but the announcement focused mostly on back-end improvements and enterprise capabilities.

For Pro edition users, "support for REST APIs will offer a new interface for managing virtual machines remotely and programmatically," VMware said. The new interface will include "VM inventory management, VM power management, cloning, networking, configuration, and IP and MAC address gathering."

There will be security improvements for Windows virtual machines in the form of support for Microsoft's Credential Guard, UEFI Secure Boot, and the Trusted Platform Module.

VMware Fusion's Touch Bar Support is more basic than Parallels', giving you some control over virtual machines and the virtual machine library, but no support for actions within individual Windows applications.

Workstation is similarly boosting security with support for UEFI Secure Boot and the Trusted Platform Module. Workstation is also improving the ability to test how applications run over poor network conditions.

"Along with the existing network speed and packet loss simulator, a new Network Latency Simulator will further enable developers to run tests and simulate a specific network environment, including distance and network quality, to test application resiliency," VMware said.