Parallels’ absurd memory usage

Posted on Tuesday 3 April 2007

I’ve reported on the past on some decent experiences with Parallels, as well as some negative ones. One of its main problems seems to be processor usage: like I had reported, Parallels uses 10% of a MacBook Pro’s Core 2 Duo processor even when it’s doing absolutely nothing - not even having a virtual machine loaded.

Now a Parallels forum member reports that he discovered Parallels creates about 50 hidden windows on his Mac, even when there’s no virtual machine running at all, and has posted a screenshot to prove it. I ran the steps he suggests, and got exactly the same result. Testing on VMWare Fusion’s beta yielded only 4 windows, only one of which was the full screen’s size.

This is just absurd. Parallels hasn’t yet replied with a timeline for fixing bugs, nor said anything about upcoming updates. They seem to be mostly absent from the forums that are the only point of discussion for these issues, and I wouldn’t be surprised if said forums are closed down fairly soon.

Stay away from Parallels. Even at beta stage, VMWare Fusion seems to be the only sensible choice.


1 Comment for 'Parallels’ absurd memory usage'

  1.  
    April 9, 2007 | 12:34 am
     

    [...] those of you keeping score at home, VMWare Fusion Beta 3 just came out. Here’s a look at what’s new: Improved [...]

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