Desktop Virtualization Shootout

Roughly 18 months ago I was looking for an adequate desktop virtualization solution for running VMs on my Mac. Each of the products had their own merits and flaws leading me to ultimately choose VMware due to it using the least system resources while the Mac idled. 18 months is a long time in the IT world – almost long enough for application of Moore’s Law in hardware but surprising long enough for two version upgrades in many of the VMware products. VirtualBox is now at version 3.1.2, VMware has Fusion 3.0 and Parallels has released Desktop 5.0. An article on desktop virtualization in InfoWorld takes a deep dive into the new features and offerings by each of the three development houses have taken with their latest products. My wallet is certainly happy that the free VirtualBox package now meets all my requirements – but there are certainly some interesting options in the competition.