Free Alternative To Parallels Desktop For Mac

Use Bootcamp for when you want/need to reboot your Mac and run just Windows. You won't be splitting resources between the two. Use Parallels for when you don't want to reboot your Mac to run Windows and will have enough resources for both. Use both Bootcamp and Parallels for when you may find there are times that you want to reboot and times when you don't. Parallels Desktop® for Mac is the fastest, easiest, and most powerful application for running Windows® on a Mac®—without rebooting. Brought to you by the world-class developers of the #1-rated Mac virtualization software. Note: It is not recommended that existing Parallels Desktop® for Mac users move to Parallels Desktop App Store Edition. Both Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMWare Fusion are available for download with a free trial and are reasonably priced. However, Innotek released a free open source 'virtualization' program called VirtualBox that makes it possible to run Windows and other operating systems 'inside' or 'alongside' MacOS X in much the same way as Desktop for Mac.

.. might pop up soon. As many of you may know, QEMU is a free (libre) machine emulator for Windows and UNIX host operating systems. Q is an excellent Mac OS X port of QEMU, which rivals VirtualPC and costs absolutely nothing. On Windows, GNU/Linux, and FreeBSD, QEMU's guest OS performance can be accelerated to almost native speed with the KQEMU accelerator module, which transforms QEMU into a virtualizer. Unfortunately, KQEMU has not been ported to Mac OS X.
Earlier this month, the formerly proprietary KQEMU was released under the GNU GPL, making QEMU+KQEMU an entirely free VM option. With KQEMU now free and open source, I bet there will be a working port of KQEMU to Mac OS X by the end of 2007. Even if there isn't, a new free VM solution called VirtualBox was released in January by InnoTek, and they have stated that they intend to port VirtualBox to Mac OS X. This means that free (both libre and gratis) virtualization on Mac OS X might be a reality within the year!

Alternatives to Microsoft Access on the Mac File Maker Pro. FileMaker is probably the best known database application for the Mac. It has a feature set comparable to Microsoft Access, but with a strong focus on forms (layouts) as the primary way of accessing databases. There are numerous of alternatives to Parallels Toolbox: CleanMyPc, CleanMyMac, Snagit for Windows, Capto, SwitchResX.But what are the cons and pros? New versions of Parallels® Toolbox have just been released (Parallels Toolbox for Mac 2.5 and Parallels Toolbox for Windows 1.5), and they contain both new tools and new functionality of existing tools. Mac users are fortunate to have not one, but two excellent commercial virtualization software packages to choose from, not to mention less-polished free alternatives like Virtual Box.

Windows on Mac Q&A - Updated March 22, 2010

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Is there a free alternative to Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMWare Fusion?

Both Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMWare Fusion are available for download with a free trial and are reasonably priced. However, Innotek released a free open source 'virtualization' program called VirtualBox that makes it possible to run Windows and other operating systems 'inside' or 'alongside' MacOS X in much the same way as Desktop for Mac and Fusion.

On February 12, 2008, Sun Microsystems purchased Innotek to 'strengthen Sun's leadership in the virtualization market' and this acquistion has greatly increased awareness of VirtualBox.

Sun describes the program as 'the world's most popular open source virtualization platform because of its fast performance, ease of use, rich functionality, and modular design.' No doubt the fact that it's free has something to do with it as well. Please note that although VirtualBox is free, the license needed to run a version of Windows is not.

Parallel Software For Mac


Photo Credit: Sun Microsystems

In general, VirtualBox is not quite as full featured as the commercial alternatives, but it still has numerous features including 'seamless windows', shared folders, a shared clipboard, and more. It may meet your needs quite well.

Download VirtualBox for yourself and see. MakeUseOf.com has provided a great walk-through covering installation and configuration of the program that you may find to be useful and ArsTechnica offers an in-depth 'quick look' as well.

If VirtualBox does not meet your needs, site sponsor Other World Computing sells the latest versions of Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMWare Fusion.

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