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Is Parallels/VMware slowing down my Mac?
Thread poster: 2nl (X)
2nl (X)
2nl (X)  Identity Verified
Netherlands
Local time: 14:51
Jul 14, 2015

There have been complaints about Parallels (or VMware Fusion) slowing down Mac computers, in this forum.

It would be interesting to investigate what can be the cause of this.

To install and set up Parallels Desktop 10 for Mac, you need:

  • A Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, Core M or Xeon processor (Core Solo and Core Duo processors are no longer supported)
  • Minimum 2 GB of memory (4 GB of memory is recomm... See more
    • There have been complaints about Parallels (or VMware Fusion) slowing down Mac computers, in this forum.

    It would be interesting to investigate what can be the cause of this.

    To install and set up Parallels Desktop 10 for Mac, you need:

  • A Mac computer with an Intel Core 2 Duo, Core i3, Core i5, Core i7, Core M or Xeon processor (Core Solo and Core Duo processors are no longer supported)
  • Minimum 2 GB of memory (4 GB of memory is recommended)
  • About 850 MB of disk space on the boot volume (Macintosh HD) for Parallels Desktop installation.
  • About 15 GB of disk space for each virtual machine.
  • SSD (Flash Storage) is recommended for greater performance.

    The minimum system requirements for installing and using VMware Fusion 7 are:

  • Any 64--bit capable Intel® Mac® (Compatible with Core 2 Duo, Xeon, i3, i5, i7 processors or better)
  • Minimum 4GB of RAM
  • 750MB free disk space for VMware Fusion and at least 5GB for each virtual machine
  • Mac OS X 10.8.0 or later

    I have used Parallels for many years, without any performance problems. Recently I have switched to Fusion, because I find that it supports my iMac Retina better. (Very well possible that future versions of Parallels will provide good support for an iMac Retina too.) My Macs have an SSD.

    Booting and quitting my VMs only takes a couple of seconds. I think that it is important not to assign too much RAM to your VM. Currently I've assigned 2 GB of RAM to my 64-bit Windows 8.1. ▲ Collapse


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    Tom in London
    Tom in London
    United Kingdom
    Local time: 13:51
    Member (2008)
    Italian to English
    Good advice + Jul 14, 2015

    This is all good advice, to which I would add:

    There may be many reasons why your Mac seems to be running slow. Parallels/VMware may not be the cause of it, for example:

    - you have insufficient RAM;
    - your hard drive is too full;
    - you have installed virus protection (which is unnecessary for the MacOS)
    - etc.
     


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    Is Parallels/VMware slowing down my Mac?






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