Got an old scanner, a 2010 version of Photoshop, or a classic PC game that won't run on macOS Sonoma? Install Windows XP or 7 in Fusion and keep your nostalgia alive.
| Feature | VMware Fusion Pro (Personal) | Parallels Desktop | | :--- | :--- | :--- | | | $0 | $99/year (or $150 one-time) | | Apple Silicon Support | Excellent | Excellent (slightly faster) | | Game Performance | Good | Better (DirectX support) | | Snapshots | Yes (Free) | Pay for Pro version | | Linked Clones | Yes | No | vmware fusion for personal use
Subtitle: Running Windows 11 on your Mac just got $120 cheaper. The Hook For years, if you owned a Mac (especially an Apple Silicon M1/M2/M3 Mac) and needed to run a "non-Mac" app—whether it was a legacy corporate tool, a specific version of Internet Explorer for testing, or a PC-only game—you had two choices: Pay for Parallels or wrestle with open-source quirks. Got an old scanner, a 2010 version of
Learning Kubernetes? Need to spin up three Linux servers to test a script? You can do that on your MacBook on the couch without buying cloud credits. Fusion Pro (Free) vs. Parallels ($99/year) This is the big fight. The Hook For years, if you owned a
But VMware just dropped a mic.
Suggested Social Media Caption (Twitter/LinkedIn) "Paid $100 for Parallels last year. Just switched to @VMware Fusion for personal use. It’s now completely free, runs Windows 11 on M2 Macs flawlessly, and supports snapshots. If you’re a dev or student on a Mac, this is the best tech deal of 2024. 🍎🖥️"
Download a sketchy tool for a YouTube video or a random GitHub project? Don't install it on your main Mac. Spin up a VM. If the VM gets a virus, you delete the file. Your real Mac stays clean.
