The two titans in Macintosh virtual machine software have both kicked up significant updates in the last little while. Parallels Desktop 5 and VMware Fusion 3 both want your hard earned dollars, but is one better than the other? I had a look at both and here’s what I think about them:

Installing Windows: It’s a wizard driven install that makes the process dead easy. This is a tie from where I sit.

Overall Speed: Both products claim that they’re faster than ever, but for me Parallels Desktop “feels” somewhat faster than VMware Fusion in my “seat of the pants testing.” For what it’s worth, both products were on the same computer and the virtual computers had the same configuration. I’m not going to assign a winner to this category as clearly, your mileage may vary when it comes to subjective items such as speed.

Graphics: Both products have significant upgrades to their graphics abilities as they now support DirectX 9 and Open GL. That means that you can do Aero and Flip 3D in Windows Vista and Windows 7, not to mention run your favorite game as well (although IMHO, that’s better done in Boot Camp). I tried a few video games in both products and had no problems running them well in either product. This category is a tie.

USB Support: My usual test of the USB support is to plug my MobiKEY into each product and see how it handles it as the MobiKEY is a rather complex device that sometimes makes USB problems in a computer show up. Parallels Desktop 5 had no issue with the MobiKEY. I plugged it in and it worked. VMware Fusion didn’t see it at first. So I did some Googling and found this VMware Communities discussion thread that explains how to enable support for the MobiKEY. Even though it was referencing an older version of VMware Fusion, it worked. But the solution was not end user friendly at all. Advantage: Parallels Desktop

Eye Candy: If you’re an eye candy sort of person, Parallels has way more eye candy than VMware Fusion. You can make Windows apps look very Mac like and there’s a feature called Crystal View which hides all your icons in the Dock and the OS X Parallels menu bar, moving access to menu items and a newly created folder icon in the Dock which has all your windows shortcuts. I personally hate eye candy so I tend to turn this stuff off. Besides, it likely frees up memory if you do that as well. VMware has made some significant changes to their user interface that are subtle but useful. For example, one interesting new feature is the Applications Menu which lives on the OS X menu bar. You can do everything you’d do within the Windows Start menu so I can see it being handy for some users. Bottom line, I find the eye candy that VMware has more useful than the stuff that Parallels Desktop has. Advantage: VMware Fusion

Technical Support: The last time I wrote about support for both VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop, I basically said that technical  support for both sucked. Now with their new versions, here’s what they offer. First here’s what VMware offers for  VMware Fusion:

For Fusion 3.x, installation assistance is offered for 18 months after product registration or until product end of life. Submit support requests either online or via phone; responses are targeted within one business day.

Now here’s what Parallels Desktop offers :

Customers upgrading to Parallels Desktop 5 to Mac or purchasing a new version of Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac are eligible for the following complimentary support options:

• 18 months free installation support by Email, starting with November 4th 2009
• 30 day complimentary Chat and Telephone support

Clearly they’re finally starting to get the message that software sold to end users requires support that easy to access. Bravo! I’m declaring this a tie.

So who comes out on top? In my mind there isn’t a clear winner as it depends on what you need virtual machine software for. If you need USB support, go with Parallels. Hands down it has better USB support. If you simply need to run Windows or some other OS on your Mac, you can’t go wrong with either product. One thing that helps is that trials for both products are available, so you can try each out and see which one suits your needs better.

So, today is the day that Telus launched it’s HSPA network. Oddly, there was no press release announcing this fact. I guess that’s because they also released their pricing for the iPhone and much like Bell yesterday, it was underwhelming:

• $50/month: 100 local anytime minutes; 50 bonus anytime minutes; and choice between 5 local favourites or 1,000 outgoing and unlimited incoming SMS or double anytime minutes; unlimited nights and weekends; 500 MB data
• $65/month: 200 local anytime minutes; 50 bonus anytime minutes; and choice between 5 nationwide favourites or unlimited incoming SMS or double anytime minutes; unlimited nights and weekends; 1 GB data
• $80/month: 350 local anytime minutes; 50 bonus anytime minutes; and choice between 5 nationwide favourites or unlimited incoming SMS or double anytime minutes; unlimited nights and weekends; 2 GB data
• $100/month: 450 local anytime minutes; 50 bonus anytime minutes; and choice between 5 favourites or unlimited incoming SMS or double anytime minutes; unlimited nights and weekends; 3 GB data

For those of you keeping score at home, that pricing is very similar to Bell’s pricing. Which means that if you’re a Rogers iPhone customer, you have absolutely no reason to switch as you’re not going to save any money.

It’s really too bad that Rogers, Bell, and Telus don’t seem interested in competing against each other. As a result, Canadian cell phone rates are some of the highest in the world and the Canadian consumer gets screwed. I was hoping with the HSPA networks being introduced by Bell and Telus, some relief to Canadian consumers would arrive. But clearly that is not to be the case. So Canada gets screwed once again by the communications cartel of Rogers, Bell, and Telus.

I guess that Canada’s only hope is the Canadian Government overturns that craptastic CRTC decision and allows Globalive to enter the market. If that doesn’t come through, then Canadians are truly screwed.

Here’s some big news. Andrew M. Cuomo who is the attorney general of New York filed a federal antitrust lawsuit against Intel, saying it unfairly prevented AMD from competing under state and federal law. If that sounds vaguely familiar, that’s because the EU did the same thing earlier this year and nailed Intel to the tune of $1.44 billion in the process.

I’m guessing that Intel’s lawyers are really busy at the moment as this is likely to get worse before it gets better for them. Why? Here’s one good reason why:

The New York move increases the chances that the F.T.C. will take action against Intel, according to a person who was familiar with the state’s investigation but was not authorized to discuss it. Mr. Cuomo’s staff, this person said, regularly communicates and cooperates with the commission’s staff.

“These are separate investigations, but it would be very surprising for New York State to go off on its own without being fairly confident the F.T.C. would pursue Intel as well,” the person said.

At a news conference announcing the lawsuit, Mr. Cuomo said, “We have been cooperating with the F.T.C. We have a good, productive dialogue on this matter.”

It sucks to be Intel right now.

Using the catch phrase “The New Bell Network Is On” Bell came out with a press release [Warning: PDF] declaring that their HSPA network is live:

Offering mobile speeds as high as 21 Megabits per second (21 Mbps), the new network covers 1.2 million square kilometres, reaching approximately 20,000 Canadian towns and cities and 93% of the population. The new network also supports international roaming in more than 200 countries around the globe and across the United States too, thanks to a roaming agreement with AT&T, the largest HSPA operator in the US.

Oh, but the fun doesn’t end there. In a separate press release [Warning: PDF] Bell released their data plan pricing for the iPhone.

The pricing is underwhelming, but I think I’ll reserve judgment until after Telus shows their hand tomorrow when they launch their HSPA network. Having said that, I suspect that Rogers iPhone customers may be looking at their cell phone bills closely to see if they’re getting the best deal possible, and coming to the conclusion that there’s nothing from Bell to make them jump ship. Perhaps Telus will come up with an unlimited data plan something that will shock the world tomorrow? I’m not holding my breath though.

Not to be outdone by VMware Fusion 3.0, Parallels has released the latest version of Parallels Desktop today. In a press release issued early this morning, they highlight many of the new features in this release:

Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac introduces more than 70 new features and enhancements, offering a computing experience that is:

Faster…

• Full support for Aero in Windows Vista and 7 through Windows WDDM driver, including Aero Flip 3D
• Virtual machine size automatically optimized for best performance with Parallels Compressor
• Improved performance for Linux guest OS from KVM paravirtualization

“The excellent 3D graphics performance of Parallels Desktop for Mac makes it Autodesk’s preferred Mac virtualization software for customers who choose to run AutoCAD or our other design and engineering software on the Mac,” said Andrew Mackles, Director of AutoCAD Product Management at Autodesk.  “We are excited about the further graphics enhancements in Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac and the potential to improve the customer experiences.”

Smarter…

• A more Mac-like experience in their Windows applications through Apple Trackpad Gestures technology (pinch, swipe, rotate and more), horizontal scrolling and the application of Full Screen active corners and curl page effect
• Copy & Paste fidelity for formatted text and complete layouts including images, even between Windows and Linux guest OSs
• Freedom and flexibility to run Windows and Mac applications across multiple monitors

More Powerful…

• 7 times better graphic performance for games and 3D applications than the previous version with Direct X 9Ex with Shader Model 3 and OpenGL 2.1 support
• Superior graphics performance for Linux guests through OpenGL 2.1 support
• Full hardware resources can be utilized with support for 8 virtual CPUs, 64 bit Windows and Snow Leopard Server 64 bit
• Easily move PCs (including Windows 7) and 3rd party virtual machines to the Mac  with the enhanced Parallels Transporter

It really sounds like they’ve put something together to go to war with Fusion 3.0. Hopefully they have this nailed down as the last time that Parallels came out with software, they ran into accusations of shipping buggy software, accusations of shipping pre-release code among other things that created a major public relations nightmare for them. Hopefully this time will be different.

Parallels Desktop 5 is out today and I plan on downloading a copy of it and putting it head to head against Fusion 3. I’ve been using Parallels Desktop for a couple of years now, but I’ve been experimenting with Fusion 3 lately. It will be interesting to see who comes out on top.

There’s some irony here that I simply can’t ignore. On the eve of losing the exclusive rights to the iPhone, my “new best friends at Rogers” have let me know that they are releasing a Google Android based smart phone called oddly enough, the LG Eve. It does have some really interesting features according to the e-mail that I go:

The LG Eve features a special application called SNS Manager, which brings together Facebook, Twitter and Bebo networks into one place, letting users check status updates in real time. The device also has a 5 MP camera, a 3-inch touch screen, QWERTY keypad and a Face Recognition app.

Okay. That’s one up on the iPhone or Blackberry as those smart phones require additional software to access Facebook and Twitter and you have to use each individually. The phone is $49.99 as long as you commit to a three year voice and data plan. It likely won’t replace the income from lower iPhone sales, but it might draw some interest towards Rogers from people looking for an Android based smart phone.

Bell CEO George Cope addressed the Canadian Club yesterday and let a bit of news slip. Their HSPA network will launch tomorrow:

“In two days, Canadians will be able to access the most advanced wireless network in the world,” said Mr. Cope. “The launch of our new network – months ahead of schedule – underlines that the Bell team continues to deliver on our strategic imperatives to accelerate wireless in Canada and to invest in next-generation broadband networks. We move forward every day toward achieving our goal – for Bell to be recognized by customers as Canada’s leading communications company.”

For those of you keeping score at home, that means that this network launches ahead of the Telus HSPA network. Of course with the launch of that network comes the launch of the iPhone. Which means the end of Rogers gravy train comes one day sooner than planned. Of course I don’t see any pricing details for their plans, so God knows if they’re really going to be any better than Rogers in that regard. Having said that, both Rogers and Telus have made attempts to at least appear to look like they are competitive by dropping the much hated system access fee (and bundling it in with the price of their plans so that they don’t lose any revenue), so it may force Bell to follow the trend and do that as well.

It will be interesting to see what happens once the Bell and Telus networks go live. Will the wireless space be more competitive as a result? Sadly, the only way I the wireless space being more competitive is if there’s someone in the market that really wants bring true competition to this space. Bell, Telus, and Rogers are not that sort of company, and will never be that sort of company.

Will wonders never cease? According to the Globe And Mail, the Canadian Government has agreed to review the CRTC decision to deny Globealive/Wind Mobile the right to operate in Canada. Tony Clement who is the Industry Minister had this to say to the Globe And Mail:

Mr. Clement says the government believes in competition in the telecom industry.

He says the addition of new cell phone companies is going to be of benefit for consumers.

Wow. There is hope for a competitive wireless market in Canada. This is the best news that one could hear on a Friday afternoon. Now the question becomes, will the Canadian Government actually do the right thing and overturn the CRTC decision. If they really wanted to impress me, they could just destroy the CRTC along with reversing this decision. To borrow a phrase from the movie “Aliens”, nuke them from space. It’s the only way to be sure.

It’s time for Canadians to put pressure on their Government.  Start e-mailing your MP’s today if you want a competitive wireless market in Canada.

With the decision about Globealive/Wind Mobile yesterday, I forgot to mention the other craptastic CRTC decision that was released yesterday. The CRTC threw out a “review and vary” request from the Canadian Association of Internet Providers to stop Bell Canada’s throttling activites:

In this decision, the Commission determines that the applications by CAIP et al. and Vaxination do not raise substantial doubt about the correctness of the determination in Telecom Decision 2008-108 that the throttling process Bell Canada relies upon does not engage section 36 of the Telecommunications Act. The Commission also determines that the applications do not raise substantial doubt about the correctness of Telecom Decision 2008-108 with respect to the completeness of the record used to make that decision or to the fettering of the Commission’s discretion. The Commission closes the remainder of the applications in light of Telecom Regulatory Policy 2009-657.

That sucks.

The only part of this that can be considered to be positive is that the CRTC said that the throttling must be in compliance with the new framework that CRTC set out in their decision last week. Because of that, you can expect that something will get filed either by Canadian Association of Internet Providers or by somebody else that will argue that the throttling activities by Bell do not meet that framework.

You know, looking at this and the Globalive/Wind Mobile decision, it really highlights the fact that the CRTC is completely out of touch with reality and needs to be replaced or eliminated. And the sooner, the better. I say we start with petitions like this one.

Yesterday the CRTC decided that Canadian ownership was more important than real competition in the Canadian wireless marketplace. As a result, it appears that Globealive/Wind Mobile’s launch won’t happen for the time being. Globealive/Wind Mobile responded to this yesterday by putting out a press release that said the following:

“Having already received approval from Industry Canada, we are extremely disappointed that the CRTC has come to a different conclusion,” said Anthony Lacavera, Chairman, Globalive Wireless Management Corp. “This is a bad day for Canadian consumers. Canadians deserve competition in wireless and this decision represents a major step backwards.”

And:

“WIND Mobile had planned to launch in the coming weeks. We have pulled together an excellent team of more than 500 people and had built a strong network and operation across the country. We are ready to bring competition to the market.” said Ken Campbell, CEO of WIND Mobile. “We will be evaluating our options on how to proceed.”

So it sounds like they’re not going away. My guess is that they’re going to appeal directly to the Canadian Government as that would be the fastest way for them to get this resolved. The Toronto Star for one points out that they may have a shot if they do that because of the fact that the Conservative party runs the country at the moment:

Conservatives, historically, have been frigid to the CRTC, which they see as a blight on the free market.

Stay tuned. This fight is not over yet.