you can probably try out the new Beta for free, if you're interested..
You CAN, and I AM.

30 day trial. The first difference I noticed is that the initial install and setup of the VM (WindowsXP Home Edition, in my case) seemed quite a bit less confusing and less user input required. Other then that, I've only noticed small differences so far, mainly in the features offered and layout, etc. For example, you can set VMWare Fusion to run both processors, where as you cannot do so with Parallels. I haven't noticed any significant speed difference as of yet, even with the two processors, but I admit to not yet running anything processor or memory intensive. I set the memory to 1536MB on both Parallels and VMWare Fusion (I have 4GB on my iMac so I have no shortage of memory).
On a side note, I recall somebody here informing me that I could make the hard disk size "adjustable" enabling it to grow with my needs. Perhaps I am missing something here and if so, please enlighten me. But on Parallels, I only found where the maximum HD space allowed was 32GB, and yes, the HD space DOES grow with your needs, but only up to that maximum. VMWare Fusion has a setting adjustment allowing greater then 32GB maximum and I set it at 100GB. If I am mistaken about this, I'd be happy to be made aware of it.