Parallels Desktop Reaches Final
Parallels Desktop, the leading piece of virtualization software for OS X, has finally come out of its release candidate cocoon and become a final product. Parallels, as it is commonly referred to, is an advanced application that lets its users run other operating systems, from Linux to Windows, at near native speeds. Many web developers like using Parallels Desktop running Windows XP so that they can test websites in Internet Explorer.
Until July 15th, you can pick up Parallels for $50. Afterwards, Parallels Desktop bundled with Parallels Compressor will run your wallet down $80. Parallels is ideal for those that don’t want to deal with setting up Boot Camp and dedicating more than 10GB to a Windows partition. If you haven’t seen Parallels Desktop in action before, take a look at the video I found on YouTube.
Looks nice and promising, but if you are interested only in IE then I think wine is the best way to go.
No Boss! How could I be gaming! it’s a Mac!
Can’t wait to get my hands on one of those Intel Macs argh.
Purchased early on for quick juants in Windows without the need for a reboot. Remmeber to activate VMTools in order to share files between OSX and your Guest OS. To Constantinos, while OSX users can use Wine to run IE tests within OSX, there are issues with fonts and general setup for the beginner in all of us. Until someone prepackages an installer which anyone can run without worry of going into the Terminal, Wine will continue to pose somewhat of a challenge.
I’ve been using Parallels on my MacBook Pro. My only complaint thus far is that my machine is sluggish when Parallels is running. Would I benefit from adding more ram? I only have 1 gb right now. I guess that is kinda a dumb question, you can always benefit from more ram. I’m also wondering if Parallels Compressor would help as well?
It depends on how much ram you’ve reserved for the Guest OS. I have 2GB to start with and have 512MB set for Parallels. I can leave Parallels running all day without suffering any sort of hit on system wide performance.
I have 512mb of my 1gb set for Parallels. I’m glad to hear that w/ 2gb things run well. I just need to drop the money on more ram. Thanks.
Can anyone provide some feedback of how well the performance is with Vista. I’m sure it will support it but I’ve tried Vista with VMware and it is slooooow. Of course i’m running it on a 1.8 Ghz mobile processor with only 1 GB of ram, but It runs Fedora 5 and XP fine.
*drool*
I can’t wait till I have enough money to buy a MacBook!!
Who knows, maybe I’ll get one as a graduation present.
I just tried installing Vista Beta 2 with the latest release of Parallels and it gives me an “ACPI Bios” error. I don’t know if its just me, or if Vista just wont run, but I am very sad. I was really looking forward to putting my MBP through some all night gaming. Oh well, I will just have to wait for a fix.
Vista is not supported in the current Parallels release. It will be supported in future versions. They are actively working towards supporting Vista, so it is only a matter of time.