I am pleased to present the following guest post from Craig Poff, a Mac-using attorney in Beaufort, SC:
I switched to Parallels for Mac last Christmas, and I have enjoyed nothing but smooth sailing. I downloaded it straight from the company's Web site, it installed easily (luckily I already had a copy of Windows XP Pro, as you need it), I installed Windows XP as my Guest Operating System (although you could install Linux, I am told or even old versions of Windows, if you have the disks) and haven't had a single problem. So much easier to keep Windows open as merely another open application on Mac, rather than shutting down and rebooting, as required by Apple's Boot Camp.
Indeed, Boot Camp made your Mac more like a total Windows PC (in terms of running the DVD, CD-ROM, the printer ports, etc.), but I am only using Windows for specialized applications (Bankruptcy and Quicken) and don't try to play movies, run 3D games or even go on line. Indeed, when Windows is running on your Mac, being a Bill Gates product, it will seek to "take over" control of your printer, USB slots, etc. If it does so, all you have to do is close Parallels and Mac regains full control of all functions of the computer.
Just a note to say that anybody interested in trying it should take the plunge. The Web Site offers a free 14 day full-function trial of the software. I was anxious to put my money down well before the 14 days were up ($80 or so).
Craig Joseph Poff, Esq.
Law Office of Craig Joseph Poff
605 Carteret Street
Beaufort, South Carolina 29901
843-521-0995
843-524-2354 (fax)
craig@craigpoff.com
Great post. I prefer Parallels as well. I only run a few Windows only applications (mostly from casesoft) and it works just fine for the job. Coherence mode is very nice.
I think Boot Camp is really only necessary when you want to run something graphic intensive like video editing or gaming and need both cores working in windows. For me it was real overkill so I didn't bother.
Posted by: David Sparks | March 12, 2007 at 10:57 PM