Parallels Desktop for Mac

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
I am considering to use Parallels Desktop for Mac. As an electronic engineer I use frequently Windows apps to design new equipment (e.g. Multisim, Eagle PCB design) My interest is how easy Parallels Desktop for Mac is connecting to a Bootcamp WinXP installation.



Most of the hardware design tools are written for MSWindows, so I'll love to hear your experiencies running these apps in Parallels Desktop for Mac/Bootcamp. I would be very pleased when I could abandon the use of a windows PC to use these apps. Some of the apps are written for DOS, connecting to special (programming) hardware via USB/RS232. Does anyone has experience at this ?



Anyway, thanks for your response

Comments

  • Reply 1 of 7
    pubguypubguy Posts: 108member
    You might want to inquire here:

    http://forums.parallels.com/forumdisplay.php?f=53



    I run Parallels and it works great!

    I am not running boot camp (you can not suspend a boot camp partition) and the suspend feature is a major time saver.



    Anyways, it works great. They offer a 15-day free trial, so you can't go wrong giving it a try on your exact configuration.
  • Reply 2 of 7
    Don't count on being able to run your Windows games under Parallels. Due to a lack of 3D graphics support, you won't be able to. I know because I learned the hard way.
  • Reply 3 of 7
    Do I have to install bootcamp first before I can install parallels, or does parallels run on its own?
  • Reply 4 of 7
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by WallyWattz View Post


    Do I have to install bootcamp first before I can install parallels, or does parallels run on its own?



    I’ll summarize my experience.



    XP vs. Vista

    XP runs like a dream. It is quite reliable. Vista is a little too slow, but much of this is due to the fact that, well, Vista is a little to slow no matter what you are running it on. If you are concerned about productivity, avoid Vista. I guess it is worth pointing out that these views are all placed relative to XP use on a Windows machine. Don’t expect to be as happy as you are with your Macintosh while using Windows.



    3D Uses

    Avoid Parallels if your primary interest involves heavy 3D work (or is gaming). Use Boot Camp for this.



    General View

    I have found Parallels to be extremely well written and reliable for my various day-to-day uses. My main use is to test web pages in various Windows browsers. I have used it for various games, Dreamweaver, Photoshop, Office, and other odd programs from time to time for various reasons (mostly to test and explore the software). In my view, Parallels Desktop is one of those golden gems of the Macintosh community—something that nothing else compares to—and anyone interested in accessing Windows from their Macintosh desktop should consider it. Oh, and one more thing…



    Parallels and Boot Camp

    Avoid it. In honesty, just create another environment, even though it will be a little more pain to maintain. There are still some nasty bugs that can affect your Macintosh partition when working with Boot Camp, and there are update concerns as well. It also suffers a speed hit. I would say use your Boot Camp partition for more involved tasks, and Parallels for everything else. After a few major upgrades, though, Boot Camp support will probably be excellent and reliable. The Parallels team really does make amazing progress.
  • Reply 5 of 7
    dsosbdsosb Posts: 52member
    I think Parallels is great. I have completely abandoned my PC! Don't need it any more! There is a brand new update available. I just downloaded it and installed it last night. It works great! I don't use my Mac for games so I can't speak to that. I love being able to drag files from my MacBook Pro to Windows seamlessly!
  • Reply 6 of 7
    aplnubaplnub Posts: 2,605member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by WallyWattz View Post


    Do I have to install bootcamp first before I can install parallels, or does parallels run on its own?



    It can run on it's own inside Tiger or use the Bootcamp partition. I only have one computer (MBP)with a bootcamp partition and that is going away soon. My 24" iMac and Mini use Parallels inside Tiger (through a disk image) and it works great!



    I did the boot camp thing back when Parallels didn't support USB 2.0 and I needed one little thing to work and it had to have USB 2.0 to do that. Now that Parallels has made significant leaps forward, the boot camp thing for me is dead since I don't Windows game anymore.
  • Reply 7 of 7
    If you have Parallels and you are running Outlook, can you sync with a Blackberry. That's the only one I care about, I'm just curious if you would be able to sync a Creative in WMP.
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