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parallels......can I buy now, install XP later?

W

will0407

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
May 20, 2006
609
57
I'm going to Uni in Sept. I'm doing the same course as a mate who did the course last year. He had a mac, but sold it to get a windows because there was too much software etc that wouldn't work.

Now that intel macs can run windows, I am defintaley going to buy + install before I go. However, I want to run it using parallels rather that boot camp (unless someone can persuade me otherwise). There is currently a special offer on parallels, which would save me some money.

Would I be able to buy parallels now, and install it, or if I can't install it without a 2nd OS already installed (XP), keep it and install it when I get XP.

any info, as always, is appreciated.

will
 
You can create a virtual machine in parallels and install XP whenever if it convenient for you. There isn't any time restriction on the paid verison. If you want to use parallels, I say that's great. Its a lot easier and there isn't really a reason why BootCamp would be better for the occasional application. If you are going to use parallels make sure you have at least 1GB of ram.
 
You can buy Parallels now (or download the 30 day trial, try it out and then buy in a months time) and Windows later. One thing you can do to try it out is get one of the many free linux distros and install that... :)

And as iDuck says, have plenty of RAM, and I can also add quite a bit of HD space, those virtual disks eat up a lot of space... ;)
 
Has anyone tried Parallels with XP? Can someone comment on the performance and stability? I vaguely remember there was Parallels beta for UB version recently (I may be mistaken with something else); but, now they have the UB version of Parallel.

I prefer the "virtual machine" set up rather than doing re-boot for switcing OSs. I am interested in Parallels. I recall MS's virtual machine (PPC only) was very slow.
 
I use XP in Parallels all the time on a MacBook 1.83GHz w/ 2GB of memory.

It runs fantastic. When I'm in XP full-screen, it's hard to tell that I'm not on a "real" Windows laptop.

The two caveats about Parallels that I'm aware of is that it's not good with accelerated graphics (so most games will be really slow) and some USB devices don't work.

The folks making Parallels have been putting out new versions every few weeks that fix problems, so I wouldn't be surprised to see the USB fixed. I don't know if they'll ever get the graphics fixed.

Anyways, I love it.
 
OK, I'll probs go ahead and buy it then. I have a black macbook, 120GB HD and 2GB RAM, so it should run fine. Although, I only have 62GB HD space left(got all my music (28GB!) taking up the most part). I'm hoping to get an external HD soon, so space shouldn't be too much of a problem.

(Can someone tell me how to get my comp details in the bit below each of my posts- just so people know what I have before advice)
 
will0407 said:
(Can someone tell me how to get my comp details in the bit below each of my posts- just so people know what I have before advice)
Click to expand...
Towards the top of the webpage, look for User CP. Go there and then Edit Signature. I think that's how most folks are doing it.
 
My virtual HD only takes about 6 GB of space. *shrug* You should be fine.


And if by UB you mean Universal Binary, that is wrong. Parallels will only work on Intel Macs because it needs the x86 architecture.
 
aristobrat said:
The two caveats about Parallels that I'm aware of ... some USB devices don't work.
Click to expand...

Does this by any chance include NavMan satellite navigation devices? They wouldn't work with Virtual PC and caused me no end of grief...
 
Buy it now if you want it and avail of the reduction. I run windows XP on parallels with virtue desktops and i'm loving it. CTRL+SHIFT+Right = windows and CTRL+SHIFT+Left brings me back to OSX. It's fast and powerful and as long as you have enough ram (i've got 2GB) you'll be flying along. It's great having both at once for the lovelyness of OSX and those other programs you need every now and then in windows.
 
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