Just installed Parallels 3.0 last night with VirtueDesktops. Everything is running smoothly. The Smackbook feature is already included in the latest version of VirtueDesktops which works great and you can even adjust the motion sensor's sensitivity. I am running off a 2.0 GHz C2D MacBook with 2GB RAM and a 160GB 7200 RPM HD. So far, so good. No problems whatsoever. I didn't even have to install drivers for my external recording soundcard on XP. It automatically detected it. Cool Edit Pro works fine. I was able to edit and record audio with no lag. Haven't really put it to the test though as I rarely record more than two tracks at a time. I am also installing Microsoft Office on XP since Office for Mac runs fairly slow on Rosetta. Even though Parallels is a virtualization of Windows, it works like its own machine. I highly recommend it. The Coherence mode is great for integration making it easy to launch Windows programs within OS X if you don't feel like switching from system to system. For a cleaner look, disable Windows taskbar; the Start Menu will be accessible through the Parallels dock icon. The only reason I use Full Screen mode is to show off the Smackbook feature. Another note, Parallels is not a memory hog provided you have enough RAM. I allocated 1GB to XP but Parallels only uses what is needed for the given task (the same can be said for the hard drive). OS X still runs as fast as before in conjunction with Parallels.
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Parallels on the MacBook...it just works!
- Thread starter davehilario
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After buying Parallels I found that it does not favor Linux very well, I liked the program but had too many issues. I have since been using VMWares's Fusion and I really like that program a lot.
I don't do any gaming on the MacBook so I really can't tell you. I assume the 64MB video card wouldn't be sufficient enough anyway so you'd be better off with Boot Camp for your 3D gaming purposes.