Parallels

[Huwrobs@mac.com]

Hey,

I'm debating buying parallels for my new iMac, but I'm not sure if it would be worth it

Does anybody have any experience of parallels, is it worth the money? I'd only want to run basic programs on it like MSN etc.

Cheers!

 

[mmmcheese]

Hey,

I'm debating buying parallels for my new iMac, but I'm not sure if it would be worth it

Does anybody have any experience of parallels, is it worth the money? I'd only want to run basic programs on it like MSN etc.

Cheers!

That's why the computer gods invented time limited demos....try it...if you like it, buy it.

 

[Huwrobs@mac.com]

That's why the computer gods invented time limited demos....try it...if you like it, buy it.

The thing is, my iMac doesnt actually arrive until the 18th of July, and the introduction price of parallels finishes on the 15th, so I'd like to know whether its worth my buying it now, as I cant really afford to buy it when the price goes back to the normal price!

 

[generik]

I have a feeling that as the technology matures, competition will heat up for this kind of software. There was some indication from VMWare that they'd port their app over to MacOS too, if anything that is one good implementation that I'd hold out for.

YMMV. Currently I am using Qemu for me needs, and it is free!

 

[risc]

I have Parallels Desktop here on my MacBook Pro and it runs great. As long as you don't want to play 3D games you can expect near native speed with your apps.

 

[mmmcheese]

The thing is, my iMac doesnt actually arrive until the 18th of July, and the introduction price of parallels finishes on the 15th, so I'd like to know whether its worth my buying it now, as I cant really afford to buy it when the price goes back to the normal price!

Well, whether or not you like it is a completely personal thing....you might have no use for it...you might not like it....etc. The price difference is $30. I think you could probably find half of that laying the neighbourhood in beer cans. Also, it's not like you have to buy it the instant you get your machine...you'll have a 30 day trial, and you could always wait a couple months after that.

 

[Huwrobs@mac.com]

I have a feeling that as the technology matures, competition will heat up for this kind of software. There was some indication from VMWare that they'd port their app over to MacOS too, if anything that is one good implementation that I'd hold out for.

YMMV. Currently I am using Qemu for me needs, and it is free!

Thanks very much for the reply

 

[sushi]

The thing is, my iMac doesnt actually arrive until the 18th of July, and the introduction price of parallels finishes on the 15th, so I'd like to know whether its worth my buying it now, as I cant really afford to buy it when the price goes back to the normal price!

Are you going to purchase Microsoft Office? If so, they have a MSN client (MSN Messenger) included so that may be all you need.

As for Parallels, it works fairly well. Speed is limited by emulation. I like VPC better for setting up and functionality -- however VPC is way too slow. Parallels on the other hand runs fairly fast (much faster than VPC).

Overall I am pleased with Parallels.

Boot Camp is another option to consider. Although Parallels is much more convenient than switching OSes.

 

[crees!]

As for Parallels, it works fairly well. Speed is limited by emulation. I like VPC better for setting up and functionality -- however VPC is way too slow. Parallels on the other hand runs fairly fast (much faster than VPC).

Ofcourse VPC is slow.. it runs only on PPC machines and emulates an Intel box. Parallels is Intel only and runs pretty much at top speed.

 

[sushi]

Ofcourse VPC is slow.. it runs only on PPC machines and emulates an Intel box.

I realize that VPC only runs on the PPC platform as of now (Running it on my PB15) and Parallels runs on Intel based Macs (Running it on my iMac 17 Core Duo).

Just trying to give the OP a feel for some sort of speed comparison between the two.

Parallels is Intel only and runs pretty much at top speed.

Parallels is not all that fast. Usable, but not fast.

For speed, Dual Booting via Boot Camp is much better.

However, for the occasional use, Parallels is okay.

 

[crees!]

I realize that VPC only runs on the PPC platform as of now.

Just trying to give the OP a feel for some sort of speed comparison.

True but you can't compare speeds because one, it doesn't run on his machine which he might not know and two, when (or if) VPC is released for Intel Macs you can bet its performance will be on par with Parallels.

Not knocking.. just saying.

 

[gloss]

Parallels is not all that fast. Usable, but not fast.

For speed, Dual Booting via Boot Camp is much better.

However, for the occasional use, Parallels is okay.

Not according to a lot of Parallels vs. Boot Camp benchmarks. Parallels has been shown to run at very close to native processor speeds, given that your system has enough RAM to handle it. In some cases it was actually faster than Boot Camp.

 

[smwatson]

I dont understand how it can be faster than Boot Camp? When Boot Camp is booted solely into Windows, whereas Parallels will also give you OSX running at the same time.

 

[gloss]

I dont understand how it can be faster than Boot Camp? When Boot Camp is booted solely into Windows, whereas Parallels will also give you OSX running at the same time.

Well, according to CNet Boot Camp is considerably faster, but there have been some reproducable instances of the opposite being true. See Anandtech's comparison benchmark.