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Finchj05

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Oct 22, 2010
7
0
I have decided on buying the new iMacs whenever they are released. I have a few questions, my work uses a few programs that presently aren't mac compatible, publisher being one of them (correct if I am wrong). A friend of mine uses a program??? called parallels I think. How difficult is it to set this up so that I can run some windows only programs. How should I spec my machine with this in mind, and what all do I need to do this. I have no experience with this and may not be calling the program by its right name if it is even a program. Help would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.
 
Parallels Desktop is what your friend likely has. It's fairly easy to install onto your Mac and subsequently install Windows to work with it... but you will need a copy of Windows. Parallels Desktop creates what's called a virtual machine on your Mac, which typically requires lots of RAM.
 
You don't need to buy Parallels to run Windows, however is it useful to have as you can run windows Apps side by side with Mac Apps. The other solution would be to use Bootcamp to make a windows bootable partition partition on your hard disk. Bootcamp would force you to reboot the computer to move between Windows and Mac OS. Bootcamp comes with all new Macs, but you will need to buy a copy of Windows.

Link to the parallels website

http://www.parallels.com/uk/landingpage/dskd63-5/?source=g_uk&gclid=CNe-r-H8q6cCFcJP4QodFmTyAw
 
Hijacking my own thread here.

I own a macbook and was wondering if I can transfer all my software and programs straight to the iMac so I don't have to purchase these programs all over again. Is this that difficult to do or is it as simple as hooking up my external and trying to load it all over to the iMac.
 
You can use migration assistant to copy over all your files, programs and settings from one mac to the next. However you need to check licence agreements for your software if you are permitted to install on more than one computer.
 
Actually migration assistant must be one of the best parts of owning a mac. Have used it every time I have bought a new Mac. Unpack new mac, connect FireWire cable to old mac, run migration assistant, come back an hour later to have everything that was on the old Mac on the new one.
 
You are normally given the option to run migration assistant when you boot your Mac for the first time, or can be run later from your utilities folder.
 
If my software is for only one computer will this migrant assistant work, cause I hate buying software.
 
Depends on the copy protection on the software - However many software licences do allow you to have a copy on a laptop and a desktop. Migration Assistant will copy the software over, but you may run into activation issues if the software has copy protection. For example Aperture used to complain if it detected the same licence key running on the network - not sure if this is still the case if you bought it from the App store though as that does allow you to install software on 5 computers under the same account.
 
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