Parallels desktop for Mac
 

Okay, I've got a little bit of free time to download and try out Parallels on my Macbook Core Duo.

Can one of you mac gurus just answer me......can I use the Bootcamp partition I have as the basis of my Parallels desktop? So any files that I save in Windows will be saved back to the bootcamp partition? The quick scan of the user guide, it wasn't clear to me.

Any other things I should watch out for? Is 1gb RAM enough? What is the 'convergance' system like?

I use parallels daily now, I find with 2gb of memory I set my parallels VM to the max recommended which is 916 (oddly) and that lets me run everything I need to (SQL Server VS2003/5) absolutely fine. As for file sharing parallels has 'Parallels shared folders' which allows you designate directories that can be accessed by both Windows or OS X.

Gary

With the latest version of Parallels, you can now drag and drop files between OSs - the shared folders still exist though. Convergence effectively allows you to run (say) XP and OSX together.

I have Parallels set up on my MacBook. Running in convergence mode, with the Windows tool bar minimised, I can run Windows apps, such as MS Word on my OSX desktop and then save the files onto the Mac file system. This is useful for me because there are differences between MS Word for Windows and MS Word for Mac. My company standard is Word for Windows, so I can write my reports etc on my Mac, knowing that the formatting etc will be correct.

I think you can use the Bootcamp partition - no doubt Marcus will be along shortly to confirm this :)

Booo Marcus not replying in under 12 hours!

But thanks for the other replies! Download and installed - I'm using my Bootcamp partition and things seems to be going well. I would like another 512mb/1gb in my machine (macbook 1gb RAM) just to give me a bit more in the virtual machine/video RAM.

Only thing that it doesn't do for me is Bluetooth in windows - meaning I'd have to reboot into Bootcamp partition to sync PDA. I may solve this is a USB Sync n Charge cable (though the last one I got didn't work)

So far, very happy with the speed of the VM and can run everything I need to

Marcus must be ill ;) Get well soon mate :D

Its very good the latest version, i'm using it and its class.

I have always have a few driver issues on boot camp, but it still worked.
Parellels works excellently, and the drag and drop in the new version is class!

It also means you can veiw active x sites in ie6.

Morning all. Sorry for the delay in replying, something to do with being in a different timezone to the rest of you :p :D

I've not read the other posts, so forgive me if I duplicate information.

I have run Parallels since the first beta and found it to be an excellent product. The current release (build 3188) does indeed allow you to use your bootcamp partition as the "virtual disk", and this is now how I have my machine set up. I've not had any issues with this setup so far and it's very handy indeed. If I simply need to launch MS Access then I don't need to reboot I can simply launch Parallels and it'll give me access to all the applications and other data stored on my Windows partition.
If I want to play a game, or do something a little more intensive then I'll boot into XP via boot camp.

1GB of RAM should be ok, I've got 1.5GB and don't have any issues, and a couple of friends are running with 1GB and it's fine for them.

I've not really tried the coherence stuff, so cannot comment on how it works, though I've seen the video about it on Parallels site and it does look intriguing.

ah, the old timezone excuse :D

I installed last night and I'm happy with it. As I said above, My biggest issue is lack of windows bluetooth - though it's not a huge problem - just means no bluetooth PDA sync (without reboot to Bootcamp).

1gb seems okay - another half gig or more i think would be great. Might upgrade to 1.5/2gb anyway as memory price has come down a bit.

A little surprised and impressed with the speed of the VM once running.

Do Firewire devices work in windows? Haven't tried that yet

I've only tried FW drives in Parallels and Boot Camp and they mount fine, well, having said that, I am using MediaFour's MacDrive product to allow HFS+ formatted disks to be visible to Windows, but they certainly do mount and are accessible so I'd say the FW stuff is working. If you need to access your Mac drive from BC then I'd consider getting a copy of MacDrive.

My bluetooth mouse works fine in parallels.