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June 1, 2007

Parallels 3.0: Another Compelling Reason To Buy A Mac

Duncan Riley

46 comments »

parallels.pngThe hardest thing for a Windows user wanting to make the switch to Apple is having software and games that won’t run on a Mac. Likewise OSX is deficient as a gaming platform.

Parallels has long bridged the Windows/ Mac divide by providing Windows support from the Mac desktop. The upcoming version of Parallels, Desktop for Mac 3.0 bridges the gap like no release before it.

New features include “SmartSelect” that lets users assign any OS X or Windows application as the default for any Mac or Windows file type. Mac converts no longer need to open a Windows program manually to edit files. Windows applications can be set as the default program for Word documents or any other file type. As Ben Rudolph, Parallels’ Director of Corporate Communications puts it “this is total OS integration on a file and application level”.

3D Graphics including DirectX and OpenGL support is now fully supported within the virtual Windows machine bringing the vast library of Windows games to the sparse Mac gaming desktop. As the screenshot below shows, this includes titles such as Quake 4.

Other changes include improved USB 2.0 support, Coherence 2.0 that includes shared folders and UI enhancements, and improved Linux/ Mac integration.

As a Windows user one of the biggest things holding me back from making the switch to a Mac (aside from the price of the hardware) has always been the potential switch over cost in having to acquire Mac versions of my favorite apps or as the case may be having to do without because there is no Mac alternative. For $79.99 the new version of Parallels makes a Mac that much more appealing.

Desktop for Mac 3.0 will be released in June.

Update: CrunchGear is running the rumor that Apple will start selling Macs with Vista included. If they chucked in Parallels instead of Bootcamp it would be a better offering again.

parallels1.jpg

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This entry was posted on Friday, June 1st, 2007 at 12:36 am and is filed under Company & Product Profiles. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

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  1. Dekut.com

    June 1st, 2007 at 1:26 pm

  2. Manas

    June 1st, 2007 at 1:35 pm

  3. windows gaming comes to the mac at uninteresting :: rich

    June 4th, 2007 at 9:01 pm

Comments

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  1. Smaran

    June 1st, 2007 at 12:42 am

    I wonder, Do games run as fast/well in Parallels as they do under Boot Camp (ie. booting into Windows)?

  2. Chelsea

    June 1st, 2007 at 12:46 am

    the biggest concern with switching over to a mac…

    …all my bootleg software downloaded from torrents..does mac have the equivalent..
    …all my tv watching software like sopcast and stuff..does mac havee the equivalent..

    regardless of parallels or not..mac is a high maintenance car..its like driving a luxury vehicle..

    with windows..all you need to pay for is the hardware for the pc..every other thing from the operating system to my alarm clock software..bittorrent through and through

  3. Ross Hill

    June 1st, 2007 at 12:56 am

    That gaming sure looks good, restarting is a pain! Can’t wait.

  4. alam

    June 1st, 2007 at 1:09 am

    very neat, with design platform in mind then equal operation with the name ‘game’ no more pain for mac user.

    virtualbox for mac also available but still parallels built for mac :-)

  5. lemon obrien

    June 1st, 2007 at 1:48 am

    i build p2p software and it easily works running parells. tested on previous version.

    i ain’t buying a mac now, i’m waiting for new labtops. +

  6. mario ruiz

    June 1st, 2007 at 2:01 am

    I installed it some months ago. It was indicent slow. Maybe the next generation will be faster.

    To play a game? Forget it!

    Mario Ruiz

    visit http://www.oursheet.com

  7. Smaran

    June 1st, 2007 at 2:59 am

    …all my bootleg software downloaded from torrents..does mac have the equivalent..
    …all my tv watching software like sopcast and stuff..does mac havee the equivalent..

    Yes to both.

  8. Nicola Mattina

    June 1st, 2007 at 2:59 am

    I both a MacBookPro and istalled both MacOsX and Windows Xp, but at the end I never used Windows so I unistalled it. There are two main reasons: the first is that iWork is a better and cheaper alternative to Office if you just need to use Word and PowerPoint: it is easyer and more powerfull. If your documents are not complex (they do not use incredible features, macros or other strage stuff… 99,9% of Word files) or you can deliver in pdf, you can avoid using MsWord and leave better with Pages that offers very nice impagination fetures :-) If you need to produce slides without amazing special effects, KeyNote is much easier to use and more predictable.
    The second reason is the layout of the keyboard: finding the @ on Windows using a mac keyboard is almost impossible. I would like to learn a thing just once: what the hell… why don’t you find a common playground for this kind of stuff?
    After switching from Win to Apple one year ago, I can say I will not go back and I’m very glad my computer is Microsoft free :-)

  9. Henk

    June 1st, 2007 at 3:20 am

    I love parallels.
    mario, maybe you are using a powerpc mac? my intel imac ran it really well…

  10. Marc

    June 1st, 2007 at 3:38 am

    I’m waiting for a ‘Santa Rosa-based’ MacBook/MacBook Pro as well.

    Hopefully faster boot-times and longer battery life (between charges) are on

    the horizon.

  11. PROBE

    June 1st, 2007 at 3:45 am

    Henk,

    Parallels (and Bootcamp) only run on Intel Macs. To play games using either solution, you first need a Mac with a decent graphics card (so no use trying it on a Mac Mini or Macbook). Secondly you need stacks of RAM. I’d say 1.5gb minimum, preferably 2GB.

    Anyway, to buy a Mac + Parallels + Windows + buckets of RAM to play PC games is nuts. Just enjoy your Mac for what it was intended and buy an Xbox 360/Playstation for gaming.

  12. TwisterMc

    June 1st, 2007 at 3:49 am

    I run XP at work on a PC and at home in Parallels on my Mac and the Mac kicks the PC’s but in performance. This is not emulation like the old days, this is virtualization and there is very little if any speed difference.

  13. Scott

    June 1st, 2007 at 3:53 am

    Or, you could NOT use a Mac…

    It amazes me that so many people follow other trendies, thinking a switch from PC to Mac is “inevitable.” I’ve used both, extensively, and while I have no love for Microsoft, I found no compelling reason to spend more money & time than I needed, to do what I wanted.

  14. Art Kavanagh

    June 1st, 2007 at 4:34 am

    Why does so much effort go into allowing people to use Windows apps on Apple’s appalling hardware, when what any sensible person wants is to be able to run OS X on a real computer?

  15. Brian

    June 1st, 2007 at 4:40 am

    I think it is inaccurate to characterize Parallel’s as software that’s “long bridged Mac/Windows divide”. It has only been out a year and a half…I know you valley types calculate how fast the earth moves around the sun differently than us normal people but com’on, give me a break.

  16. murph

    June 1st, 2007 at 5:55 am

    if you’re interested in Parallels, you should check out VMWare Fusion for Mac. same idea, and it’s free as in beer.

    i could not get Parallels to boot my Vista Boot Camp partition. did some searching, i was not the only one. i installed VMWare and booted Vista on the first try.

  17. Ryan

    June 1st, 2007 at 6:21 am

    I’m a software developer and recently moved from windows to mac and use parallels to run ms office 2007 on xp. My favorite feature is coherence mode… where the XP windows are integrated with mac OS and float around with them instead of in a virtual machine window.

  18. Steve Macdonald

    June 1st, 2007 at 6:23 am

    Only the most casual gamer would be interested in this. Why do you think so many people plunk down $650 for a 8800 GTX video card or equivalent year after year? Serious gamers are interested in cutting-edge performance, and virtualization technology will always lag behind by a significant margin. Virtualization works fine for most productivity apps, but trying to do state-of-the-art gaming on a Mac is a non-starter. If you’re not that serious about gaming, get a Wii (they’re fun!). Otherwise hot-rod PCs are the only way to go.

    Macs are fine if your gaming consists of 3 year old titles, not so great if you are eagerly anticipating Crysis.

  19. Rachel

    June 1st, 2007 at 6:35 am

    Although I do like the Mac commercials, I would never own one. I just hate Apple in general, see why: http://listafterlist.com/tabid.....World.aspx
    Why I hate iPhone: http://listafterlist.com/tabid.....Phone.aspx

  20. Jon

    June 1st, 2007 at 6:59 am

    The only thing is stopping me from switching to Mac is their hardware prices, the price of a Mac here in Brazil is almost the price of a car!
    look at the price list:
    http://latam.apple.com/pricelist/br/

    $1 dolar = R$2 brazilian real

  21. JamesP

    June 1st, 2007 at 7:04 am

    #13… We’re so impressed that you’ve used both. Bravo.

    Some people just prefer a Corvette over a Taurus. Can you accept that? There’s nothing wrong with a Taurus, and most people don’t need a Corvette. That’s fine.

    Don’t get your panties in a bunch just because some people have a zeal for something different. Let it go…

  22. Sprezzatura

    June 1st, 2007 at 7:17 am

    Just enjoy your Mac for what it was intended and buy an Xbox 360/Playstation for gaming.

    Useless advice for MMO players.

  23. Dave

    June 1st, 2007 at 7:31 am

    Apples’ cost about double what Wintel machines do. If you own a MAC, you don’t know how to save money or you are already rich!

  24. Tidds

    June 1st, 2007 at 8:12 am

    @ 20.

    That Corvette/Taurus metaphor is almost as ignorant/arrogant as your statement that people who use macs are “different”. Grow up.

  25. Peter Cooper

    June 1st, 2007 at 8:32 am

    VMWare Fusion is better than the current version of Parallels (excepting Coherence) mainly because it can use multiple cores, whereas Parallels cannot. It’s also faster. But.. hopefully Parallels can reel it back in with a new version, although it’ll be interesting to see if their support improves at all ;-) (probably the #1 complaint I see on the Parallels forums) I’m not seeing multiple core support in the list though..

    Another thing that would be nice to get is 3D support for Linux, rather than just Windows. It’ll be important with the new composite desktop features appearing in Linux nowadays..

  26. Alaska Miller

    June 1st, 2007 at 9:16 am

    All cheaters, thieves, sycophants, and idiots.

  27. Jeffrey

    June 1st, 2007 at 9:28 am

    “CrunchGear is running the rumor that Apple will start selling Macs with Vista included.”

    This would make it more expensive. A computer with two OS.

  28. OffBeatMammal

    June 1st, 2007 at 9:53 am

    I agree with Peter (#24) - Fusion offers better performance and for me the huge plus with Fusion is that I can use the BootCamp Vista install rather than needing a seperate install (Parallels supports this only for WinXP for some reason and there’s no comment if 3.0 will be any different)

    If Fusion supported a Coherence mode and fixed up some of their (beta) rough edges it would be the clear winner - hopefully the competition will puh both to produce great product :)

  29. Jose Hernandez

    June 1st, 2007 at 10:00 am

    Bridging the divide/gap is so passé…

  30. extensions forklift

    June 1st, 2007 at 10:51 am

    heh - this looks good for the company /

    - but the future will bring total integration soon (with no Top layer aps)

  31. Matt

    June 1st, 2007 at 11:51 am

    so you have nothing to gain from switching to Mac, and you need to run windows applications. why would you switch to Mac?

    regardless of what you think is better, it would be more efficient to use the platform that the software you use is written for.

  32. Jon

    June 1st, 2007 at 12:59 pm

    This is fantastic! I look forward to seeing how it runs more industrial software such as the CAD and 3DS types (ei: rendering capabilities). I find it interesting that both microsoft and apple are still primarily software companies, which are only able to work with one another through - a third party provider (????). I look forward to seeing what these two companies can come up with on their own for the benefit of all consumers. There are some MAC programs I would love to run on Windows btw - so it does go both ways.

    Jon

  33. Slappy

    June 1st, 2007 at 1:51 pm

    Ah but Parallels is so silly! Why am I buying the “luxury” interface of a Mac just to have the functionality of a Windows box? Just stick with the Windows box like the rest of us power users. Leave the trendy transparencies to the Macintossers.

    From painful personal experience, Parallels runs Windows games (the biggest Parallels draw, if you ask me) terribly, even on an Intel Mac. It’s not worth it. I would rather spend the money and fire up a Windows box at 1600×1200 with my Nvidia 8800GTX than any Intel Mac in the world. Oh yes, and then it goes and does all the boring office stuff my Mac does too.

    What’s the big Mac deal?

  34. brian

    June 1st, 2007 at 2:19 pm

    This is sweet! Too bad I signed off on games when I got married. Hope they can develop similar tool for Linux. I think that will be better deal then trying to utilize Mac.

  35. Jorge

    June 1st, 2007 at 3:34 pm

    This is a compelling reason for me to not get a Mac. After all, if the big selling point is that I can run Windows programs, why not just save a few hundred dollars and buy a PC?

  36. PaulWill

    June 1st, 2007 at 4:59 pm

    Or if you have XP and want to feel a little mac experience, try runningthis:

    FlyaKite OSX

    A windows version of a mac interface. Is this the best of both worlds?

  37. Didier Prophete

    June 1st, 2007 at 5:21 pm

    @PaulWill:

    Ahah… well, believe it or not but the Mac experience is more than just pretty icons and the dock (Vista desktop icons are actually pretty slick). The whole Mac user experience is different. It’s very hard to describe to somebody who hasn’t gone through this. It basically just works.

    Also, if you are a developer, the mac is your dream platform since it gives you:
    - all your unix tools (a problem windows never quite solved… I know there are some unix-like tools on windows, but if you have tried them, you know they just aren’t on par with the real thing)
    - a polished and usable desktop environment (a problem the linux guys never really solved)
    - MS office (the business world pretty much runs on MS office so you can’t ignore this)
    - if you don’t like the mac office version, you can always use Parallels to run the windows version (or test your web app on ie6/ie7 if needed)
    - and now you can even run your favorite 3D games

    I would say all of these easily justify paying a few extra $$ (in my book)

  38. Fabian

    June 1st, 2007 at 6:15 pm

    I am a Mac user. I used to run Linux RH before, but chose to move to Macs to be closer to the rest of the suits ;).

    I am currently running a pilot to replace Windows with Ubuntu. So far is going OK, but it does require a little training.

    1) Why would you want to ruin a pretty machine like a Mac with an ugly OS like Windows?

    2) What benefits does Windows really have?

    Just as much as I do not get “Human Powered Search” I do not get using Windows, which is broken.

  39. Tate Nunley

    June 2nd, 2007 at 11:41 pm

    Mike, I think that it would be incredibly powerful and smart if Apple, began offering an option to include Parallels and Vista as an installation option. There are indeed a number of Windows-specific applications that would immediatey be available to the growing number of Apple laptop (and desktop users). This would also open up the development platform so that non-programmer users could continue to build small, focused applications on VB.Net or C#.Net and use them on an attractive Apple machine.

  40. iomatic

    June 4th, 2007 at 12:41 am

    Jeebus.

    Are there more inexperienced and ignorant Mac-haters every day? Do they just pipe in with zero experience and paint themselves fools every time they post their ineptitude at logic?

    Sigh.

    Parallels is a necessity into Windows, from which we can close out of quickly and enjoy seamless, modern computing á la Mac OS.

    Haters, get an education. Please.

  41. snidleywhiplash

    June 7th, 2007 at 8:49 pm

    I just got the 3.0 software and have tested several games. I regret to say you won’t be that impressed. Though its a nice novelty you won’t see speeds even 1/2 of what boot camp offers. At best it shows what could be done but in its current phase it would be best for really old games (Directx 8 or older) New stuff will stink. Also the screen doesn’t fill up even in full screen. Its still in a bordered window which really makes it worse. For any sort of playability in a game like quake 4 you would have to drop the resolution down to 800×600 on low resolution (thats on a mac book pro) From what I have seen I doubt you would see much improvement on anything else. Though I spent the 39 for the upgrade , I would get this only if you want the integration and snapshot ability (which is worth the upgrade).
    T

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  43. Brian Kelly

    June 22nd, 2007 at 1:41 am

    Well I haven’t been able to get any Direct X 9.0a games… most specifically Lord of the Rings Online to run in Parallels….

    I can’t really testify to other games but if you need Direct X 9.. fuhgeddabout it .. and this is on the latest greatest mac book pro which has plenty of Video hardware and should be able to run it no sweat.

    Other than that support was great and offered me a refund… Vista runs very well and if you’re using it just to pop up an office window.. It works fine.. but gaming.. Nah not much luck there.

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