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Mac Forum / Applications / Virtual PC / May 2006Parallels Desktop - Windows emulation on Intel Macs
See this news item: http://www.digitmag.co.uk/news/index.cfm?NewsID=5790 "Parallels Desktop enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows and other operating systems designed for use with Intel PCs. It works differently from Apple's Boot Camp software because it does not require you to restart your Mac -- instead, the operating system works within a window on your Mac OS X desktop." Beta copy from http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/ "Driven by full support for dual-core processors and Intel Virtualization Technology (included in almost every new Intel-powered Mac), virtual machines created using Parallels Desktop Release Candidate for Mac offer near-native performance and rock-solid stability..." Be interesting to hear of a comparison with VPC running on PowerPC Macs. Michael Paine > Be interesting to hear of a comparison with VPC running on PowerPC Macs. ----- I just installed Parallels on a new Macbook (black, 2.0GHZ CoreDuo) I have been running VPC on an iMac G5 2.1GHZ. I loaded XP Pro and it runs really well. It is quite fast (boots VERY fast) and much more usable then VPC. VPC is OK for my needs on the iMac but Parallels is the way to go if you have an Intel Mac. >> Be interesting to hear of a comparison with VPC running on PowerPC Macs. > [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > fast) and much more usable then VPC. VPC is OK for my needs on the > iMac but Parallels is the way to go if you have an Intel Mac. I've seen Parallels running on A MacBook Pro & you wouldn't belive it was emulation. Far more usable than VPC & one of the reasons why I'm upgrading from a G4 iBook to a MacBook. Jay > >> Be interesting to hear of a comparison with VPC running on PowerPC Macs. > > [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > emulation. Far more usable than VPC & one of the reasons why I'm upgrading > from a G4 iBook to a MacBook. Parallels Desktop isn't really emulation as such. Unless it's extremely badly written, ANY "emulation" for running Windows on an Intel Mac will run at near full speed (or even full speed for Boot Camp). Since it is running on Intel chips there's no need to translate every machine code command, which is what cause the biggest bottleneck for most emulation software. Virtual PC for Intel Macs (if Microsoft bother to write it) should also be a t near full speed, as should the existing version of Virtual PC for Windows computers. The only thing slowing it down is the Mac OS X system calls and multi-tasking, and waiting for hardware resources in use by the Mac OS. Helpful Harry Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o) >> >> Be interesting to hear of a comparison with VPC running on PowerPC Macs. >> > [quoted text clipped - 23 lines] >Helpful Harry >Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o) Right, what Parallels is doing is CPU Virtualization, while VPC for Mac does CPU emulation. That's the big difference. Virtualization products like VPC for Windows, VMWare for Windows, Parallels for Windows all have near parity for speed, which in general is comparable to the host. Of course, they are all still emulating the rest of the virtual machine's components, so there's no way you're going to be able to play games that need 3D hardware support in Parallels or any other emulator of virualization system in the near future. As Harry, said, you really can't compare VPC-Mac and Parallels for Intel Mac, they are very different products with VPC being crippled with the burden of emulating an Intel CPU on a PowerPC. I like Parallels software, they're still rough around the edges, but they are responsive and have made a lot of improvements to their products since they released the Windows version a while back. (I actually bought version 2.0 for Windows on the day it was released)  SignatureCheers, Steve Jain, Virtual Machine MVP http://vpc.essjae.com/ I do not work for Microsoft. I have been waiting to hear 'real world' reports on this myself. I NEED (unfortunately) XP for work and am HUGELY tempted by the new MacBook Pro but the deciding factor is how good Parallels is and if it works well with printers, file sharing, USB support etc. ANYONE!!!!!!!!!! Robin > I NEED (unfortunately) XP for work and am HUGELY tempted by the new MacBook > Pro but the deciding factor is how good Parallels is and if it works well > with printers, file sharing, USB support etc. ==== from only a few days use so far: I inserted my 1GB thumbdrive and it recognized it and made it available. But... XP complained it could connect faster, so it did not mount it as USB2. I tried to copy the contents (slightly less than 1GB) and the XP system locked up after about 5 minutes of copying. so, they still have some work to do but otherwise, it is very fast and with the "tools" installed, it is quite easy to mouse between OSX and XP screens. I'll try printing soon. > > I NEED (unfortunately) XP for work and am HUGELY tempted by the new MacBook > > Pro but the deciding factor is how good Parallels is and if it works well [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] > > I'll try printing soon. what about other USB devices like GPS, phones, etc. The stuff that we constantly tell VPC newbies that it won't work. Do they work on Parallels or are people still stuck with going with a cheap PC? SignatureDeeDee, don't press that button! DeeDee! NO! Dee... >>>I NEED (unfortunately) XP for work and am HUGELY tempted by the new MacBook >>>Pro but the deciding factor is how good Parallels is and if it works well [quoted text clipped - 20 lines] > constantly tell VPC newbies that it won't work. Do they work on > Parallels or are people still stuck with going with a cheap PC? See the link I provided at the start: http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/ "What’s New in Workstation for Mac RC? * New look and feel * Improved performance and stability * Better and broader USB support <<<< * Improved Shared Folder tool <<<< * Better networking in virtual machines <<<< * Better sound support * Improved fullscreen mode ... Known Issues: * Some USB devices are still unstable <<<< * FreeBSD 5.4 installation sometimes hangs... Download and Evaluate Parallels Desktop Release Candidate for Mac now!" So it seems trial and error is needed for now. Please leave a note about experiences with "difficult" devices like GPS for us poor neglected VPC users before you switch to Parallels and an Intel Mac! Michael Paine > I have been waiting to hear 'real world' reports on this myself. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > ANYONE!!!!!!!!!! There is always Apple's Boot Camp for Intel Macs (although still in beta itself). The only user-noticeable difference is that you have to re-boot to swap between the operating systems rather than having Windows running in a Mac OS X window. The bonus would be that it should run slightly faster and should use all the thnigs like 3D graphics acceleration, etc. (assuming Apple gets all it's drivers working properly). Plus it's anyone's guess what Microsoft will include in the next version of Virtual PC ... if there ever is one. Helpful Harry Hopefully helping harassed humans happily handle handiwork hardships ;o) > I have been waiting to hear 'real world' reports on this myself. > [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > > ANYONE!!!!!!!!!! This isn't the right forum for this discussion. Try http://forums.parallels.com/ |
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