Posted on 08/25/2009 7:35:29 PM PDT by Star Traveler
Parallels to make switching to the Mac easier, safe and painless
August 24, 2009
by Dean Takahashi
In the Windows vs. Mac war, we are at a crossroads. Apple is launching its Snow Leopard version of the Mac operating system on Friday at the low price of $29. Microsoft’s Windows 7 operating system will launch in October with the primary aim of fixing the problems created by Windows Vista.
There has never been a better time to switch to the Mac. Parallels, which makes software so you can run Windows or Mac software on the same machine and use them at the same time, is jumping on the opportunity. Today, it is launching Parallels Desktop 4.0 Switch to Mac Edition software.
The goal is to extend a lifeline to frustrated PC users by making it dead simple to switch from Windows to the Mac OS X. It includes a universal serial bus (USB) cable that you connect between your older Windows computer and a new Mac. It automatically starts a utility that transfers all of the programs and important data from the old computer to the new one. It then allows you to run properly licensed Windows programs on the Mac.
Renton, Wash.-based Parallels has made its virtualization software for many years and it now has 700 employees. It launched the fourth edition of its Parallels Desktop product last year. It creates a software layer that allows a computer to run both Mac and Windows software programs at the same time.
This software is dangerous to Microsoft. With the new Mac OS priced at $29, Apple clearly is going after “switchers.” If there are enough switchers, then Microsoft may have to start worrying about competition from Apple again, if it hasn’t already been worried enough. Right now, about half of all Macs being sold are going to Windows users who have never owned a Mac before.
Serguei Beloussov, chief executive of Parallels, said in an interview that many people who want to switch have been intimidated in the past because they didn’t understand how to do it without losing data or throwing away investments in software. Beloussov said the company has addressed those concerns by including how-to videos as tutorials and simplifying the transfer tools.
In the past, virtualization software has run slowly as it translates programs from one environment to another. But Beloussov said that with today’s modern hardware, the slowdown is not perceptible. Parallels software can even run a variety of games, which are among the most demanding applications. You still can’t run some games with highly realistic 3-D graphics, such as Far Cry 2, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, or Crysis.
The Parallels software also comes with two hours of tutorials that teach people how to use the Mac and help them understand the differences between the Mac and Windows. With Parallels, you can run Windows and Mac programs side-by-side. I think it’s cool that Parallels has stopped thinking like it was just a utility company and is now thinking of how to broaden the market for its software — and the Mac. The software costs $99.99.
I bookmarked both pages
Thanks
Until then, Macs come stock with Exchange support. Ironically, more Exchange support than Windows 7 built in. The reviews so far have said it works great although no one has tried it in a huge operation.
We’ve tried integrating MACs into a large Exchange enterprise, and it’s a long way from being a seamless proposition. We’ve also got a lot of people wanting to use iPhones. They seem to be a nice piece of work, but there are some security concerns. They seem to be quite easy to hack the passwords if lost or stolen, and in our situation that presents a potentially substantial legal liability.
Yuck. Shudder.
If I had to use outlook all the time, I'd just shoot myself.
How many other email progrems have let you be infected by viruses just by reading an email?
Have you considered a used computer? The P4 for $99 might do what you want.
Then put any savings towards a Mac :-)
I switched to an IMAC, last year, Ilove it. I run parallels, it’s great. My wife has a viao laptop, it takes forever for her to boot up, meanwhile I’m up and running in seconds!!
I use it for Web browsers. IE still doesn't render pages properly, and as much as I'l like to give IE the finger on principle, I don't want to kiss off the audience still using it.
Some companies have Windows-only in-house apps; taht can be done better with cross-platform Java or with something like Citrix, but a client-side virtual machine is a way to get Macs in the door and have that fight later.
I run an earlier version of Parellels and it is so easy to go from the mac side to the Windows side. I can run both OS’s at once and transfer files by drag and drop from one to the other.
I run XP on Parellels because my software for my embroidery machine is windows based.
Another MacMall customer here. We’ve bought 5 macs (since 1998) directly from them cheaper than we could get them from Apple. All of them still work and areused because of the software they have on them.
Mac OS X is Unix inside and Unix is not an acronym. Please don't call us "geeks". I've run multiuser, multitasking systems at home since 1985 starting with System V boxes. Before my Macbook Pro, the x86 systems I have owned ran Linux.
I care that:
I keep a fair distance away from Microsoft Windows. On the unfortunate occasions when I've tried to use it, I've always felt like either gouging my eyes out because of the eye-searing color contrast, or driving a screwdriver through my forehead because of the frustrating user interface, or both.
Sun had viable desktop graphics systems before there was ever a Microsoft Windows. They did great work in GUIs in the early to mid 80s. Unfortunately they have always been economically challenged when it came to price points and I suppose that's the main reason why they sold themselves to Oracle.
When Jobs was in exile he did the NeXT, a direct competitor to Sun on the desktop and with a similar architecture (Unix inside). NeXTStep, the NeXT user interface was later reborn as OS X.
There is a long history of GUIs on top of Unix (and its descendents) as an OS.
What kind of system will I buy my sons when they're old enough?
No brainer, at least for me.
That's the case where I work. Citrix has the advantage of running on Linux too.
I'm not sure why a program that appears designed to make its users look like idiots has captured so much market. I mean really, what's up with all the "XXX would like to recall the previous message" and multiple calendar invites?
Just say no!
How many other email progrems have let you be infected by viruses just by reading an email?
Bump.
(And make its users look like idiots to boot?)
Could it be that you might have a better idea if you based your assesment on something more the the most superficial and cursory observation of the product?
I thought he meant the old Military Airlift Command. :)
The foreign language support in OS X is great. I do German and French and the extra German characters like ö and ü (Option-U for umlaut, then type the letter that gets an umlaut) are much easier and more intuitive to do on a Mac than in Windows, same for French with the accents like é (same, but Option-E for accent egule).
Searching “os x japanese support” might surprise you.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.