The macosxhints Rating:
[Score: 7 out of 10]
- Developer: Parallels/ Product page
- Price: $39.95 during beta / $49.95 normal price
Last week (the week of the 3rd), I highlighted Apple's Boot Camp as a Pick of the Week. This week, it's another solution to the same question, but with potentially even broader appeal. Parallels Workstation is a product that uses the Intel chip's built-in virtualization to let you run Windows XP alongside OS X, without a reboot. Unlike Boot Camp, however, you can run other operating systems, all without leaving the confines of OS X. And just to make sure I'm clear about this, Parallels requires an Intel-powered Mac.
I've been playing with Parallels since the beta was released, and it's been an eye opener. First off, if you're thinking VirtualPC and its associated speed hit, that's just not the case. My test machine is a Core Duo mini, set up with 2GB of RAM. In that environment, Windows XP seems to run at maybe 90% of the speed it does when booted natively. Its fast, in other words. You will not be sitting there saying "ugh, when will this window open / install finish / whatever."
Initial setup is a bit more involved than with Boot Camp, and yet easier overall (as you don't need to partition your hard drive). To install XP, you create a new virtual machine (VM), specify the RAM settings and virtual hard drive size, and then launch the VM with the XP installer in the CD drive. After running through the install, you've got a virtual XP machine alongside OS X.
But you're not restricted to XP. You can install any number of Linux variants, Solaris, and even OS/2 Warp (which I don't own, so couldn't test). Here's a shot of my mini running four OS's at once -- OS X, Debian Linux, Fedora Core Linux, and Windows XP (click for a larger version):
I had assigned 256MB to each of the Linuxes, and 512MB to XP. This setup worked quite well, and the machine didn't feel sluggish at all. Of course, I was just doing basic testing, so I wasn't taxing the CPU much with additional workload. Still, the ability to run multiple OSes at once, while staying in OS X, is an amazing advance (and one Windows users have had for years, though not with the ability to run OS X, of course).
At this stage of its existence, Parallels is still beta. If you're going to use it, be prepared for troubles -- I've had a few kernel panics, a few spontaneous reboots of the mini, and more than a few cases of not being able to reload a VM after a crash. In short, it's still somewhat experimental. There are also hardware issues in XP that you don't have in Boot Camp -- you can't use USB peripherals (keyboard and mouse work, of course), and the video drivers won't set any speed records. I also had trouble with Solaris -- it installed, but would not boot successfully.
I would not recommend its use on a machine that production machine, and Boot Camp is still the only real solution for gamers and others who need full-speed 3D graphics and hardware support. But for typical office usage, Parallels will clearly be a nicer solution in the long run. For the potential it shows, Parallels Workstation is a fitting PotW, and I'm excited to see what future releases bring. I also have a much longer article in the works on Parallels Workstation, which should be up on Macworld.com later this week.
(And yes, there will be a Pick of the Week for this week, and amazingly enough, it will be up just a bit later today!)


