![]() If, for whatever reason, you need to issue a series of key strokes that contain keys that aren’t found on the standard Mac keyboard, you can do so by going to Devices > Keyboard and then choosing which combo you need to run. This is something that I promise you will get used to in due time. The minimize, maximize, and close buttons are in the upper right hand of the window, completely opposite of where the similar set of buttons are found in OS X. They look and act like they would on a Windows machine. When Windows boxes are opened, they appear on the OS X desktop just as they would on a Windows box. This is a perfect example of the seamlessness of Coherence. For just programs, a folder is created and placed in the dock, and once expanded, it acts just like “All Programs” but from the Mac dock. In this manner, nested directories pop out as they would on a traditional Windows workstation. Think of it as an app store within the Parallels universe.įrom the dock, users can bring up the Start menu. At the convenience store, users can find applications such as anti-virus, book-keeping, and CD/DVD authoring software. From here we can access the Start menu, swap between the “Like a PC” and “Like a Mac” modes (called Coherence), access the Windows OS devices and link to the Parallels’ convenience store. This places the Parallels icon in the menu bar, and by clicking on it, we can interface with the virtual machine. This provides a more seamless experience of running Windows on top of OS X. This, like in Windows, will decrease the performance of your environment as it is forced to store data on slow disk, rather than in much faster RAM.įor our Windows 7 install, we chose the “Like a Mac” option. For example, if the host OS (OS X) and the guest OS (Windows) have to compete for system memory, virtual memory will come into play. One has to obviously be mindful of the impact that these settings can potentially make on their computing experience, and as such, attention needs to be paid to the resources given to the virtual machine. This means CPUs, system memory and hard drive space. There will be a better example of this a little later.Īs with any virtual machine, it will require a certain amount of system resources. If you are more in the mood for a seamless integration of Windows, you can select to run Windows “Like a Mac.” This does away with the traditional Windows desktop and integrates the programs and utilities that come with Windows into the OS X experience. This will run the guest OS in its own window but still allow you to drag and drop files amongst OS X and the VM. For those that prefer to keep a separated and windowed feel, you have the option to run your virtual machine “Like a PC”. This method is dependent upon the Parallels Transporter Agent (a free download from ).Īfter you have chosen your guest OS – in this case, Windows – you are then given the option to choose how you would like to interact with it. You can even migrate an existing Windows install from another PC using either a Parallels USB cable, your own network, or an external storage device. You are given the option to install your operating system of choice from a DVD, as most of us have become used to over the years, directly from an ISO file or by importing an existing virtual machine from another virtualization product… say VMware Fusion. Once Parallels Desktop 9 is installed, the creation of a new virtual machine is a simple process. That’s not to say that installing a program on a Windows machine is difficult, but on OS X, once you’re past the fact that it’s a little different, it’s incredibly easy. ![]() dmg, double-click on it and it did the rest. Like most OS X install packages, I simply downloaded the. With support for both OS X Mavericks (10.9) and Windows Blue (8.1), a promised 40% increase in disk performance, Thunderbolt and Firewire integration, and additional display support, Parallels Desktop 9 hopes to address the needs of today’s power users who find themselves at the mercy of Windows-only programs like I’ve found myself a countless number of times over the past year-and-a-half.Īdmittedly new to Parallels Desktop, I was pleased by the simple and easy installation of the application. With the release of Desktop 9, the Parallels team turned their focus to better performance, added conveniences, and cloud services optimizations. Controlling the majority of Mac desktop virtualization market, Parallels is the de facto leader when it comes to running an alternate operating system on your Mac.
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