Give me straight talk!

Is Parallels something I should consider for a production (work) environment for an office?

I am contemplating buying MacBooks for my employees and running Parallels on it. We ONLY run Windows apps.....but the reason for buying MacBooks is to help them see the light.....if you know what I mean!

It appears to be quite buggy, slow, etc.

Thoughts?

Mike

 

Depends on what Apps you're plan on using. I use mostly Microsoft Office 2003 and it works very well.

 

It depends on your apps.

If you are doing "office-y" things like running spreadsheats, checking e-mail and writing filemaker documents then you should be fine.

If you are using programs that require USB hardware dongles, 3d graphics, or funny hardware then you should think more about bootcamp.

Besides, from a business standpoint it is probably a better idea to not run parallels unless you really need it. Think of it: now you will have to deal with all the Windows bugs AND all the Mac bugs. (In addition to having to deal with any bugs that are caused by Parallels.)

If you are thinking to convert your employees to Mac then get Mac versions of the apps that you use and make the employees learn Mac.

Business reasons for running Parallels would be development of Windows software (especially things that might make the machine BSOD), development of hardware that requires Windows to interface to it, and using "that one program they isn't ported yet" while everything else you need can run on the Mac.

 

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You can download a trial and test everything you intend to use.

So you haven't done it yet.

If you want a real bright light, move to Linux.

But you don't know, because you haven't done it yet.

Do it.
.

 

remember.. these are support forums.. youre more likely to read about something not working than something that works well and without problems.....

To be honest tho... if you ONLY use windows apps.. why bother buying the mac ?
If you want them to "see the light", its not going to help if the apps arent available in OSX also... and if they are, then why bother with Parallels ?

 

We have started issuing MacBook Pro + Parallels to a lot of our employees who use a mix of products from Microsoft and Apple. For example, we prefer using Apple Mail or Entourage (we don't use Exchange), Keynote instead of Powerpoint, etc., but we also encourage using Parallels so that people can run Windows only products, such as Visio, Quickbooks,etc. At least one person in our company is getting a MacBookPro to Visual Studio 2003 (we've tested it and performance is acceptable).

If your employees are only going to be using Windows products and not looking at using *any* Mac software, then the point of doing this escapes me.

It sounds like you've not used Parallels yourself ? In an office environment, Parallels + Win2000 works just fine for productivity software that don't rely on 3D or 2D acceleration.

 

While I love Parallels and Mac and use one myself I would say if your intent is to run ONLY Windows programs then this would not be the best way to go.

There are issues with things like CDROMS, USBKeys etc. If your users are not technically able then there will be lots of running around getting them through minor problems.

I have no doubt Parallels could work for you and work very well but it is just all the little annoyances that people might assume work exactly like a PC that will have you pulling your hair out.

I think as far as calling Parallels buggy and slow I'm not sure you have really run it. As one above said, this is the place where you will hear about problems. You don't often hear about successes.

It will be slightly slower than running Windows on a dedicated machine. That is because when Windows tries to do something like access the internet or a drive control must be handed over to the Mac OS to perform these tasks. That time is overhead which is not normally present on a dedicated Windows machine.

For me Parallels runs EVERY program i've thrown at it, including CAD modeling, compilers for Windows development, etc.

Another thing to consider is that depending upon how you configure the networking in Parallels, the mode that has worked best for me is to let the Windows VM have it's own IP address from the router. This means that each MBP in your net will be eating TWO IP addresses from your router. Probably not a problem but something to consider.

Mark

 

Mouse

I am demoing Parallels today and apps load fine and run fine, but the USB mouse I have is REALLY jumpy and lags in Parallels.

Thoughts?

 

You should looking into converting completely to Apple hardware/os if that is what you want employees to use or get set up for more interoperability. See www.macosxlabs.org the MacEnterprise.org website for more on using it.

 

mbovaird,

Sounds as if you have not yet installed PD Tools - the mouse has been as smooth as silk after this in my XP SP2 setup.

 

I use Parallels for Windows and *Nix* system programming, so needless to say that I throw all sorts of configurations at this program. Works exceedingly well, the only caution is USB device support which is still definitely buggy.

 

Wow, wish my employer would buy MacBooks and Parallels.

All you need then is OpenOffice and you're home free!

Parallels works extremely well and this is just the beginning. It's only going to become ever more capable. Virtualisation is the future! Also really easy to back-up (or clone) the Virtual Machine.

 

Can you explain PD Tools further? Is this something I download? If so, where?

PD Tools?

Can you explain PD Tools further? Is this something I download? If so, where?

Mike

 

For somebody who knows nothing about the product you come with a lot of negative baggage. First - a lot of the problems are because Windows is crap. Next, it is providing a virtual envrionment for Windows, and a lot of Windows people can barely keep their crap running in real hardware. Now we get to the heart of it. OS X is also running and it thinks it should have a shot at some of the hardware that Windows is trying to use. Add to that users who can barely run a Mac without extensive hand holding who are also trying to run Windows concurrently, and you have a major blame game going on. Parallels is solid but you do have to think, and the more you understand how the hardware and the various OS's interact the fewer the problems you're going to have.

I've been running Parallels on my 15" MacBook Pro since the first round of beta's, and also on my Mac Mini. I've never had any of the problems so many others have had. All my peripherals work as expected in Windows XP, Linux, and OS X. Even my wife, hardly a guru leve user, has had nothing but praise for this new platform with Parallels. She hasn't turned on her Wintel system in months and doesn't need it or miss it.

I'm Parallel's happiest customer and you couldn't take this away from me for anything. I'm now running the most powerful workstations I've ever owned and I couldn't be more happy. My wife is now using OS X and still has access to Quick Books Pro without the hell of running on a Windows workstation. I made a master of the Windows VM - if there's ever a problem with spyware or viruses, or even a hint, I delete the current running copy and make a new running copy from the master. All data is stored in a Mac file system shared out to Windows, so Windows and all the applications are a nuisance commodity that can be blown away are replicated from the master in just minutes. No more Ghost, no more PC Tools, no more Partition Magic, no nuttin'.

I'm a Unix SA by trade and I absolutely require performance and reliabilty at work, at home, and on the road. I need things to work every time I use them, and for the first time in my life I have that in a machine I can throw in the tourpak of my Harley and know that at the next wifi-restaurant I'll be able to log in via the VPN, check my systems, read my mail, work interactively via both Windows tools and Mac tools and terminal sessions via ssh, and still have Streets and Trips open to see where the next gas stop is going to be.

dp

 

Ummm.... No negative baggage here, right?

 

Show me where I'm wrong. You can't be hearing for the first time that Windows is crap. That's on the record, not baggage. There is an entire industry built around the fact that Windows is crap. There would be no Symantec, no ClamAV, no Norton Utilities, no PC Tools, and a hell of a lot of other stuff if Windows weren't crap. The gentleman who opened this thread came in with baggage and no facts - just supposition. See the difference yet?

And he did ask for straight talk and that's what I gave him. Get over it.

dp

 

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Make sure you have the guest OS running, then in the VM menu, select "Install Parallels Tools".
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Misunderstood

I think you misunderstood me. When I was referring to it being "buggy and slow", I was simply reading about many of the issues and challenges people were having with it. Using it yesterday, I found it to be quite acceptable actually.....except for the mouse thing, which apparently "PD Tools" will solve - whatever that is.

Yes, Windows is crap....and in a world where it represents 97% (or whatever it is) of the installed OS's in the business world.....we have little choice - especially when our custom apps are designed to work only in Windows. I dislike Windows as much as the next guy, but until some MAJOR organizations start making the switch to OS X (read: see the light) - nothing is going to change.

I'm hoping Apple will come out with their own version of Parallels. Installing OS X, Bootcamp XP and Parallels is a HUGE waste of drive space on a laptop.....but it looks like that's what I'm going to have to do to get optimum performance. Parallels SHOULD have been able to use the Bootcamp install of XP - rather than yet again installing another OS......but that's technology....

Mike

 

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Hello Mike,

You seem to be still wondering what PD Tools is. Parallels Desktop Tools is the answer.

Now if you wish to install Parallels Tools, all you have to do is read my last post, and you will know.

Also, feel free to thank me for not getting into symantics, and just giving you straight answers.
.

 

Get over it? I'm not a platform partisan. I'm typing this on an MBP, which I like. I have several Macs and PCs, all of which have their uses. The support industry you refer to is not built around Windows being crap, but around Windows being popular, and the primary target of hackers. I'm pretty sure that if Apple had 95% of the market, the situation would be reversed.

Straight talk includes the fact that Windows is the most popular operating system ever released, and will probably remain so for quite a while, regardless of the technical superiority of other systems in certain contexts.

I don't see Windows as crap (whatever that may mean). I see it as something I have to deal with, and don't get emotional over it. When I have a choice, I use my Macs. When the best software for the job is a Windows package, I use Windows, either on raw hardware, or via Parallels (which is the reason we're all here, right?).

All systems, Win, Mac, *NIX, mainframes, and everything else have their pluses and minuses. If there weren't pluses, they wouldn't be in use, and if there weren't minuses, there would be only one.

So let's cut the "crap" and "get over" the emotional partisanship, and just deal with the facts, which do not include emotional judgments.