I'm currently running a pretty stable installation of Windows 7-64 with Parallels 8 on the latest build of Mountain Lion to support the use of ProE Wildfire, Creo and Solidworks. I've been pretty happy with this setup and only recently have run into an issue that I'm trying to get to the root of. it involves graphics auto-switching when the CAD program is calling for OpenGL hardware support. When running Wildfire 4 with graphics set to OpenGL by config.pro with auto-switching enabled I've had no problems with the GPU state or it handling the load; even that of larger assemblies, transparencies, etc. and this has been a stable work environment for me and several member of my group. However, when attempting to run Creo 2 with OpenGL enabled and auto-switching enabled, the graphics screen is inverted. Imagine grabbing the bottom of the display and rotating it up 180 deg about a horizontal axis. Mouse clicks on features highlight the wrong area, clicks in blank space highlight features, rotation is reversed, screen text is upside down and backwards, etc. If I force WinGDI_32 in place of OpenGL it will function normally, but with considerably more proc loading. If I disable auto-switching on the Mac with OpenGL enabled it will function normally. So my conclusion from this behavior is that Parallels 8 is not recognizing the call to switch to Discrete GPU for Creo2 while it does for Wildfire 4. Has anyone else had similar issues and come to a different conclusion or solution? I don't mind using the discrete GPU for CAD, but the requirement to manually control the GPU state is a bit of a PITA. Thanks for any feedback.
Flipped image in Creo sounds like an old bug in Intel HD 3000 drivers. Graphics switching works per OS X applications, so when VM runs it can not switch based on whatever runs in Windows. Anyway, Parallels Desktop will force discreet graphics if VM Config > Options > Optimization > Power is set to Better performance.
