Sharing VM's between PC and Mac

Discussion in 'Parallels Desktop for Mac' started by scott.junk@paksense.com, Apr 19, 2006.

  1. scott.junk@paksense.com

    scott.junk@paksense.com Junior Member

    Messages:
    14
    I just downloaded the PC Trial and opened up an existing VM (with Windows XP installed) that I had created on my Mac using Beta4.

    My goal was to get an idea of what to expect in terms of USB support so the first thing I did was VM->Install Parallels Tools... to make sure my VM had the most up to date version with any USB support that might be missing from the Mac version. Sure enough, there was a newer version available.

    My question is, should I expect any problems using this VM with the new tools installed back on my Mac? I have used it quickly and it appears to be OK.

    For the curious, Parallels 2.1 on the PC does not support Human Interface Devices (HID). For most people this isn't an issue because HIDs are typically Mice and Keyboards which the VM already takes care of. Unfortuntely for me, the device that I am responsible for developing communicates with the PC via USB as a generic HID device. I was really excited about the ability to host VMs for from either my MacBook or my Desktop PC and do development and testing for my product. I have added a post to the "Wish List" forum but I expect HID support to be lower on the list of priorities.

    Also for the curious, opening a VM with the Windows version of Parallels allows you to add USB support to the VM. After saving the VM and opening it on the Mac Beta4 you can then verify that USB support is NOT there yet in Beta4. I tried to connect to the discovered Built In iSight, and my keyboard and it failed. Then out of curiosity I connected a Camera and Parallels instantly crashed! I was pretty much expecting a Kernel panic so I was plesantly surprised :)
     

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