The following is a slightly modified Q&A
thread that ran in a Virginia Macintosh User Group Discuss
List.
First, the original question:
I just bought a MacBook for my college bound
child. Can you explain what Parallels is and if it is needed? Why
would anyone want to run Windows and Mac together?
Thanks
Second, my answer, slightly modified: We already know the child
is a girl because of a previous question about what computer to
look for.
Congratulations on your decision. I'm sure this will give her a
good start on campus. If she can spare an extra hour or so in the
first few weeks, she may gain good advantage by checking out a
computer lab and a campus Apple representative, at least to know
where help is available for questions and problems.
Beware of viruses: Running Windows opens that part of the
MacBook to routine, ever-present attack by PC viruses and requires
the same antivirus software and paid subscriptions as any
responsible PC user would care for. If I had Windows on my Mac, I
would strictly avoid going online on the Windows side. I would
avoid taking software or applications or data from someone else's
machine or CD without checking it for viruses.
Parallels
First, Parallels
is not
an emulator such as Virtual PC, which used to be the way to run
Windows under OS 9 where the basic problem was slow
performance. Parallels is a virtualization tool; it allows you to
run Windows and Linux with their applications efficiently.
Also see Macworld's
review of Parallels 3.
...and if it is needed?
Wait! Most probably not right away, and not likely at all unless
your daughter intends to get into some geeky things. To use
Parallels, you would have to install some version of Windows or
download a free Linux, and you would have to know why you
need to use Parallels. Bear in mind that with the Boot Camp
software that comes with the MacBook, your daughter can run either
Windows Vista or Windows XP. Boot Camp is still in a public beta
(test) stage, but is very useable. We expect that the production
version will come with OS X 10.5 "Leopard" in October 2007.
One advantage of Parallels over Boot Camp is that it will run
older versions of Windows, back to Windows 98, I believe. For heavy
gaming, Boot Camp is better than Parallels, since Boot Camp is not
a virtualization tool but runs Windows natively on the machine.
With Boot Camp, you cannot run both OS X and Windows
simultaneously; you boot into one or the other. With Parallels, you
can run them simultaneously, leading to your next question.
Why would anyone want to run Windows and Mac
together?
Running together lets you move files and data from one
environment to the other very easily. Does your daughter know that
she will have to do this? At the bottom of the first page for the
Parallels URL given above are their purported five top reasons for
running Parallels. I doubt that any of these reasons apply to your
daughter's situation.
If she is told later on that she must run a Windows application
on a routine basis, Boot Camp with Windows Vista should suffice. Or
she may be able to do that work at a campus computer lab.
Also, if running a Windows application becomes necessary, it may
work for her to do this with a shareware called CrossOver for Mac.
Here you do not need to buy Windows or Parallels. CrossOver is open
source software (donation after trial) with a lot of interest in
development and is adequate for many Windows applications. It could
be worth a try.
Again, congratulations, may your daughter enjoy.
Al Poulin
Third, and probably superfluous at this point, is a very rare
appearance by an Apple rep on our user group list.
I totally agree with Al's excellent explanation
and recommendation. It is my recommendation as well to hold off on
installing Windows on a Mac until you absolutely need it. Your
child will be able to do everything in the Mac environment; if
he/she finds something that requires Windows, you can always add it
at a later time. I would not recommend installing Parallels and
Windows preemptively. Feel free to call me if you want to discuss
this further. If you would like to tell me which university your
child is attending, I will be glad to give you the contact info for
the local Apple rep.
Share your perspective on the Mac by emailing with "My Turn" as your subject.
