Run Windows Vista on a Mac
With Apple computers now taking hold many people are having issues trying to get their old windows based PC to see the files and read files from a mac. Well not any more!
Parallels Desktop 3.0 for mac lets you do just that. You can now run Windows Vista on a Mac and open Mac applications and Mac files with Windows applications. No more “jumping” between Windows and Mac OS X – Parallels Desktop for Mac! Click Here.
Parallels has been around for a while but until Macs started getting popular again most people did not have a need to share and open up both Mac and Windows files.
Some of the benefits of this program is the ability to use windows only devices on your Mac. Many people out there have smart phone and they run the windows Mobile OS and can not sync them with a Mac. This is true for some cameras and other phones as well. With Parallels you can.
If your like me and have many different applications that work only on Windows XP or Vista then getting a Mac has never been an option until now. With Parallels, you can run all of your favorite applications at the same time, regardless of the OS! No more rebooting to switch between OSes to use the applications you need. Linux, Windows Vista, XP all work on your Mac with Parallels and no need to reboot to switch between those.
It is important to be clear here because I do not want you to waste your money or make false statements. If you own a Mac and purchase parallels you will also need to purchase a retail copy of Windows in order to be able to switch between the two programs. Mac does not come with windows so you do still need to purchase that program as well. You should also review the Parallels User Guide for complete information on what you can do.
The overall install process is very straight forward. Many sites that sell great software have poor support but Parallels seems to be one of the few that actually have great online documentation as well as other support. Once installed the program will hold your hand and help you setup multiple OSes.
There are two different versions out for Parallels for Mac. You can see their site at www.parallels.com for exact information on all three but here is a quick break down of the three versions.
Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac: Cost $79 dollars Key features are
SmartSelect: Set your applications free from their OS prisons! Set any Windows or Mac application to be the default for any file from either OS.
Snapshot Manager: Save the state of your VM’s memory, settings, and hard drive with a single click. Create and manage as many snapshots as you want, and revert to any snapshot at any time.
Parallels Complete Shared Folders: Share files between OS X and Windows with easy-to-setup shared folders and "drag-and-drop". Mount the Windows drive to the Mac desktop for instant access to Windows files!
Parallels Explorer: Access your VM’s files and folders straight from the Mac desktop, even if your virtual machine is shut down. Now with Unicode support!
Kaspersky Internet Security: Protect your Windows virtual machine from viruses and spyware with a FREE 6-month subscription.
Parallels Desktop for Mac Premium Edition: Cost is $99.99. It was over two hundred but they dropped the price. The key features are all of the above plus a few extra goodies. They are
Acronis Disk Director Suite: Modify, move and merge partitions without losing data. Recover lost or deleted partitions and easily perform advanced operations such as boot record restoration.
Regular Price - $49.99
Acronis True Image Home: Back up your entire Windows VM, including OS, software, settings and all. Choose to keep or discard any changes made to your VM!
Regular Price - $49.99
Kaspersky Internet Security: Protect your Windows virtual machine from virus, spyware and malware with Kaspersky’s new Triple Threat Protection.
Regular Price - $79.95
For the extra 20 bucks you can see why the Premium edition is worth the extra few bones. I know most of you mac users are not even using an anti-virus program but with Mac starting to take more of the market share Mac viruses have already started popping up all over the place. Acronis is also one of the only Backup programs that let you create a full image of your hard drive.
Parallels does offer a free trial so check them out at http://www.parallels.com
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