 "Great deal..." | 2008-09-29 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3SJEL37ZGIWFL |
| Parallels has served me well so far. I don't have to reboot my Mac everytime I need to switch from Mac OS to Windows XP, and vice versa. I haven't had major problems so far. The only slight glitch I found with it is that it consumes memory more than what I expected. |
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 "Great Product, perfect solution" | 2008-09-24 |
| - Reviewed By c_keener |
| I recently purchased an iMac 24" with 4GB RAM to replace my Windows home computer. However, there were three programs I use regularly that had no MAC equivalent: Quicken 2009 Premium, Wordsearch 8, and Legacy 7. I installed Parallels, a new (full) copy of Windows XP, got all the updates, and installed the aforementioned three programs as well as Norton AV 2009, Word, Excel, and Outlook. Parallels works flawlessly. In three weeks of use, I have never had a problem. I can save files to a USB hard drive connected to my Mac and print from a network printer connected to my Time Capsule backup storage device. I highly, highly recommend this program. |
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| "Outstanding - Goodbye Dell!" | 2008-09-21 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3SM24FKSNTKZ0 |
| I've been stuck using a PC at work for my office dictations (using voice dictation software) & to access hospital functions. With Parallels 3.0, I've chucked the PC and can work seamlessly with my new Mac. This is beyond good. Coherence mode is elegant and intuitive. For anyone who is forced to use Windows, this is a Godsend. |
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| "Parallels and XP, Quite a Team" | 2008-09-08 |
| - Reviewed By vestairene |
Last year at this time I was a died in the wool Mac person who believed everything Microsoft came from the dark side. Then along came a program I needed to run and they didn't make a Mac version.
What to do? What to do?
Do I buy a new machine, maybe one of those inexpensive Dell laptops or do I try to run Windows in emulation on my new iMac. I decided to give the latter a try and ordered Parallels and Windows XPfrom Amazon. I installed Parallels without a hitch and when the program asked me to install my Windows' discs I did, followed instructions and I just cannot believe how easily everything went.
But an easy install does not necessarily make for a happy computing experience. It's been several months now and I can't praise XP and Parallels highly enough, because I've had no, none, zero, nada problems with either program on my iMac. They just work. XP has never crashed. Not once. And Parallels has never failed me either.
I've read some of the Parallels reviews and seen that several people are unhappy with their customer support. I've never had occasion to call `em, so I wouldn't know. Likewise with Microsoft, I've never had to pick up the phone, call `em up and ask for help.
I'll admit that most of my work is done in the Mac operating system, but I do use my Windows only database program quite a bit, plus I've also loaded WordPerfect, Corel Draw and Painter a few other Corel programs and they all work swimmingly.
So, three cheers from me for both XP and Parallels. They make quite a team as far as I'm concerned.
Reviewed by Vesta Irene |
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| "Like Having Two Computers in One!" | 2008-08-31 |
| - Reviewed By User: A2PKSXQ4PVO8LM |
In my business, I'm forced to use two Windows-only products: Visio and Project. Rather than buy another PC, I tried Parallels. So far, the product has exceeded my expectations.
The only issue I've had is in using an external USB disk drive. But the solution to the problem of Parallels not recognizing it is simple. It's just a matter of first "ejecting" the disk from Finder, unplugging the disk's USB cable from the Mac, then launching Parallels. Once Windows loads, plug the disk drive back in and all is cool. |
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| "Unbelievable to see Windows and Mac side by side" | 2008-08-27 |
| - Reviewed By User: A3N0KBYIHDWX2Y |
This is, without a doubt, one of the best-conceived applications ever. I recently bought an iMac computer, but still have several applications that run on Windows. I bought Parallels and a nice, clean version of Windows XP Home. Both installed without a problem, and now I have a version of Windows on my Mac that is not laden down with mysterious programs in the start-up routine. It runs better, faster and with fewer glitches than Windows ran on my PC. What's best is that in coherence mode, Windows programs can run right next to Mac programs. You sometimes forget what programs go with which operating system.
Windows, however, is still Windows, so at start-up, you have to wait a few minutes before launching a flurry of applications, since Windows is still grinding away at something mysterious in the background. Thus, I start Windows, and let it run for 5 minutes before opening my first application, and from that point forward, no problem.
I highly recommend this duo to anyone who loves working on a Mac but still has Windows-based programs that must be used. |
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| "Excellent product with poor support" | 2008-08-25 |
| - Reviewed By tom_almy |
First the good -- I've been using Parallels for over 1.5 years now, primarily with Windows 2000 but also with XP, under both Tiger and now Leopard. Excellent integration with OS X makes using it virtually seamless, although normally I run it full screen on one display and OS X on my second display (iMac with additional display). No stability problems or crashing, except as noted below.
The bad -- best support is their user-to-user forums, which they keep fairly hidden. They are slow to repair problems. Early versions had problems with some of my USB devices, although now they all work. Linux support of Parallels went from poor to great back to poor again as they have failed to keep up with advances.
I am happy enough not to switch, or even try, Fusion. I'd suggest that anyone starting out download the 30 day trial versions of both and compare. Start with Parallels -- Fusion apparently will import a Parallels VM which may eliminate Windows re-licensing problems. (I don't know for sure though).
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 "Half-baked - don't waste your time" | 2008-08-23 |
| - Reviewed By videogameguy2 |
Parallels Desktop works marginally when running a Windows XP in a virtual machine. If you are planning to use your Boot Camp installation as a VM (as advertised by Parallels), however, it's really not ready for prime time. There are quite a few issues:
- many features described in the product literature do not work if you are using a Boot Camp installation (including some of the most exciting, such as snapshots)
- You can very easily corrupt your installation of Windows XP by doing something "wrong" - for example, hibernating XP inside Parallels and then booting it natively through Boot Camp
- errors that occur when running your Boot Camp installation inside Parallels can easily (and often) prevent you from natively running your boot camp installation. A time-consuming Windows re-install is required.
In summary, this software shows promise and some interesting features, but is not stable enough to trust with anything more than casual use. I would certainly not trust it with any business-critical data again.
Do yourself a favor and read the Parallels Desktop support forums before buying and see what you're getting in to, especially if you intend to use your Boot Camp installation both natively and inside Parallels. |
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| "I love this application" | 2008-08-23 |
| - Reviewed By pnush |
| I've used Parallels since v1.0 and this new v3.0 is just great. There are a few custom applications in our office that only run on Windows XP and Parallels lets me use them right along side my native Mac applications. It's stable, reliable, and easy to setup and use. It's even better than having a PC on my desk next to my Mac, because I can copy/paste info between applications! |
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 "Poor Parallels support" | 2008-08-15 |
| - Reviewed By robkhoo |
| I have used Parallels for almost two years. Unfortunately the Parallels support is poor. Several times my emails were never acknowledged or answered forcing me to buy the $29.99 telephone service which was an arduous call. It took 3 techs before the problem was resolved. Ongoing problems persisted and again I emailed in my concerns and again, it has been many many days with no response. I just bought VMWare Fusion ....adios Parallels. |
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