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In April I wrote about my initial experiences with Parallels. I still think it is an incredible piece of software and allows one to run Windows XP seamlessly (and concurrently!) on the Mac.
When you first install Parallels, consider the following:
- If you have 2 GBytes (or more) of memory on your Mac, install or change Parallels such that you give Windows at least 512 MBytes of memory. It doesn't take long for Windows to use 256 MBytes of memory.
- Sit down and estimate your disk requirements for Windows. The default of 8 GBytes may be insufficient, and you won't be able to easily increase the size of the disk drive without software such as Partition Magic. If your Mac has a lot of disk space, then I recommend that you consider allocating say 20 GBytes of disk space to Windows. If you will install a lot of software in Windows (e.g. Visual Studio) then you might go to 30 GBytes or even larger.
I have not encountered any software-compatibility problems with Windows-based software running under Parallels. I am periodically using the following: Excel 2003, Project 2003, SQL Server 2005, Visio 2003, and Visual Studio 2005. I sometimes need these tools for my technical work. Note that I run the core Microsoft Office suite on my Mac, and not on Windows.
I now use the new "Coherence" feature of Parallels (I don't think Coherence is a good descriptor of the functionality). Coherence essentially changes your view of Windows/Parallels. By default, you will see your Windows machine as a window on the Mac. Coherence it makes the window disappear and instead you have a Start bar on the bottom (just like on a true Windows machine). It takes a few minutes to get used to, but I love it. Now my windows for Mac stuff and Windows stuff are simply blended together. I can move the windows/applications around and I don't need to switch back to the single view of the Windows machine/session.
I've used three external peripherals with my Mac to date: Canon A75 digital camera, HP 6300 combo printer, and Nikon D50 digital SLR.
The Mac recognized each of them immediately (by actual make/model) and I did not need to install any drivers or software. I like it. :)
It's been almost two months since I gave up my laptop with Windows XP and moved to the Mac. I've had a few delays and stumbles, but nothing dramatic.
Overall, there is no going back to Windows XP or Windows Vista as the core operating system on my computer. I still use Windows XP (running under Parallels on my Mac) for a few needed tech applications, but I'm spending 90%+ of my time on the Mac side and loving it.
Microsoft has released file-format converters, such that one can open documents from the latest version of Office. Download here.
I REALLY like the Dashboard on the Mac. I downloaded free, custom widgets for the weather, gas prices, near-real-time traffic maps for Seattle, technical/utilization statistics (iStats) for my Mac, calculator, dictionary/thesaurus, and so on.
One click of the mouse... and all of this data is in front of me. VERY handy.
Of course, there is no free ride. Each widget consumes memory on the Mac. However, I have 2 GBytes of memory/RAM and so I've got some headroom.
These scripts on scriptbuilders.net are useful for exporting your Outlook data (Windows) and then importing to Entourage (Mac). The scripts cost USD $20.00.
Entourage is an Outlook-type email/organizer from Microsoft. I originally started using iMail and iCal, but I'm moving to Entourage since there is direct integration with an Exchange email server (needed for work/business purposes), and I also can have Notes and Tasks again (integrated with my Calendar).
UPDATE: I used these scripts to successfully migrate my Contacts, Tasks, and Notes from Outlook 2003 (on Windows XP) into Entourage 2004 (on the Mac). Cripes, it was simple and well worth the $20! I have a huge volume of data (e.g. 400+ Tasks) and it was not practical for me to manually enter the data into Entourage.
