Well, the future at least in terms of computers. More specifically, the future in terms of how Apple can live to compete, without compromising quality. Okay, enough generalities.
I’m talking about Parallels Desktop for Mac. I’ve written about it before, but a lot has changed since I wrote about it last. The Parallels development team have been working overtime on creating a product that has truly surpassed people’s expectations for running Windows software on their (Intel) Macs. As I write today, the last day of 2006, the Mac world has come a very long way in just one year. With the replacement of the old PowerPC processors to new and speedy Intel ones, Apple opened the floodgates for lots of different ways to run Windows on a Mac. At the time of this writing, none of these ways comes close to Parallels Desktop for Mac. Let me explain why.
When it first came out, Parallels Desktop for Mac offered Mac users the ability to run Microsoft Windows at full speed inside of OSX, no reboot required. For those of us who are forced to use Windows because of the lack of OSX versions of the program we need (AutoCAD, for me), this was amazing. Since Parallels Desktop for Mac came out this April, new and improved versions have been release almost twice per month, each new version adding logical and much needed improvements over the last version. However, on December 1st, the Parallels team released a beta version of Desktop for Mac that added several showstopping new features:
- Drag & Drop from OSX to Windows: Seamlessly drag and drop files and folders from Windows to Mac OS X and vice versa
- Auto-Adjusting Screen Resolution: Auto-adjusts the screen resolution to the actual Main Window size
- Boot Camp Partition Booting: Boot your 32-bit Windows XP residing on Boot Camp partition directly in Parallels Desktop for Mac
- Parallels Transporter: Migrate your Windows PC, VMware or Virtual PC VMs to Parallels virtual machines
All of these features are extremely useful and helpful, but none compare to the additional feature that this beta version introduced: Coherence. Coherence allows you to run Windows invisibly on your Mac, no windows desktop in sight, letting you work from within OSX but with your Windows programs. Simply put, Coherence mode “shows Windows applications as if they were Mac ones. Try it and enjoy best of both worlds truly at the same time. No more switching between Windows to Mac OS.”
Now I run AutoCAD on top of OSX, and never have to see the Windows interface. In fact, I can even launch Windows program from my dock. On the left is a small video I made showing how Coherence works. Basically, Windows starts up, and then disappears. I launch Windows Explorer, Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft Word 2007, all as if they are running right in OSX. You can even see how iTunes interacts with the Windows programs. Its pretty amazing, check it to the left (sorry about the quality, it was my first movie:) )
One of the best parts of Coherence mode is the fact that I can run Microsoft Office 2007 in OSX now. Why would I want to do that if I have Office 2004 for Mac already installed? Office 2004 for Mac runs incredibly slowly on Intel Macs since its not a Universal Binary, and therefore has to be run in Rosetta. On the other hand, since Windows runs at full speed in Parallels, Office 2007 is as quick and speedy as it ever has been. As a result, I almost exclusively now run Microsoft Office products in Parallels rather than OSX. Its quick, easy, and the perfect solution until Microsoft releases a new version of Office 2007 for Mac.
Check out Parallels, check out Coherence, and if you have any questions about why either one is EXTREMELY useful, let me know 🙂