[X4U] Parallels vs. Windows

[Chris Long]

On Nov 19, 2006, at 12:05 PM, Jon Marett wrote:

> On Nov 18, 2006, at 5:52 PM, Jim Robertson wrote:
>
>> I've not tested the tasks I need to do using Parallels (my  
>> business use
>> requires a secure connection, etc.). However, seeing that it can't  
>> even drag
>> an icon across the desktop at the same speed I usually use my  
>> mouse was a
>> bit disconcerting. Perhaps that's "graphics intensive", but it's  
>> something
>> Windows XP does under Boot Camp without hiccupping. I was looking  
>> for some
>> other real-world workflow examples comparing the two environments.
>
> As others have indicated, Windows (XP Pro and 2003 Server) run well  
> in Parallels on my 1.83 GHz MacBook w/ 2 GB of RAM. Before I  
> upgraded the ram,  attempting to run any VM with only the stock 512  
> MB of RAM brought the entire machine (host and vm) to a crawl.  
> Perhaps this demo machine was a bit short on RAM?
>
That would be my guess.  I only have 1 Gb RAM on my MacBook Pro, and  
setting the RAM in the VM to 512 caused either Windows or OS X to be  
very slow, depending on the Preference setting (something to the  
effect of "Which do you want to perform better? Host or Guest).  I  
reconfigured the VM to 256 MB, which is enough for everything I do in  
XP, and now all is well in both.  Also, if you pause the VM and  
restart it, it usually gets "wonky" (good term John!), so I just shut  
down and restart when I need to do something RAM intensive.

Before Phil Shiller denied it, I expected Leopard would include a VM  
software that would allow "Boot Camp" to run from within OS X if  
desired.  Alas, Parallels is sweet enough for me, and I'm sure it  
will keep getting better.

Chris