Pintmaster

This review is not a review of Microsoft’s Windows Vista OS, nor is it necessarily a review of Parallels Desktop. It is a review of the combination of the two software.

Review Rig

• Macbook Pro / Intel Core Duo 2 ghz / 2gb Ram
• Parallels Desktop for Mac 3038 Beta
• Windows Vista Ultimate RTM

When I started a contest to run Windows XP on the Mac, I was looking for the optimal way to operate in a world where you cant stand to work in Windows but cant afford to work without it.

I purchased Parallels Desktop for Mac when it first was released and have used it as my primary way to run Windows on my Macbook Pro. There have been a multitude of improvements since the first release, and the new features in the current betas are quite exciting.

Running Windows Vista in Parallels has made me realize how heavily tailored the software is to running Windows XP. There are numerous features that are almost exclusively for that OS. What this means is, it seems the Parallels guys have got to go back to the drawing board and figure out how to optimize Parallels for running Windows Vista.

Installation
Installation is pretty painless. You set up a new Virtual Machine in fully automatic mode, put in all of your information and bam, you’re done. Once in Windows Vista, just install Parallels tools and you are good to go!

Issues
The first thing you notice when you boot in to Windows Vista is the sluggish pace. Vista on Parallels is significantly slower than Windows XP on Parallels. There are several explanations for this. One is that the Parallels guys have not had time to build the same optimizations into Parallels to handle Vista. I would imagine that maybe 5% of their user base has tried Vista by now, so it is probably a non-issue. The other reason I am positing is due to the way Parallels currently handles graphics. Vista is heavily reliant on a graphics processor. During normal operation, Im seeing 20 - 40% processor usage. This is most likely due to Parallels emulating (rather than virtualizing) the graphics processor.

Aside from the various issues and stupidity in Vista itself (saving that for another article), the high processor usage is the only issue that prohibits daily use of Windows Vista. A side effect of this is that the Macbook Pro runs significantly hotter than running Windows XP.

Im looking forward to future betas of Parallels Desktop for Mac that handle Windows Vista better.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 15th, 2006 at 3:17 pm and is filed under Microsoft, Parallels, Reviews, Software, Windows, Windows Vista. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.