Parallels on a Mac with Windows 7 (buy or use what I got) Was thinking about getting a Mac at some point in the future. If I install Parallels ( Virtualization and Automation Solutions for Desktops, Servers, Hosting, SaaS - Parallels ), can I install a copy of Windows I have now or will I need to buy a new disk?

Parallels Desktop 7 detailed review

While it is easy (and rather convenient) for some users to adopt just one ecosystem when it comes to their computing needs, there are several of us out there, who either started with one and ended up with another, or, just like to have best of all the worlds. Ever since Apple started using Intel processors, running Windows on a Mac has become possible, but not without its fair share of jumping through hoops. This is where Parallels steps in, hoping to reduce your woes when it comes to running Windows on your Mac.

• I did an upgrade from my Windows OEM (HP edition) to Parallels Mac Desktop. The migration has problems (it hangs or blue screens every time I shut it down). I would like to try a fresh, clean install of Windows 7 on Parallels VM, but I can't figure out how to buy it. All the cheap versions of Windows are upgrades, but I don't want to upgrade.
• Quite disappointing after spending on Parallels 9, Quicken 2014, and Windows 7, and dealing with all the hassles of getting them to work together, just so I could do home accounting. There has to be a better way. I'm going to try Mint - a free web based program. Even if I have to give up some features, it may be worth it.

Installation
Parallels Desktop 7 requires to be installed on the Mac OS X partition (in case you’re running Bootcamp). Installation is quite straightforward, and it performs a version check to make sure you are installing the newest version of the software. In case there is a newer version available, the installer would prompt you to either download the newer version, or continue installing the version on the CD. Be aware though, once the installation is complete, a restart is required.

We were a bit confused as to why we weren’t prompted for the product key during the installation process, only to be greeted by the said prompt when we tried to run the program for the first time. Once the key is entered, (and accepted of course) the program offers three options for getting started with Windows; Purchase a copy of Windows, Install Windows, or run it from a Bootcamp Partition. Since we already have a Bootcamp setup, we decided to stick with it. Parallels Desktop 7 performed some final tasks, loaded the drivers and before we know it, we had access to both the operating systems simultaneously.

User Experience
Parallel Desktops 7 is one of the best solutions out there for those wanting to run itty bitty Windows programs while running Mac OS X. Parallels claims great efficiency while working, along with seamless integration of the two operating systems using their Coherence mode.

The Coherence mode is quite something! It allows the familiar workings of Windows 7 to be accessible while working in Mac OS X. To test out the effectiveness of this integration, we ran Winamp from the Windows 7 partition (because we’re not very happy with the Mac version of the same player) and loaded it up with about 5GB worth of songs that were stored on the OS X partition. For an entire 6 hours or so, Winamp continued to chew through the playlist without any issues.

We next tried to see how far we could push the virtual environment and tried running Photoshop CS5 and while we managed to get the program to run, editing a 10megapixel raw file in the software was a little too sluggish for our liking. However, we had no issues running Word and Excel or even working with PowerPoint through the virtual environment.

Besides running various software, we also opened up different windows from both the Windows and OS X partitions, and noticed that the typical “fly-out” effect while switching windows had started to stutter significantly. This behavior is completely expected, as Parallels Desktop 7 is essentially running a virtual version of Windows, which can get a little memory intensive. Despite that, we didn’t notice any significant performance issues while working with various software.

While the Coherence mode, in our opinion, is an amazing implementation, Parallels has taken into account the fact that some people might not be very comfortable with the two distinct operating systems mixing together. Towards that, all we had to do was turn off Coherence and Windows 7 was bound to a boxed window. While we can see how this would be of need for some people, we preferred the Coherence mode in all its entirety.

Before we concluded our testing, we figured it would be a good idea to run benchmarks on Windows 7 (running through Parallels Desktop 7) and then running the same benchmarks on Windows 7 (running on Bootcamp). We ran 3D Mark, PC Mark Vantage and Cinebench (CPU test) on both the systems and found the results to corroborate what we had thought all along. Windows 7 running as a standalone (on Bootcamp) performs almost twice as better as the same operating system running on OS X through Parallels Desktop 7. This comes as no surprise, as Parallels Desktop 7 is essentially loading Windows 7 as a layer on top of OS X, which eats up quite a bit of memory and CPU. You can check out the various benchmark scores below:

Our Take:
Parallels Desktop 7 is a wonderful piece of software that offers a convenience that’s never before seen. Not only does it allow access to both Windows and OS X operating systems simultaneously, it does so with an elegant ease. Not having to save our work, reboot, switch partitions, do our work, save it again, reboot again, makes for a whole new kind of liberation.

However, the convenience does come at the price of performance. If you’re thinking that now would be a good time to buy those new PC games and run them through Parallel Desktops 7, we’d strongly recommend against it. Parallels Desktop 7 is best suited for running simple Windows programs without having to leave the OS X environment, especially if you’re the kind of person who does not want to deal with the hassle of setting up a Bootcamp. For $79.99 ($49.99 if you’re upgrading), Parallels Desktop 7 is definitely a good purchase, especially for those who require the use of both operating systems, but don’t want to deal with the process of rebooting in order to switch.

Parallels Desktop 8 detailed review

Download Windows 10 For Parallels

We quite enjoyed using Parallel's Desktop 7 on our MacBook Pro running Lion and now that both Apple and Windows have released new Operating Systems, it was only natural that Parallel's desktop would also push out an updated version of their software.

Parallels Desktop 8 brings with it the ability to get Mountain Lion and Windows 8 to play well with each other. Now that Mountain Lion natively supports reading and writing to NTFS partitions (no more MacFuse and such), we feel that one of the primary needs for having Parallels Desktop has been rendered obsolete. However, Parallels Desktop is designed to offer seamless integration between your Windows and Mac operating systems to allow using apps from both OSs without having to constantly reboot. When we tested Parallels Desktop 7, we found the integration to be exceptionally good, with the Coherence mode offering the best of both the OS without the cons of either.

Now we have Parallels Desktop 8 that we’re looking at and since its primary goal is to make the two new operating systems work together, we updated out Bootcamp Partition to Windows 8 Pro and ran Mountain Lion on the other side of the hard drive. Once we had updated our existing installation of Parallels Desktop 7 to the newer one, the program started right up. Initially, we had a lot of trouble getting it to start up the Bootcamped partition, but then figured the problem was not with Parallels, but with our own setup. Once we had rectified the necessary files, we simply deleted the existing Bootcamp through Parallels Desktop 8 (not actually deleted the partition, but just deleted the settings for it) so that Parallels would guide us through setting up the virtual machine again. Everything from here on was a breeze, where we could either pick installing a fresh copy of Windows, or just import from a Bootcamp partition. We chose the latter, just as we had done for our review of Parallels Desktop 7.

Once Parallels was up and running, we entered the Coherence Mode, which merges the primary desktop interfaces of both Windows 8 and Mountain Lion together into one easily navigable screen. Initially, with Windows 7, we had access to a Start Menu, but Windows 8 only allows a Start Screen with Tiles, so honestly, it wasn’t all that useful to us. We also found it difficult to navigate to our files as a “My Computer” option was not visible (unless you pin it to the Start Screen.)

We exit Coherence Mode and things became a whole lot better immediately, at least as far as navigation was concerned. The Windows 8 environment opened in a new window, which we could maximize to screen size, making us feel we were running just Windows 8. Navigation was a breeze, except for the parts where the computer would experience considerable lag. The lag comes from the fact that Windows 8 is running in a virtual machine that is utilizing only a portion of system resources (whatever is allotted to it) and not actually taking advantage of the entire power package. The lag became considerable when we started up Photoshop in Widows 8 to work on some RAW files from a 40D, so we figured that loading up a few 90MB RAW files from a D800 would not be such a great idea. Lightroom 4.2, which currently hosts a database of about 1TB of images just refused to open in an acceptable fashion. On the other hand, the entire Microsoft Office suite (2010 version) ran pretty smooth, for anyone who might be wondering.

Windows 7 Parallel Install

We liked that Parallels Desktop 8 now allows configuring up to 1GB of discrete video RAM to your virtual machine, along with the option of setting RAM availability and cache space. These settings can be tweaked to give slightly better performance, but committing too much resources to running the virtual machine caused our MacBook Pro to start behaving erratically as switching between OS windows started taking painfully long. We are running a MacBook Pro that’s configured with an Intel i5 processors clocked at 2.4GHz along with 4GB of RAM and an Nvidia GT330M graphics card with 1 gig of dedicated RAM.

Windows Parallel For Mac

In our use of Parallels Desktop 8, we found that the software works essentially just like version 7, but brings Windows 8 compatibility to the table. If you’ve upgraded your OS from Lion to Mountain Lion and are experiencing errors running Parallels Desktop 7, you can download an update here to get it working again. We have run Mountain Lion with Windows 7 on using Parallels Desktop 7 and it was just amazing for the most part. We still had some performance issues with Lightroom as you can read in our previous review, but it’s a configuration we’d have loved to keep.

Verdict
Currently, if you’re a Parallels Desktop 6 or 7 user, you can upgrade to version 8 for Rs. 2,848 and if you’re a first time buyer, then the program will cost you Rs. 3,999. Honestly, if you’re not running Windows 8, then we don’t really see why you would need Parallels Desktop 8, given Mountain Lion’s ability to read/write to NTFS partitions. Besides, it’s a setup we have seen work pretty well, and when seeing how Parallels 8 is with Windows 8, we’d definitely recommend sticking with the older setup. In case Windows 8 is absolutely essential for you, then we wouldn’t raise your hopes of being able to do some heavy duty video or photo editing through Parallels Desktop 8.