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Hunch · 04-10-2007, 23:03

Finally bought Parallels 3.0 a few days ago, having up until now used Bootcamp for running Windows (usually for the simple purpose of checking a website in Internet Exporer).

I can honestly say, in all sincerity, that I can't remember the last time a piece of software blew me away this much. Simply fantastic. Apart from the fact that you can have XP in a regular Mac OS window, or have it running full screen at the click of a button (to all intents and purposes instant switching between a Mac and a PC), the new Coherence mode is just stunning.

Coherence allows you have Windows apps in your dock and just open them like normal Mac apps. They come up as normal on the Mac desktop, except the edges of the Window are in the XP style. They behave just like Mac apps except they look like Windows apps. They work with Exposé, and you can minimize them, and do everything else you would expect. I have a licensed copy of MS Office for Windows, but not Mac. No problem. I just installed the Office Suite from the CD and now if I want to use Word or Excel, I just fire 'em up from the dock.

I installed the multiple IEs pack from Tredosoft. Now I can use Windows IE 4.0, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 7.0, Firefox (Mac and Win), Safari (Mac and Win) and Opera (Mac and Win), basically allowing me to test a web site in any browser I choose all on the Mac desktop. And if I really feel the need I can fire up Ubuntu in a window (also under a Parallels VM) and test it on Linux browsers as well. There is no need to have more than one machine or a reboot ever again.

I don't recall ever saying this before about a piece of software, but I simply cannot recommend this product enough. It's changed the way I work. No single piece of software has done that for years.

04-10-2007, 23:03	#100 (permalink)
Hunch Grumpy old man Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: North Japan Posts: 1,374	Finally bought Parallels 3.0 a few days ago, having up until now used Bootcamp for running Windows (usually for the simple purpose of checking a website in Internet Exporer). I can honestly say, in all sincerity, that I can't remember the last time a piece of software blew me away this much. Simply fantastic. Apart from the fact that you can have XP in a regular Mac OS window, or have it running full screen at the click of a button (to all intents and purposes instant switching between a Mac and a PC), the new Coherence mode is just stunning. Coherence allows you have Windows apps in your dock and just open them like normal Mac apps. They come up as normal on the Mac desktop, except the edges of the Window are in the XP style. They behave just like Mac apps except they look like Windows apps. They work with Exposé, and you can minimize them, and do everything else you would expect. I have a licensed copy of MS Office for Windows, but not Mac. No problem. I just installed the Office Suite from the CD and now if I want to use Word or Excel, I just fire 'em up from the dock. I installed the multiple IEs pack from Tredosoft. Now I can use Windows IE 4.0, 5.0, 5.5, 6.0, 7.0, Firefox (Mac and Win), Safari (Mac and Win) and Opera (Mac and Win), basically allowing me to test a web site in any browser I choose all on the Mac desktop. And if I really feel the need I can fire up Ubuntu in a window (also under a Parallels VM) and test it on Linux browsers as well. There is no need to have more than one machine or a reboot ever again. I don't recall ever saying this before about a piece of software, but I simply cannot recommend this product enough. It's changed the way I work. No single piece of software has done that for years.