ExcellentDecember 27, 2008 J. Roberts(UK) I am using a 2.4 ghz I-Mac with 4g ram and I have not used a previous version of Parallels, nor have i used any of its competitors but this product is excellent.
Now Leopard comes with an application called Bootcamp which allows you to install Windows XP or Vista to your computer. However, you have to restart to access it, so you can use only windows separately to OS X. What Parallels does is allow you to use Windows and Windows applications from your mac desktop. You can even keep applications like Microsoft Office 2007 in your dock! No need to restart and switch between operating systems. Parallels 4 also comes with helpful programs to keep Windows working effectively.
If you were unimpressed with Mac Office 2008 and have tried I-work but still feel that they are no where near as good as Windows Office then you need this product! Simply install which takes 30 mins to install the application and windows. I am now deleting Mac Office.
Overall, the application is smooth and efficient. It works extremely well. It means that you can enjoy the best of both worlds but in the knowledge that you are still primarily using the best operating available, Mac OS X Leopard.
One word of warning, you will probably need an antivirus program on your Windows partition. From what i know, the Windows frailties can leave your Mac open to viruses.
Better and betterNovember 25, 2008 J. James(London, UK) I've been using version 3.0 of parallels since it came out, and with the latest release (v4), there seems to be plenty of improvement. Although v3 already allowed me to run a variety of windows applications on a Mac, it seems that in v4, everything is easier, faster and more reliable (what more could anyone want?), and it even looks more glossy! I use it with both Windows XP (with Boot Camp) and Vista, and both work fine. It means that I can run two windows-only applications (Microsoft Office and 3D Studio MAX) without needing a separate PC, and without having to reboot constantly. My only reason for giving this 4 stars rather than 5 is that I would like to see extended directX support in the future, just so I can get unparalleled performance (excuse the pun) when doing 3D work.
