Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Software
David Pogue blogs mini-review of Parallels 3
David Pogue, the NY Times' answer to Walt Mossberg (as distinct from "This WSJ writer, nicknamed Uncle Walt, hosted two technology legends at a 2007 conference" -- that's the Jeopardy answer to Walt Mossberg) hasn't reviewed Parallels 3.0 yet, at least not in print. On his blog, however, Pogue has given the new version an enthusiastic thumbs up.Pogue uses Dragon NaturallySpeaking on Windows to do a large chunk of his writing (Mac voice-rec tools like TrueVoice or iListen, though available, did not measure up to his needs) which has meant either lugging two laptops around or, more recently, Boot Camp. Up until now the USB audio support in Parallels hasn't worked well enough for speech recognition to go smoothly. With the 3.0 release and an XP virtual machine (Vista was still too resource-intensive), Pogue is now running the voice-rec app completely flawlessly and happily.
Pogue's post ends with a reminder of how the platform equation is changing; he writes, "Whether you're a Mac person or a Windows person, the point is that you can now run 100 percent of the world's computer software on a single machine, faster and more easily than ever." It's no longer a matter of justifying answers to "Why would you buy a Mac?" but simply responding "Why wouldn't you buy a computer that can run all your applications, whichever platform you need?"
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Johnny said 11:37AM on 6-08-2007
Amen, brother.
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noob said 11:42AM on 6-08-2007
thats why i have a mac, two computers in one! woohoo.
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Appleologist said 11:46AM on 6-08-2007
Dragon Naturally Speaking is slower than ever with version 3.0. It's no longer usable for me...
Actually my overall experience with 3.0 seems to be that way. No luck with 3D, performance gains, or Boot Camp w/ Vista.
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Dana said 11:48AM on 6-08-2007
Mossberg is exactly right. There's no compelling reason to be Mac -OR- PC anymore... I can be both at the same time, on one box.
Parallels rocks, and it's getting better every day. I can imagine a day where the Windows OS actually runs as sort of a framework and Windows apps will run "natively" right in the host OS without firing up an entire copy of Windows.
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Thayne Miller said 11:54AM on 6-08-2007
parallels does NOT rock. This release is worse than ever. After finally getting parallels tools uninstalled and the new version installed, it crashed. Rebooted, and it crashed again. Finally I get to see a windows desktop and I run quake 3 (a game that is officially supported). Guess what? CRASH. This piece of software is far and away the most unstable garbage I have ever used. Long live vmware fusion!!!
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mac said 12:05PM on 6-08-2007
Actually, his nickname is goatberg. Get it right next time, would you?
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murph said 12:40PM on 6-08-2007
Parallels this, Parallels that, Parallels all over the 'net today.
How about some love for VMWare Fusion and it's new Beta 4?
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Johnny said 12:31PM on 6-08-2007
So far, Vista and Parallels 3.0 work great for me. I definitely notice some performance gain and feature improvements.
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andy said 12:39PM on 6-08-2007
ive had prey working on v.3.0 very well, quake 2 briliant, quake 4 mixed results, but at least playable on low res
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Bob said 12:56PM on 6-08-2007
What about Aero? Anyone?
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Joe said 1:03PM on 6-08-2007
This may not be totally on topic here, but I have an answer to "Why wouldn't you buy a computer that can run all your applications, whichever platform you need?"
While talking to a friend, I mentioned that I use Macs at home and at work. She doesn't like Macs because she feels that the interface is too "childish" and she prefers the Windows interface because it feels more like she's using a computer. Personally I would rather use something that looks nice and is stable (not to mention quite powerful), but there are people out there who associate a difficult and clunky interface with power.
But as long as I can use a Mac, I'll be happy. I've got Boot Camp and XP installed, but I haven't spent more than a few minutes in Windows, and only then to install updates and see for myself what devices were supported. From my perspective, and with the notable exception of gamers, Boot Camp and Parallels only serve as a safety net for people switching from Windows.
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Jaybird2005 said 6:12PM on 6-09-2007
"Why not buy a Mac.... to run Windows?" It is not Windows compatible. It still comes with a built in ONE button mouse. Yes, there are work-arounds, but these are not a second button and you have to know the "Apple Only Secret". Why not add the second button? Too complex for Apple to engineer? Too eexpensive to add? Too User Friendly? Less snobish? Fully Windows compatible? Nope. The UI is *not* compatible. Period. There is no Right Mouse Button so you *cannot* click it. Ever. There is no set of Windows instructions that says, "two finger click". Not anywhere. Only Apple would claim 50% is 100% and have people like Pogue buy it and repeat it.
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noob said 2:04PM on 6-08-2007
does anyone understand what jayberg is talking about? Because I sure don't.
english...do you speak it? and whats wrong with one mouse button, using an external bluetooth mouse too hard for ya?
can't handle snobbery? then don't buy it, nobody is forcing you to.
i like how apple is associated with snobs. its more like if you can't afford apple don't be sad, get a better job.
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spil said 2:51PM on 6-08-2007
The whole "two button mouse" thing jaybird brought up is actually pretty funny. Apple actually doesn't make a one button mouse any more (unless you count only having one button the laptops).
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FrankMcBilboWinker said 3:09PM on 6-08-2007
I think I'm content not using windows, though I ordered XP just in case Jobs has some super secret stuff planned for Leopard.
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koopa said 3:13PM on 6-08-2007
Jaybird, your argument for windows compatibility is the number of buttons on the mouse? And then follow it up with: "There is no set of Windows instructions that says, 'two finger click'"? If you need a set of instructions on using your mouse to select or open ANYTHING on ANY OS then the number of mouse buttons is not your problem. Plus, I don't know of anyone who exclusivly uses the mouse provided w/ the system (especially PC). Maybe you're just pissed cuz getting an aftermarket mouse for your PC means downloading some drivers, fun.
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Christi said 3:20PM on 6-08-2007
Not only does Apple no longer manufacture 1-button mice, Macs have supported 2-button mice since Mac OS 8 and any 2-button USB mouse worked fine out of the box -- you just needed third-party drivers if you wanted to use a 2-button mouse as a lefty. That said, I don’t know when mice stopped needing third-party drivers for lefties as I've been using a laptop since the second generation Powerbooks.
As for the one-button laptops, I so want a MacBook Pro if only for the two-finger tap = right click. Apple might have been late to the trackpad features game but it's got the best trackpad out there.
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Binus said 7:31PM on 6-08-2007
Le Mac est véritablement le couteau suisse de l'informatique. Mieux maintenant c'est de l'argenterie que vous pouvez sortir tous les jours sans honte, avec laquelle vous aurez la productivité la plus élevée possible sur un ordinateur personel . Jobs est en train de prendre sa revanche sur ce pilleur de Gates. Juste retour des choses.
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Glenn Schulke said 10:00PM on 7-28-2007
I've only had my MacBook Pro for a couple of months with Parallels, and have migrated every single of my Window's 2000 and XP files from numerous systems over to the Mac and what few applications I still need Windows including SolidWorks 2007 work flawlessly. I'm with Pouge why buy multiple computers when one does it all with style and grace. This is what a personal computer should be!!! I can run Linux, Solaris, XP, you name it without any hiccups or crashes. Kudos Apple and Parallels.
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