Filed under: Software, Switchers
Parallels makes switching to Mac easier than ever
What's that whooshing sound? It's the collective sigh of relief from all of the Mac-lovers who've been wrangled into providing unofficial tech support for friends and family switching to Mac. Parallels today announced their latest offering, Parallels Desktop "Switch to Mac" Edition. It's a three-part tool that makes the switch from XP or Vista to OS X so easy that it hurts to think about the last time you tried to show a recent convert where their Start menu went.
The first tool Parallels is offering is a set of interactive tutorials which cater to any learning style. "Watch Saied" is a collection of over 2 hours of video walkthroughs, narrated by Saied Ghaffari of Parallels (also the man behind the It's Time To Learn products we've posted about before). The tutorials are viewable in a non-linear fashion to allow the user to learn what they need -- or want -- to know at any given point in their transition.
These are accompanied by a full simulation of the OS X environment, with tools which allow you to click anything on the screen to find out what it is, what it does, and/or how it works. The "YouTry" feature is perfect for tactile learners (those who "learn by doing"), allowing you to put lessons into practice within the simulation -- without the possibility of "breaking" anything in your working environment. Once you complete a lesson, it's starred and you can move on... following a lesson plan, or skipping to whatever is intriguing or vital at the moment.
The second tool is a new version of Parallels' Transporter tool, appropriately dubbed the "Enhanced Parallels Transporter." The bundle comes with a high-speed USB cable, and the Transporter automates the transition of PC data to a Mac, including your bookmarks, your photos, your documents, even your applications. The process is simple, but it's documented and simulated in the tutorials, so you really can't go wrong. Mom won't even have to call you to figure out where to plug in the cable.
Lastly, the bundle includes a full version of Parallels Desktop for Mac, an excellent means of running Windows applications on your Mac. Many users find comfort in being able to run their old applications while they make the switch, and in some cases you have to run Windows to maintain some vital applications with no Mac counterpart. The whole setup is, of course, also included in the tutorials; an ibuprofen for the headaches of running Windows on a Mac.
This is exciting news for switchers, but especially exciting for me as the family go-to guy for Mac questions. My wife's parents just bought their first Mac, and we'll be putting "Switch to Mac" through its paces. If things go as planned, I'll be gleefully sitting back and letting them report in, gushing about how great their new Mac is, instead of frantically calling to find out what happened to their vacation photos. I'm looking forward to doing a follow-up post and letting you know how it goes.
Parallels Desktop Switch to Mac Edition will be available as a retail box edition in the Apple Store, and available for purchase online (as a boxed bundle), with a suggested retail price of $99.99US.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Jon said 10:08AM on 8-25-2009
A 'sight' of relief? Ooh no thanks!
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Immortalnomad said 12:00PM on 8-25-2009
Does anyone know if you can use Sopcast with Parallels? I am having the hardest time getting any p2p tv stream to work. I have tried Crossover to know avail.
Jayden said 10:10AM on 8-25-2009
This is the most poorly written article I have read on TUAW in a long time, it doesn't read well at all.
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finbar said 11:12AM on 8-25-2009
this isn't an article, it's a press release
Brahose said 2:10PM on 8-25-2009
I agree, this article flows like bricks down a stream.
mentalsticks said 4:09PM on 8-25-2009
a "high speed usb cable"? You can't be serious.
EMoShunz said 10:51AM on 8-25-2009
great idea! if i had access to this a couple months ago, i might have been able to get my mom to stay with apple when she had to give back the loaner macbook from her work.
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Doug Stewart said 11:03AM on 8-25-2009
Disclosure? I might be incorrect but I'm fairly sure that Parallels is either a current advertiser or past advertiser on this site.
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Birch said 2:50PM on 8-25-2009
That;s possible but this is still Mac news and they have every right to report it (all the other major Mac news/rumor sites are)
Michael Rose said 3:56PM on 8-25-2009
We've got a pretty solid wall between advertising and editorial here -- our bloggers generally neither know nor care who the advertisers are, and on the edit side we do not have any control over the advertising lineup, as evidenced by the appearance of HP Windows Server ads earlier today.
Russell said 11:14AM on 8-25-2009
Thanks TUAW for posting Parallels marking material. Good job on that whole being independent thing you used to go for. Parallels marketing a better gig than being a trusted Mac news site?
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Brett Terpstra said 11:28AM on 8-25-2009
Argh, I forgot that new software releases aren't news, and that being excited about a product is equivalent to selling my soul. Thanks for the reminder, I'll try to be snarkier next time around.
Michael Rose said 4:02PM on 8-25-2009
Russell, do you have a problem with the Parallels bundle in particular, or do you just get antsy when we are excited about something?
Brett thinks this is a cool product. He is allowed to think so. In fact, we encourage our bloggers to write about things they think are cool. That way, other people can learn about these cool things. It's a virtuous process.
Enthusiasm for a product ≠ "being on the payroll," "Parallels stooge," etc.
Robert said 11:31AM on 8-25-2009
I think I'll stay with the free Virtualbox for my Windows needs.
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Russell said 11:33AM on 8-25-2009
Brett, compare your "article" with MacRumors coverage. It just might be me, but their article seems fairly straight down the middle announcing the product whereas your "article" reads like Parallels marketing. That's the difference.
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Duncan said 2:41PM on 8-25-2009
You could have at least explained the alternatives to the $80 Parallels, like VirtualBox and VMWare Fusion, this reads like an advert.
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Dan said 12:37PM on 8-25-2009
VirtualBox FTW. This FTL.
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TonyP said 3:33PM on 8-25-2009
This assumes that all Windows programs can run on a Mac, I don't think so. Can a Mac run MS Flight Simulator without some type of emulator that degrages performance, I don't think so. If it can, I might consider a Mac as my desk-top; I currently have an iPhone GS and an iTouch, but run a Dell PC for games. If a Mac can have the same capability to run certain Windows desktop games, I'd switch entirely to Apple.
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Michael Rose said 3:58PM on 8-25-2009
You absolutely can run all Windows games on a Mac if you choose to boot it into Windows natively (via Boot Camp). Flight Simulator works 100% perfectly in this arrangement.
Using a virtualization tool like VMware Fusion or Parallels, many Windows games will run fine; however high-end 3D games may not.
igepard said 2:48PM on 8-25-2009
Is this switching from a real PC to a virtual PC running on Mac? So your grandma doesn't even need to know Mac since she will be still running Windows. Beautiful!
Or switching from PC to Mac? Just get rid of damn Windows and forget it!
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