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 Parallels Desktop - 4.0 Build 3844Run Windows simultaneously with OS X. |
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Catastrophic when used with Boot Camp partition - do not use 
- Version: 4.0 Build 3844, 6/28/2009 09:56PM PST
alby_williams
I've been using Parallels Desktop for a few months, and for the most part it worked as advertised. Initially I ran it from a separate virtual disk installation of windows on my HD. A few weeks ago, to save disk space, I converted Parallels to use my Boot Camp partition, another XP install which had been very stable, and which I used a lot. Parallels was really just there to give me occasional access to Office 2003, that's it. There were immediately problems with my Boot Camp install after installing Parallels - regular system errors, file corruption errors, Apple's own Boot Camp system tray tool disappeared. Clearly, Parallels had messed around with my install and it wasn't happy.
Finally, Parallels corrupted a critical system file after crashing and has irretrievably ruined my Boot Camp Partition. About 5 hours of tinkering under the hood of Windows haven't helped, and Parallels' own KB article on this problem refers to an earlier version of Parallels. Thanks guys. To make matters worse, after removing the Boot Camp partition to start from scratch, my system disk needs to be repaired. So thanks Parallels for killing my very stable Boot Camp install.
The forum chatter about this problem is that Parallels fools around with system files that it shouldn't, whereas Fusion does not. So I'm gonna give that a try, after I've reinstalled my Boot Camp partition from scratch.
Finally, Parallels corrupted a critical system file after crashing and has irretrievably ruined my Boot Camp Partition. About 5 hours of tinkering under the hood of Windows haven't helped, and Parallels' own KB article on this problem refers to an earlier version of Parallels. Thanks guys. To make matters worse, after removing the Boot Camp partition to start from scratch, my system disk needs to be repaired. So thanks Parallels for killing my very stable Boot Camp install.
The forum chatter about this problem is that Parallels fools around with system files that it shouldn't, whereas Fusion does not. So I'm gonna give that a try, after I've reinstalled my Boot Camp partition from scratch.
On the down side, though I personally like coherence mode, sometimes Parallels has gotten a bit "heavy" with making everything TOO seamless. For example, when it registers various Window programs to open my Mac files. Sure, there are settings to control and modify that, but out of the box it tries to put Windows on an equal footing with OSX -- but almost seems like it is hijacking my Mac instead of the intended goal of making it all fit together.
That aside, I've had a better overall experience with it than either of the alternatives that I've tried, and though it's goal is to let you run Windows (etc.), the Mac part is reasonably clear and follows most of the Mac interface guidelines.