For a lot of people when you mention switching from a PC to a Mac it’s common to hear that they can’t or won’t because PC programs don’t work on Mac OS X. Well that’s not really the case at all.
Run Windows and Mac OS X simultaneously with Parallels!
There are two ways of running Windows on your Mac with Parallels, you can have Windows run in a window or have Windows open its programs right next to your Mac apps.
Install Windows from a DVD or image (.iso) file
Parallels
Installing Windows from a DVD or disk image file (.iso) is made really easy with Parallels. Just click the “Install Windows or another OS from DVD or image file” button.
Next there is a screen where you are asked to enter the product key, you can at this time enter it or just click the continue button and enter it later.
On the next screen, you have a choice of how you’d like to integrate Windows with your Mac. This is where is gets a little interesting. You can run it like a Mac or like a PC.
Running Windows like a Mac will allow you to run Windows programs without the Windows desktop. Basically all your Windows programs run right next to your Mac apps, as if they were built for Mac OS X. This also combines your documents, music, pictures and makes them available to all apps and programs across both platforms.
Running it like a PC will make Windows run inside its own window. All of its programs and games will be restricted to that window. And all the documents, music and pictures will remain separate.
Both methods work great, personally I have it set to run as a PC because I like to keep my Mac workspace and PC workspace separate.
Using Boot Camp with Parallels
Boot Camp
In a previous post I talked about how to install Windows on a Mac with Boot Camp. If you already have Boot Camp setup Parallels can even run that copy of Windows.
There was a downside to using Boot Camp however, every time you wanted to use Windows you’d have to restart your computer and then boot up Windows. This is very tedious and no one wants to do that!
No longer do you have to reboot your computer! With Parallels, instead of choosing to install Windows from a DVD or disk image file just choose “Use Windows from Boot Camp”.
There’s no setup required it just hooks into the previous installation and upgrades the installation to works with Parallels. This can take a few minutes to complete but once it’s done you’ll have Windows running on your Mac without any restart being required.
Final Thoughts on Parallels
Do you want to get Windows running on your Mac quickly, easily and smoothly? It doesn’t get any easier than Parallels. It also supports a lot more than just Windows 7 or Windows 8. Among the most popular operating systems you can run there is Chrome OS, Ubuntu, and Android OS. There are many other supported operating systems you can run, even down to MS-DOS which was released way back in August 1981.
Get it here: http://www.parallels.com/
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