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Has The Perfect Computing Experience Arrived?

Swad

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Swad
Swad
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Has the day actually arrived? In all my recent geek letters to Santa, my computing wish list included running OS X (preferably on a fast RISC chip - we can dream, right?) while using Windows in a fully native virtualized environment. It appears that my wish is coming true (and proving that yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus).

 

Talk about Parallels – the new “VMware for OS X” app – has been brewing for a few days but reached critical mass as our forum members have hammered out its benefits… and rough edges. (Don’t miss our upcoming article this weekend why you haven’t read about it on the blog yet! It’s a great, although highly annoying for the author, story about the woes of PC support.)

 

According to the Parallels website,

 

Parallels Workstation is a hardware emulation virtualization solution. This stable, trusted technology maps the host computer’s hardware resources directly to each virtual PC’s resources, allowing each virtual machine to operate identically to a stand-alone computer. Parallels Workstation’s sophisticated virtual machine engine enables each virtual machine to work with its own processor, RAM, floppy and CD drives, I/O devices, and hard disk – everything a physical computer contains.

 

Parallels Workstation 2.0 is the first desktop virtualization solution to include a lightweight hypervisor, a mature technology originally developed in the 1960s to maximize the power of large mainframes. Hypervisor technology dramatically improves virtual machine stability, security and performance by using a thin layer of software, inserted between the machine’s hardware and the primary operating system, to directly control some of the host machine’s hardware profiles and resources. It not only makes Parallels Workstation-powered virtual machines secure, stable and efficient, but also empowers users to immediately realize the benefits associated with Intel VT hardware virtualization architecture.

 

The only downsides? 1) It’s a beta and 2) the full version will set you back $49.99. The beta is free.

 

Forum users who have been checking it out have said that the beta represents just about everything they’d ever wanted in a Mac – OS X with the option to run Windows in real time. There are still a few technical issues such as driver sluggishness and huge RAM usage, but reports are generally positive.

 

So we have to ask – have we reached the best of both worlds? The ability to use Windows (generally believed to be the most annoying but universal OS) and OS X (generally believed to be unbelievable) at the same time represents a huge shift for the computing industry.

 

On the one hand this development, when practical, means that there are no longer excuses for not buying a Mac on the grounds of compatibility. However, there is always the chance that software developers – most likely the small time shops – will finally be able to use the “Oh, Mac users can just use the Windows version virtually” excuse for ignoring Mac users.

 

What say you? In the opinion of this writer, the days in which we’re living right now are the most formative the computing industry has seen since the 1980’s. The lines between PC and Mac were initially blurred with the Intel transition and have continued to disappear as the barriers to running both operating systems have disappeared. Did you ever think you'd see the Apple website stating "Windows running on a Mac is like Windows running on a PC?"

 

What will be the historical shockwaves, if there are any, of these new announcements? Are we seeing the birth of the ultimate computer?

 

[Digg it!]

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netdog
netdog
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It seemed like it was running great for about an hour, but then Parallels with a VM running XP kept crashing my entire OS X System. A semi-transparent scrim would descend over my iMac screen and I would be told that I had to hold down the power button until the system shut off.

 

PS: Is there a forum here where it is appropriate to troubleshoot and share experience with Parallels?

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Swad
Swad
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netdog, feel free to talk about it in the dual booting forum (where it's already being talked about quite a bit)! We may make a Virtualization subforum if there is enough interest. Do you think we should?

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Colonel
Colonel
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We may make a Virtualization subforum if there is enough interest. Do you think we should?

 

Definately! With Virtual PC comming out and Parallel Workstation, I think we could have a great new subforum. ;)

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rogabean
rogabean
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I'd still love to see this done more in the way my CoLinux is setup. An entire linux kernel running as a NT system service. With my current setup on that machine opening Windows apps and opening Linux apps are the same. You can't tell which is which. That is the future. ;)

 

I don't want a window with an entire OS loaded. I want that part to be transparent and just the apps presented to me.

 

ps. I'd love to see a virtualization forum opened as well.

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randomblame
randomblame
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Did you ever think you'd see the Apple website stating "Windows running on a Mac is like Windows running on a PC?"

 

Only if Rod Serling were dictating it to the web master.

 

"You're traveling through another dimension -- a dimension not only of Mac and Windows but of Linux. A journey into a wondrous land whose boundaries are that of imagination. That's a signpost up ahead: your next stop: the Twilight Zone!"

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slantyyz
slantyyz
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Parallels is quite promising... albeit an immature product. It's not that stable on my Mac Mini - I've had several kernel panics already. Performance picked up when I enabled the Vtx functionality, although your mileage may vary -- there are several reports of Mac Mini owners on the Parallels support forums who have the virtualization extensions disabled on their computers.

 

I think it would be wise to have both Boot Camp and a virtualization tool in your back pocket. You need native performance for games and apps requiring heavy lifting (i.e., any media applications) while you can do most day-to-day/business apps in a virtualized environment.

 

All I can say is that this has been a whirlwind week of bliss for mac owners who are dual platform users.

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Lovehina19
Lovehina19
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OMG! For a second there I actually belived you when you said "Has The Perfect Computing Experience Arrived?"

 

But then after I finished reading and visited the page, I got disapointed again. While this software may be great, It doesnt help the majority of home computer users. What a majority of them (including me) would really like and benefit is a way to run MacOS X (natively or in a VM) on PC hardware.

 

I know that it is posible to install and run OS X on a PC, eather by doing a native install or with the help of VMWare, but without the hardware aceleration of QuartzExtreme and CoreImage, you might as well be looking at some animated screenshots. Mac users can allready run Windows using VirtualPC or some other software (even on a PowerPC Mac) and the Windows crappy GUI doesnt even use or need hardware support.

 

And please dont say now: "Well if you like MacOS X so much why dont you buy a Mac", because a lot of PC users (including myself) have invested a lot of money in really good hardware and the only thing we would like is to have the worlds greatest and best looking OS running on that hardware.

 

My specs are (and Im not trying to show off or something) 3.0 GHz CPU, 1024 MB RAM(max 4096), 2x120 GB harddrives plus a GeForce 7800GS. Besides that I also have a Samsung 19" Flat CRT and a Graphire4 tablet. Im not a rich person and I had to save before I bought my PC so I really cant afford buying whole new hardware.

 

So if you ask me, my dream would be to run MacOS X on my PC and experience its smooth, hardware acelerated animations, its wonderfull GUI and all other of MacOS X features that make it the best OS in the world. :gathering:

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bluedragon1971
bluedragon1971
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I'd still love to see this done more in the way my CoLinux is setup. An entire linux kernel running as a NT system service. With my current setup on that machine opening Windows apps and opening Linux apps are the same. You can't tell which is which. That is the future. :)

 

I don't want a window with an entire OS loaded. I want that part to be transparent and just the apps presented to me.

 

ps. I'd love to see a virtualization forum opened as well.

 

It sounds like you would be more interested in Darwine than this. That is exactly what it is designed to do (run Windows programs inside of OS X). Unfortunately, it is still very rough around the edges, and many programs just don't work right yet (the one program I really need it for won't even work right with WINE under Linux, unfortunately).

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learning_bird
learning_bird
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Posted
OMG! For a second there I actually belived you when you said "Has The Perfect Computing Experience Arrived?"

 

But then after I finished reading and visited the page, I got disapointed again. While this software may be great, It doesnt help the majority of home computer users. What a majority of them (including me) would really like and benefit is a way to run MacOS X (natively or in a VM) on PC hardware.

Eh...eh...I don't know if you looked around the site where you're posting which is OSX86project.org but, we've worked the best we can since last Summer to achieve that!

 

I know that it is posible to install and run OS X on a PC, eather by doing a native install or with the help of VMWare

At the moment can you run OS X on a PC with VMWare? How? A lot of people would be very interested to know.

 

but without the hardware aceleration of QuartzExtreme and CoreImage, you might as well be looking at some animated screenshots.

If you search the wiki and the forums of this site you'll see that is possible to have QuartzExtreme and CoreImage on a PC

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  • 3 weeks later...
gcn2000xl
gcn2000xl
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you might as well be looking at some animated screenshots

 

Not really! But here's (a non-animated) one! post-36016-1146206018_thumb.jpg

 

I am typing this on my x86 box now and set it up in one day. Absolutely amazing work these coders and the whole community are doing - hardly animated screenshots - this is bliss dude, not shoddy emulation and the like. My friends are in shock at this system running osx - it's damn near perfect with minimal tweaking on my part! Once I upgrade my graphics card I have a smoking system that will eat most macs out there. I own macs and this Opteron is just too much.

 

The prospects of virtualization are enough for a multicomputered nerd like myself to pull a week of all-night research. Indeed, it's all very exciting. But the possibilities of virtualization pale in the face of a system natively running osx, xp pro, and x64 NOW. THAT is the future and we have it now, regardless of what other techniques become released over the next 12 months.

 

Try before you throw in the towel - good luck to anyone thinking about trying and thanks to this great and smart group!

 

DIABOLIK!

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retroz
retroz
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Actually the DREAM OS would be MAC OS, funtionality, GUI, spotlight and the ability to run .exe programs withing MAC OS - - the heck with dual booting.

 

Just run .exe files via MAC and at same benchmarks as Win XP and I say MAC marketshare jumps huge, even if it means new hardware. In a perfect world, OS would run on ANY PC and run the .exe.

 

Now that would be the perfect WORLD scenario! :D

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