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harrowww · May 1, 2006, 11:14 AM

beta 6 is now available for download. just got the e-mail this morning when I got to work. any feedback?

macintologist · May 1, 2006, 01:24 PM

I want 3d support in Parallels not necessary to play games, but to make the whole environment snappier. Some apps incorporate OpenGL elements into them which make launching them in Parallels in its current state, impossible.

harrowww · May 5, 2006, 09:24 AM

can you not launch them? or are they just not the way you'd like to see them visually?

Detrius · May 11, 2006, 10:50 PM

Originally Posted by framedinblood

can you not launch them? or are they just not the way you'd like to see them visually?

Well, for example, the program I develop takes advantage of high-end DirectX capabilities--specifically the VMR9 for playing movies. This doesn't work in VMWare on a PC either--I have to actually launch the application on the PC. I think this is a real bummer, as I was hoping to eventually get rid of the PC in exchange for something like Parallels, as I really hate programming on the PC.

Of course, the iMac only takes 2GB of RAM, so I'm really screwed there. I need the RAM to develop on the Mac side... so I'll probably need to keep the PC anyway.

ghporter · May 12, 2006, 09:49 AM

DirectX still diddles with the hardware directly, with some features more hardware-centric than others. That's your problem, Detrius. It's supposed to virtualize the display for the OS and applications (and to some extent the user), but putting the virtual machine layer between DirectX and the hardware obviously breaks that virtualization. Which is a real bummer for a lot of people.

The ideal situation (IMO) would be to have a standardized and comprehensive display virtualization system (beyond where DirectX is so far) that was capable of itself being virtualized. Either through passthrough or some other method-the technique is less important than being able to get there in the first place. Such obviously does not exist...

milhouse · May 12, 2006, 09:19 PM

I used Parallels for about two hours before I made a pre-order purchase. It runs superbly (on my 1.83 MacBook Pro) compared to VPC (on a DP 1.8 G5 w/256MB 9800Pro).

I can't wait for the finished product.

fowler · May 15, 2006, 11:51 AM

I'm a little puzzled. I just ran it for a little bit on my mbp (see sig) and it wasn't all that spectacular. It was pretty choppy with 616mb or ram allocated and was over all, pretty annoying to use.

What's the deal with that?

beta 6, btw

ChrisF · May 15, 2006, 12:28 PM

Originally Posted by fowler

I'm a little puzzled. I just ran it for a little bit on my mbp (see sig) and it wasn't all that spectacular. It was pretty choppy with 616mb or ram allocated and was over all, pretty annoying to use.

See if it works better with the default RAM allocation.

fowler · May 15, 2006, 01:29 PM

default is 256, 616 is what's recommended. but i'll try it.

harrowww · May 16, 2006, 12:30 PM

i'm also running parallels on my MBP, using the cube feature to switch between OS X and XP and it's not choppy at all. I preorded weeks ago.

ChrisF · May 16, 2006, 12:46 PM

Originally Posted by fowler

default is 256, 616 is what's recommended. but i'll try it.

If your computer doesn't have enough RAM, going too high in Parallels is likely to cause performance to decline, so that's why I suggested it- it's an easy test, in any case.

harrowww · May 18, 2006, 08:50 AM

aside from being choppy, when you all run a windows machine thru parallels, how crisp are the graphics?

galarneau · May 18, 2006, 03:06 PM

define "crisp"

harrowww · May 19, 2006, 09:13 AM

crips: does it look native? or does it have a hint on blurriness?

C.J. Moof · May 19, 2006, 10:20 AM

Full screen parallels will run at your display's native resolution if you tell it to. Doesn't get crisper.

harrowww · May 22, 2006, 08:59 AM

nice. how do you changed these settings? and what should I set it to?

harrowww · May 24, 2006, 09:36 AM

Moof, you there bud?

C.J. Moof · May 24, 2006, 10:07 AM

Prefrences, User Interface, fit Guest Resolution.

You'd be better off looking for this support from the forums at Parallels. Theyr'e the experts and the ones who have an interest in getting the tool to work for you.

harrowww · May 24, 2006, 01:08 PM

thanks for the refferal. I'll give the forum a try.

harrowww · May 25, 2006, 11:58 AM

forum worked well, thanks. lots of users talking in there. it seems as though a lot of people have tried the Parallels Compressor tool to decrease the size of their virtual hard disks. allows you to save more real disk space. have you all done this?

harrowww · Jun 1, 2006, 09:23 AM

looks like the newest Desktop release, RC2, actually includes a version of the compressor program. seems like a pretty good deal.

kman42 · Jun 1, 2006, 11:17 AM

How is USB support coming along in RC2?

harrowww · Jun 1, 2006, 03:04 PM

I mean, I've heard people saying in RC1 that they were still having slight issues w/ various devices, but I'm currently using a USB cooling pad, digital camera, and wireless mouse, and they're all running fine.

Macola · Jun 1, 2006, 10:22 PM

It's still USB 1.1, though.

harrowww · Jun 2, 2006, 08:07 AM

hmm, so what devices are you having trouble running?

harrowww · Jun 6, 2006, 08:08 AM

kman you there? interested to know what USB devices you're having trouble connecting.

Xaledo · Jun 28, 2006, 10:39 AM

Alright... I am waiting for my new macbook to be delivered, and I am considering buying Guild Wars: Factions. Would this work on parallel, or would it have to be Boot Camp? (I hope it works on just one of those two.)
I read in Macworld that sometimes after rebooting in Windows with Boot Camp, it is impossible to reboot in Mac mode. Anyone know more about this?

Mediaman_12 · Jun 28, 2006, 04:52 PM

Originally Posted by Xaledo

Alright... I am waiting for my new macbook to be delivered, and I am considering buying Guild Wars: Factions. Would this work on parallel, or would it have to be Boot Camp? (I hope it works on just one of those two.)
I read in Macworld that sometimes after rebooting in Windows with Boot Camp, it is impossible to reboot in Mac mode. Anyone know more about this?

If it's using any sort of 3D (Open GL OR ActiveX) it's likely NOT to run in Parallels. Te Macworld story sound like FUD, There are 100's (maybe 1000's) of people using BootCamp the run Windows and MacOS on there Intel Mac's with no ill effects, I even have Vista on this at the moment (and aside from me damaging the drive partition map to get Vista to boot, which may cause problems with future Firmware updates. Which is my fault entirely) and I have no problem booting between the two.

I think the story came from some idiots who where unfamiliar with XP's installation procedure, and mistakenly formatted there MacOS partition from the XP set-up/install CD. DOH!

ghporter · Jun 28, 2006, 07:51 PM

There are occasional issues with the way Boot Camp handles setting up dual booting-just like every other dual boot system. No biggie-just restart with the OS X disc and use Disk Utility to fix the boot issue (I think-I'm still not properly equipped with the MAcBook Pro I'm lusting after, but I'm closer!).