Parallels - Amazing Program that Needs RAM

OK, so you've bought your new Intel Mac and now you want to run Windows. It's time to invest in Parallels.

Parallels is virtual machine software, which means, it's like running a Windows machine on your Mac.

How good is Parallels?

Well, for sure, it's fast. I set up Parallels on a 2.4 GHz Intel iMac with 1 GB RAM and it runs my Windows software faster than on my 2.8 GHz Intel Dell computer with 2GB RAM. That is amazing.

But it did slow up all my other Mac programs somewhat while Parallels was running.

There are settings on Parallels so you can optimize your memory usage, but I chose to just upgrade my iMac to 4GB RAM.

One nice thing about Parallels - you can take a snapshot of your Windows system, let's say, right before you install some questionable program, and if your install gets infected or corrupted, you can revert back to your snapshot of what your Windows system was at the snapshot.

And, of course, Time Machine, is backing up everything on your computer (including your Windows system) every hour (isn't it?).

Parallels requires you to do an actual Windows install, so you will need a Windows XP or Windows Vista installation disk to start.

If you like Linux, you can try it on Parallels, too. In fact, you can have 3, 4, or 5 operating systems installed on your computer if need be.

I think the thing that got me was, and that still puzzles me, is how is Windows on a 2.4 GHZ iMac faster than a 2.8 GHz Dell? Let's just chalk it up to the miracle of the Mac.