The deciding factor to move to a MacBook for work and not just at home was Apple’s move to Intel and the native virtulization to run Windows and other x86 OSs. So when I placed my order for the MacBook Pro, a copy of Parallels was included.
Getting up and running was a synch. Express mode install of Windows XP was really easy, everything is taken care of for you. You need only provide your Windows XP key (which I do own!) and name. Parallels installer takes care of the rest, including default memory and hard disk allocations.
Windows on a Mac was put to the test on Friday when I went solo with the MBP at work. My day always starts with a global conference call between my clients in Boston and my development team in India. I facilitate the call with a shared dashboard over a secure meeting session. I took Parallels full screen in it’s own virtual desktop window (using VirtueDesktops), SmartCVS in MacOS accessing the dashboard and reports needed, shared folder between MacOS and Windows XP, HDMI to VGA converter for local projector and I was swinging.
Throughout the rest of the day I was able to access Excel in Coherence mode for spreadsheets heavily laden with VB macros that unfortunately aren’t supported by Office Mac as well as Outlook for some secure meeting calendaring functionality and everything running native Mac apps.
I find it hard to express just how impressed I was by both Parallels and the MacBook Pro handling all the different apps running at once. My aging Sony Vaio used to just grind along with Excel hanging at least twice a day. I felt considerably more productive on Friday than I have done in a long time.
Technorati Tags: Coherence, MacBook Pro, Parallels
There she is, my latest toy and companion ! FedEx managed to deliver it on Monday which has given me a couple of days to customize, install all sorts of shit and migrate both my home iMac and work laptop over too.
But what of the MacBook Pro itself? It’s a beautiful animal; I’ve named her Lakshmi after the Indian goddess. Everything is just gorgeous; the glossy screen, form factor, feel of the keys as you type and just the overall design and attention to detail. I keep spotting little things which you know a group of people probably spent a lot of time designing.
I haven’t found the heat dispersion to be much of an issue so far. The fan have wound up to full throttle twice today, but only for about 5-10 seconds at a time. Sitting her on my lap for a couple of hours, while I trudged through some online training courses, I didn’t notice any heat at all. Hopefully with this second revision they’ve overcome most of the heat problems.
Performance is superb, though I’m comparing that to a 1GHz G4 iMac which is showing it’s age a little. Mac Office runs under Rosetta and I’m not noticing any slow down, Entourage and Excel both feel a good bit faster than on the native iMac. Safari is extremely quick !
All-in-all I’m a happy Mac camper!
Technorati Tags: MacBook Pro
I’m in the market for a new cell phone. My contract with Verizon expired a few months back and I’m seriously considering the move to Cingular to get on a GSM network since I travel aboard every so often.
Recently I’ve been reading-up the Treo 750v on Vodafone in the UK and waiting for it’s release in the US. The Treo 680, which launched on Cingular just before Thanksgiving, isn’t up to par (VGA camera, not 3G broadband), plus I’m actually keen on Windows Mobile 5. A few colleagues have the Motorola Q which is a pretty impressive device, but only available from Verizon (and soon Sprint) and not with a GSM carrier.
The Samsung BlackJack was released a few weeks back and I’m reading great reviews about it online. The question is, should I continue waiting for the Treo 750 or jump for a BlackJack now ? My holding off has my wife and I (we’re on a family plan) both stuck on Verizon for the time being.
Or should I wait until January to see if Apple announces the iPhone at Macworld ?
Technorati Tags: Blackjack
Unfortunately it didn’t ship from Shanghai until the 31st, but it did arrive and clear international cargo in Arkansan, Alaska this morning. Alaska ?? Couldn’t they have flown it into the US mainland ? Oh well, I’ll probably not see it before Wed/Thurs of this week.
With the latest build of Parallels Desktop available with the new Coherence feature, I can’t wait to get my hands on it to give this a go.
Technorati Tags: MacBook Pro, Parallels
