Products that Run Windows on Macs

Products that Run Windows on Macs

Parallels Desktop is at this time the most advanced x86 virtual machine product for Intel Macs.

A commercial package that was a port from Parallels Workstation for Linux. The company said that the software will run “nearly any x86-compatible OS,” including Windows 3.1-through Windows XP, Windows Vista and Windows Server 2003, as well as Linux, FreeBSD, Solaris, OS/2, eComStation, and MS-DOS. Drag and drop files between Mac OS X and Windows.

Parallels Desktop includes a feature called Coherence Mode, which hides the Windows desktop while displaying Windows applications, much as Classic mode displayed OS 9 applications in Mac OS X on PowerPC Macs. Windows still runs in the background, but is hidden from view. Windows applications appear in the Dock, letting you switch between them without using the Windows interface.

Version 3 added support for 3D hardware acceleration, enabling it to run some of the most demanding PC 3D games. It also added a feature called SmartSelect, which lets you set defaults so that a Mac program opens a type of file when you double-click a file in Windows. For instance, you could double-click .doc files in Windows and have Parallels Desktop launch Word for Mac. You can set another file type to launch a Windows application when double-click in the Mac Finder. You can also select a Mac or Windows application.