Parallels on Macbook Air

[foltzie]

I'm considering a Macbook Air.

I would be using it as my primary machine and retire my iMac 17inch.

Has anyone ran Parallels (Windows XP), how does it run?

Thanks,

[Flowero4ka]

YEPP!!! I run it and I enjoy it!!! No problems with speed and I can economize my money and not to repay for alternative progs which I have already bought licenses for PC... Have you already bought parallels? If you haven't do it yet, I may advise you a good offer (http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/premium/) :) Because I use it too!!

[MacRumorUser]

Yep run it here too. No problems what so ever.

[user13]

I use Parallels Desktop every day and it suits me. Everything works pretty fast. I use Parallels mainly for office apps. Windows works perfectly well

[Kendall015]

I use it too for stuff like Access...It works great.

[markwise]

Yep run it here too. No problems what so ever.

Some replied positively on the question whether parallels runs smoothly on the air. Not all however indicated the specifications of their MBA

As I was actually phoned today that an MBA is reserved and waiting for me (1.6/80HD), and I too plan to install parallels (/ XP) and use it with Access applications, I am curious to know which specifications your MBAs have ; also 1.6 80 HD ? or other?

Please can you input ASAP as I am forced to decide to buy or let it go by tomorrow

THX

[twynne]

Parallels runs well here on a 1.8 SSD. Afraid I can't comment on the lower spec.

[mcvaughan]

I just re-installed it on my new Air. It's quite speedy, especially with the SSD model.

[bjdraw]

I use it all the time on my 1.6/80 to access my companies VPN (mo Mac support).

My XP image which includes Office etc, is about 6GB so it's not too big to keep on the 80GB HDD.

[kyleen66]

I'm using VM Fusion with Windows XP.

It runs great.

[user13]

Some replied positively on the question whether parallels runs smoothly on the air. Not all however indicated the specifications of their MBA

Please can you input ASAP as I am forced to decide to buy or let it go by tomorrow

I run Parallels not on MacBookAir - I think I didn't read the first post attentively.
I used to run Parallels with 1 gig of Ram until I upgraded and even then it worked pretty fast. Access applications work fine in Parallels too

[ddd269]

Parallels works great with the MBA (1.6 80gb)

I've used it for about 3 weeks with xp. No problems so far.

The only thing I can notice is the display not being very smooth, when scrolling. I guess I can make it smoother if I allocate a bit more resource to Parallels, but it works well enough for me to not tinker with it. Other than that, it's perfect.

I have to use Parallels because some international sites I frequent only works with IE... Otherwise, the the site displays erratically with Firefox and Safari. :(

[ViperrepiV]

Parallels runs well here on a 1.8 SSD. Afraid I can't comment on the lower spec.

how much space did parallels and winXP take up?

[Capt. Morgan]

I hope this isn't too far off topic - I have a MBA on order (1.6 HDD) and bought Parallels.

Being a Mac guy it just kills me to have to purchase a Microsoft OS, but like some have noted, there are just some web sites that require IE on a peecee. 1) Should I go for XP or Vista; and 2) Where is the best place to obtain this for low cost? Used on EBay?

[saisrujan]

1) Should I go for XP or Vista

I've tried both XP and Vista using VMWare Fusion on MBA, and the choice is a no-brainer.

Definitely XP. Vista needs at least 2gb of RAM for itself to run smoothly. So, virtualization is not an option for Vista on MBA because both OS X and Vista nee a lot of memory to run smoothly. So, unless you're planning to run Vista on bootcamp, don't buy Vista. XP runs great on VMWare Fusion. I use XP all day at office with 8-10 applications open at the same time. No issues at all.

[BryanLyle]

how much space did parallels and winXP take up?

When you create the virtual machine, you can specify how big you want it to be.

[cohibadad]

Parallels runs well here on a 1.8 SSD. Afraid I can't comment on the lower spec.

I just re-installed it on my new Air. It's quite speedy, especially with the SSD model.

agreed. runs great. I wouldn't expect 3D to be very speedy though I haven't tried it on the MBA. It was a dog when I tried it on my iMac 2.8 but I heard it has improved.

[ddd269]

I hope this isn't too far off topic - I have a MBA on order (1.6 HDD) and bought Parallels.

Being a Mac guy it just kills me to have to purchase a Microsoft OS, but like some have noted, there are just some web sites that require IE on a peecee. 1) Should I go for XP or Vista; and 2) Where is the best place to obtain this for low cost? Used on EBay?


Just like the other posts... XP is the answer. The best place to get it would be a site that sell OEM package Windows. These are not the retail packaged versions and was meant to be sold with new computers/manufacturers at a discounted price. Even if you get the retail version, make sure you don't get an "upgrade" version, because it will not install unless you have a previous version of Windows and the Parallels and VM Fusion need XP with service pack 2... I think. Regardless, make sure you get the full version.

newegg.com is a good place to get these, but most computer sites carry these OEM Windows.

[aristobrat]

FWIW, only Boot Camp requires XP SP2.

Fusion and Parallels should be able to install dang near any version of any Intel OS! :)

[ddd269]

FWIW, only Boot Camp requires XP SP2.

Fusion and Parallels should be able to install dang near any version of any Intel OS! :)

You're right... It was bootcamp that I was thinking about. :o

[MacRumorUser]

As I was actually phoned today that an MBA is reserved and waiting for me (1.6/80HD), and I too plan to install parallels (/ XP) and use it with Access applications, I am curious to know which specifications your MBAs have ; also 1.6 80 HD ? or other?

Please can you input ASAP as I am forced to decide to buy or let it go by tomorrow


Just the stock 1.6 / 80GB HDD :)

[chicken123]

Please do not use Parallels on the Macbook Air. It keeps crashing. There are already some discussions about this on the Parallels forum. I have just bought the Macbook air and is very frustrated because Parallels keep crashing with increasing frequency with my MBA.

[MacRumorUser]

Please do not use Parallels on the Macbook Air. It keeps crashing. There are already some discussions about this on the Parallels forum. I have just bought the Macbook air and is very frustrated because Parallels keep crashing with increasing frequency with my MBA.

Hasn't crashed on mine. :confused:

[chicken123]

Please see this link about MBA crashing

http://forums.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=19507

[dicin]

I had a Dell XPS / M1210 about 9 months old and purchased a MBA 1.6 / 80.

I first installed bootcamp along with Win XP and made sure it ran properly. I installed all of the Microsoft Office 2003 suite. I made sure it operated fine and then I did all of the upgrades to both Win XP and Office.
After all of that I installed Parallel as a VM and it works fine with no crashes etc.

[digitalfx]

Please do not use Parallels on the Macbook Air. It keeps crashing. There are already some discussions about this on the Parallels forum. I have just bought the Macbook air and is very frustrated because Parallels keep crashing with increasing frequency with my MBA.

OMG, I am going to remove mine immediately...or after I finish using it...or maybe never.

[ddd269]

Please do not use Parallels on the Macbook Air. It keeps crashing. There are already some discussions about this on the Parallels forum. I have just bought the Macbook air and is very frustrated because Parallels keep crashing with increasing frequency with my MBA.

No problems here either... I leave Parallels running pretty much full time. Even when I put the MBA to sleep and wakes, no problem.

I did read the forum on Parallels site, and it seems that more than a few are experiencing this problem. Hope they fix it soon. Don't give up on Parallels guys, it's a great alternative to using a PC. :)

[aristobrat]

From the thread that chicken123 linked to, it looked like the Parallels developers could reproduce the bug, which means that hopefully a fix will be out shortly. :)

[twynne]

Just thought I'd add another voice of support for Parallels - it has worked perfectly since the day my MBA came home here. Running build 5584 with an XP Pro VM, and I leave it running all the time. I'm not denying that some people may be having issues, only that the issue doesn't affect all MBA's running Parallels.

[louden]

Is anybody using Vista with Parallels?

I sometimes use Paralles on my MBP on my Bootcamp partition, and need to ask you all a couple questions:

- While Parallels is running the VM, the processor is constantly working, and the battery drains pretty quickly. Do you all experience the same thing on the MBA?

- With a 64GB SSD - how big of a VHD are you all setting up?

[MacRumorUser]

OMG, I am going to remove mine immediately...or after I finish using it...or maybe never.

Pick a problem report of any piece of software, take it as meaning a whole and every hardware / software would scare you.

Just thought I'd add another voice of support for Parallels - it has worked perfectly since the day my MBA came home here. Running build 5584 with an XP Pro VM, and I leave it running all the time. I'm not denying that some people may be having issues, only that the issue doesn't affect all MBA's running Parallels.

Yep never had the issue and never kernel panic'd here either. Either way parallels team i'm sure will fix it for those suffering with the next update.

[digitalfx]

Pick a problem report of any piece of software, take it as meaning a whole and every hardware / software would scare you.





huh?

[Jayrod]

I noticed that you said that you intend on using the MBA as your primary computer, replacing your iMac. Well, don't throw out that iMac just yet if you intend on putting parallels on your MBA - you'll need to borrow it's cd drive for the MBA's remote disk!

Personally, I don't see how the MBA could possibly be anyone's ONLY computer just because of the lack of an optical drive as well as its very limited external ports.

[Thomi]

Please see this link about MBA crashing

http://forums.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=19507

..well that's how life sometime is. I first tried fusion on my new MBA 1.6/80 but it crashed. Then installed parallels with WinXp and some stuff and it worked all fine since.. :p

[Jimmie Geddes]

I'm running Parallels on my MacBook Air, it's running fine, no issues.

[bobbywalnuts]

I am trying to get the wireless adapter on my mba to work with vista. Has anyone experienced this problem?? Is their an easy solution?

Within Vista, the device manager doesn't recognize the wireless device.

As I load Vista (through parallels) - bridged, I get an error.

Sharing the connection doesn't work either.

Suggestions and Help! ? ! ?

[Indydenny]

[QUOTE=Personally, I don't see how the MBA could possibly be anyone's ONLY computer just because of the lack of an optical drive as well as its very limited external ports.[/QUOTE]

Maybe he bought an external drive -- I did! I don't carry it but have it at home as I need it.

[ayeying]

Personally, I don't see how the MBA could possibly be anyone's ONLY computer just because of the lack of an optical drive as well as its very limited external ports.

My 4-port USB hub does nicely. For the optical drive, I don't use it at all. I don't burn CDs or DVDs, I just use image files. For music cds... well, my car has a iPhone/iPod/iTouch adapter, don't need it anymore.

From having my MacBook Air, i've only used an external drive once to install XP in boot camp, nothing else.

[conchshell]

Has anyone tried both VMWare Fusion and Parallels on a Macbook Air? Does it do better with one over the other? Thanks!

[hotdamn]

not wanting to hijack the thread, but has anyone tried running ubuntu or similar linux distros on the air yet (with parallels)?

or, is there any better solution to get my C coding done? (I need stuff like gcc, makefiles etc.)

[Alkiera]

not wanting to hijack the thread, but has anyone tried running ubuntu or similar linux distros on the air yet (with parallels)?

or, is there any better solution to get my C coding done? (I need stuff like gcc, makefiles etc.)

Install XCode 3.0. All that stuff comes with it. I built clisp from sources just the other day, same as on a linux machine... ./configure, make, make check, make install.

You'll prolly want to move the Terminal.app onto the dock, it drags and drops nicely; it's normally in apps/utilities.

[twynne]

Has anyone tried both VMWare Fusion and Parallels on a Macbook Air? Does it do better with one over the other? Thanks!

I have both installed on my Air - Fusion holds a copy of my work laptop, and Parallels has my 'personal' XP installation. I don't think it's necessarily specific to the Air, but I find that Parallels runs much 'thinner' than Fusion and performs better. The installation of Parallels is also 24mb (main App only) vs. the Fusion install at 117mb - and that's *after* using Trimmit to remove the PPC code.

There are some known bugs in Parallels on the Air at the moment where under very specific circumstances it causes kernel panics. The developers are actively working on fixes for these, and there is a workaround that works fine for me until the fix is released.

I leave my Parallels VM running all the time, and when idle it consumes on average 7-8% CPU. Fusion averages slightly higher than this at 10-12% (though for some I suppose that's negligible). I also consistently have network issues with Fusion where the virtual adapter doesn't seem to start, requiring OS X to be restarted to get network connectivity restored.

Edit: The thread about the kernel panics in Parallels is here: http://forum.parallels.com/showthread.php?t=19507. Apparently the issue is fixed and the new build is in QA.

[ayeying]

not wanting to hijack the thread, but has anyone tried running ubuntu or similar linux distros on the air yet (with parallels)?

or, is there any better solution to get my C coding done? (I need stuff like gcc, makefiles etc.)

I'm using Ubuntu in VMWare on my Air.

[Flowero4ka]

I'm considering a Macbook Air.

I would be using it as my primary machine and retire my iMac 17inch.

Has anyone ran Parallels (Windows XP), how does it run?

Thanks,

So, foltzie, what did you decide about parallels after this lively discussion? You know, by the way, about their special offer (http://www.parallels.com/en/special_offers/?from=button)?