Mac for SQL Database management

rajivhifi said:

I'm looking to buy a mac and run Parallels to run SQL Server 2008 and other database tools. I prefer a mac because of time machine backup and can bring back stuff without reinstalling all the software and settings.

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Have you looked in to how Parallels works with Time Machine?

Its OK if you're going to keep most of your Windows files in your OS X home directory via Parallels' 'shared folders' feature, but Time Machine isn't much use on your Windows C drive, since Time Machine sees it as one huge file that changes every time you use the virtual machine. Parallels does have an "Optimise for Time Machine" feature that splits the drive into 48-hourly incremental snapshots (otherwise the whole C: drive would get backed up every hour) but that won't let you restore individual files on the C: drive.

I can see the appeal of using Parallels so that you can snapshot & revert your "PC", though.

However, if you're going to be using Visual Studio/.Net for your server-side programming, I'd give up and get a PC - Micrsoft's developer tools are actually rather good if you're already stuck in the MS ecosystem, and you can use VMWare Workstation if you want to virtualize your server.