Parallels 11 With Windows 10 to Allow Mac Users to Access Cortana on OS X

[Mactendo]

Why is Windows 10 a real option only now? It's been great for a while now. Your comment implying that throwing money at code magically makes features happen along with your "ruined ugly OS X" comment tells me that you're more frustrated with Apple than you are happy with Windows 10.

Chill... it's just computer software. And it all works pretty well now, no matter which OS you choose.

I was speaking about windows in general. Windows 10 makes me really interested due to its features and better UI. Previous numbers didn't. That's why.
Not sure why you can't be frustrated with one thing and happy or not happy with another one. These things are not connected.

Comment implies that having such money there's no reason why you can't do what Microsoft does here. Why you can't hire engineers or smart management or whatever you lack to get these simple obvious things done. Especially considering that all last years you were way ahead of competition and had the best OS out there. Something has changed now.

To me usability and good UI means a lot. For you maybe it doesn't matter.
And I don't understand why a comment about an OS makes you guys taking it as something personal. "Chill" "bye bye" etc.

Chill... It was just an opinion on computer software.

 

[Tubamajuba]

I was speaking about windows in general. Windows 10 makes me really interested due to its features and better UI. Previous numbers didn't. That's why.
Not sure why you can't be frustrated with one thing and happy or not happy with another one. These things are not connected.

Comment implies that having such money there's no reason why you can't do what Microsoft does here. Why you can't hire engineers or smart management or whatever you lack to get these simple obvious things done. Especially considering that all last years you were way ahead of competition and had the best OS out there. Something has changed now.

To me usability and good UI means a lot. For you maybe it doesn't matter.
And I don't understand why a comment about an OS makes you guys taking it as something personal. "Chill" "bye bye" etc.

Chill... It was just an opinion on computer software.

Gotcha. Personally, I've never had a problem with any Windows version from XP onwards. Even Vista never gave me any trouble. So to me, Windows 10 was fantastic from the beginning. But yeah, the point is- it's good. I agree with you on that.

Regarding the money thing, how do you know that's the issue? What if Apple is intentionally keeping Siri off the Mac for some reason? I can't imagine why, but that's the point- neither of us know. I just find it hard to believe that money is the issue, because Apple has over $200 billion of it to throw at any issues they have.

Regarding the usability and UI comment... what gives you the impression that neither of those things matter to me? As much as I like Windows, I prefer OS X for exactly those two things. The trackpad gestures in OS X are simply unmatched (and no, I don't want a touchscreen laptop), and I greatly prefer the UI in OS X. In my opinion, El Capitan is the best version of OS X. Windows 10 is also the best version of Windows. I just prefer one to the other, but I can see the good things in both of them.

 

[Glassed Silver]

Parallels is a bag of hurt.
As soon as you buy it, they want to charge you for the next version
say 2-4 weeks later.
It even looks as if they are waiting, not include everything and then add.

Gave up on parallels long time ago.

What did you switch to though?

Or did you drop virtualization altogether?

Glassed Silver:mac

 

[blackcrayon]

Yeah but only when you've got the power cable in... Think it actually has to be on charge too.. Pretty useless to me.

With the popularity of the iPhone, i wonder what the effect would be of saying "Hey Siri" on a crowded train or something.

 

[TMRJIJ]

What's wrong with you if an opinion about an OS hurts you so much. "bye bye"? Really?

It didn't hurt me at all. I experienced very little emotion. If you don't like OS X, don't use it.

 

[BoxOfSnoo]

I understand what you're saying, but I personally don't see much difference in paying every year for an upgrade or paying for a subscription. I'd rather "upgrade" each year, at least under this model if you don't want to upgrade or you want to give it to someone, etc... you can. I don't at all care for the software rental model. To each their own but that's my opinion.

The difference is that you could have bought the subscription say, last week, and have the upgrade free. And possibly get version 12 in the same subscription window.

 

[iolinux333]

Siri requires noise cancellation technology and the A5 chips power that the iPhone 4 didn't have. Look at the jailbreaks. They behaved rather poorly.
The original Mac Pro 1,1 and 2,1 used 32bit EFI which was dropped rather quickly in OS X 10.8. In addition the graphics cards also behave erratically in future OS updates because of lack of 64-bit kernel extensions. This included lack of graphical acceleration, artifacts, and general lag.

You're sort of right. It wasn't so much "noise canceling" which uses a combination of microphones, but rather the microphone on all the iPhones prior to the 4s was such a laughable piece of cheap junk that many voices were not intelligible to other humans - forget having a machine interpreter understand you. This was a huge problem for deeper male voices.

The iPhone 5 was the first phone to have an "OK"microphone. Good mics are expensive. Motorola used to be known for putting good mics in their cell phones, and other equipment - but obviously people didn't care much about that: Motorola's gone, and the company that cheaps out on components like the mic is the most loved oand profitable on earth.

 

[Hirakata]

I dunno, for me it points to a kind of sad Weird Science feel. Some nerds in the basement of Microsoft decided to create a sexy 'perfect' digital hot chick for no other reason than to excite other virgin nerd guys.

How are women going to feel about interacting with this weird cyber chick?

I'm just not convinced that a voice recognition interface needs to be looking like this. I'd be interested to hear what women think of this. Yet more objectification and peddling of the unrealistic like Barbie and Disney princesses, or harmless fun?

Research has been around for decades. In general, both men and women prefer female voices. Why not put a face to it?

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/21/tech/innovation/female-computer-voices/

 

[Saucesome2000]

Why wouldn't I be reading it?

Because those who are savvy enough to be on a tech site about Apple products are generally tech savvy enough to know about Parallels.

 

[Jimmy Bubbles]

Did anyone else watch the video? That guy's hand shaking gave me anxiety just watching it.

 

[Thunderhawks]

What did you switch to though?

Or did you drop virtualization altogether?

Glassed Silver:mac

Dropped it and went and found Mac Solutions and

(PSSSSHHHT) my daughter gave me a PC notebook for things MACs have no apps for.

 

[Thunderhawks]

Paying for a new version every year? It's almost like people expect to get paid for their work over the course of that year or something.

Nah, couldn't be it.

The problem is they don't just come out once a year. I was not timing thingsor checking dates, but it
felt like every 6 months, sometimes less.

There is also a difference between updates and upgrades for many apps. An update is usually unpaid and an upgrade introduces new features, different things and is charged for.

Parallels wants money all the time. (or so it seems)

Another poster suggested they should go to the subscription model. (S/he must also feel that their
new versions happen too often)

 

[uid15]

I repeatedly asked Siri to tell me a story and finally got this. This is in his UK voice

I wondered who is ELIZA??? When I asked Siri, he said "Do you know ELIZA? She was my first teacher!" Search the web. And when I searched, I got a wiki that says ELIZA was a 1966 computer program designed to simulate a therapist or psychoanalyst, lol.

Gosh, Siri's rather full of "himself" in that story, isn't "he"?

 

[Michael Goff]

The problem is they don't just come out once a year. I was not timing thingsor checking dates, but it
felt like every 6 months, sometimes less.

There is also a difference between updates and upgrades for many apps. An update is usually unpaid and an upgrade introduces new features, different things and is charged for.

Parallels wants money all the time. (or so it seems)

Another poster suggested they should go to the subscription model. (S/he must also feel that their
new versions happen too often)

They only come out with a new paid version with every OS X release. It's not every six months.

 

[billy the fish]

Am I missing something. Is Cortana believed to be better than Siri? Why would someone with a Mac want to use Cortana?

Nope its not believed to better, it is better hands down.. Use the 2, like 99% of the folk currently getting angry at this statement havnt, and you will see why..

 

[Glassed Silver]

Dropped it and went and found Mac Solutions and

(PSSSSHHHT) my daughter gave me a PC notebook for things MACs have no apps for.

If I didn't need the Windows side for games I'd probably not bother with a Windows setup in Bootcamp either and just run a virtualized copy in Virtual Box or something, but the virtualization is nice when I need a tool real quick or can't be bothered to reboot for a low-taxing game.
Anything else needs the Bootcamp setup.
I love how Parallels let's me use that same partition in virtualization, I know Fusion has that too, but their price and upgrade policies are pretty much the same.

Glassed Silver:mac

 

[Siannath]

As long as your iDevice is plugged in, Siri can listed for "Hey Siri", you might have to turn it on in settings.

Handy AND keeps your phone charged as a bonus....

Yeah, that's entirely true.

However, there may be a myriad of reasons for people not being able to do this. For example, not owning a Siri-compatible iOS device.

I think Apple should bring Siri to OS X. More options and more versatility is better, Right?

 

[the-msa]

Am I missing something. Is Cortana believed to be better than Siri? Why would someone with a Mac want to use Cortana?

siri isnt really in the game of virtual assistants. its a fight between cortana and google now. as to why to use it... when you're using windows on mac, you might as well use it.

 

[laurim]

Research has been around for decades. In general, both men and women prefer female voices. Why not put a face to it?

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/21/tech/innovation/female-computer-voices/

Guess I'm an anomaly then because I'm a woman and I have Siri set to a man's voice. I think Cortana tries to sound too sexy so it's definitely geared towards a male audience. Sort of like how Fox News is full of camera shots of women in short skirts. Men are so easily manipulated, lol. I also think that image of Cortana makes her look like an undead entity. Wouldn't want to see it on my computer screen in a dark room.

 

[laurim]

siri isnt really in the game of virtual assistants. its a fight between cortana and google now. as to why to use it... when you're using windows on mac, you might as well use it.

I disagree. I use Siri to call people, set reminders, etc. Sure, there are more extensions that could be made like anticipating what I need and connecting apps (like asking if I want an Uber car when an appointment across town is coming up) but we of a certain age all know how annoying Clippy was when he kept assuming we needed help with something when we didn't so maybe "needs anticipation" isn't necessarily something we would want in actual practice.

 

[greytmom]

Parallels is a bag of hurt.
As soon as you buy it, they want to charge you for the next version
say 2-4 weeks later.
It even looks as if they are waiting, not include everything and then add.

Gave up on parallels long time ago.

Not to mention the fact that each upgrade progressively makes your machine run worse. I wish I had never gone with Parallels. Never had issues when I simply Bootcamped and used two partitions. Would have already gone back if I had the time to sit down and move everything around, so as not to lose anything.

 

[laurim]

"Good morning! Let's get your day started" (from the screen shot) sounds like the beginning of some dystopian future where people are slaves to machines, forcibly toiling away in a dreary existence with no escape other than death.

Now if Microsoft had allowed customization so we could change Cortana to the HAL voice, they might have something many of us would want...

 

[MH01]

I dunno, for me it points to a kind of sad Weird Science feel. Some nerds in the basement of Microsoft decided to create a sexy 'perfect' digital hot chick for no other reason than to excite other virgin nerd guys.

How are women going to feel about interacting with this weird cyber chick?

I'm just not convinced that a voice recognition interface needs to be looking like this. I'd be interested to hear what women think of this. Yet more objectification and peddling of the unrealistic like Barbie and Disney princesses, or harmless fun?

No more weird than young geeks playing solider and saving the universe, cortana came from that concept.

 

[MH01]

Switch to Microsoft then. Bye bye.
Used Cortana throughout the entire Windows 10 Insider Program, it really sucked IMO. Certain simple commands I would normally ask Siri just redirects me to Edge Browser. Windows 10 UI while an improvement from windows 8, still sucks IMO. Windows phones connecting to monitors are cool but the not cool enough to make me switch. Their UI is ugly IMO.

To be honest, does not sound like you gave the insider program much time, everying sucks to you. Just stick to apple, I think windows 10 is a very good OS, I'll judge it after a month use though. If I judged apple software of betas, they would also suck....

 

[MH01]

What's interesting is the OS control features were on the Mac since 2001 including saying computer to activate it. Opening programs and other commands. I think the merger is coming soon. Considering Siri was created as a differential feature for iOS, the needed to be exclusive to it for a period.

That is a good point. Looking forward coming to OS X in the near future.