> > I got a MacBook (Black) to replace my old iBook that finally died. > > With Unix, OSX and Parellels/WinXP this machine has been about the > > most useful development machine I've had to date. > > My Windows desktop seems to be getting more unstable by the day. I > have to cross my fingers everytime I boot up in hopes that it won't > lock up and need to be rebooted to get it running. I've already > reinstalled this system in the past year and am not going to do it > again. I really am getting to the point of total frustration with > Windows that I'm willing to consider switching but there's a fair > amount of stuff that I still need to run on Windows for the time being > so wonder how much trouble it will be to do the Mac/Parallels thing. > For instance: > > 1. I currently use Napster + XM for my music player which only runs on > Windows. Can you run a music player over Parallels and still listen to > it while working on the Mac?
I haven't tried it yet. But I shouldn't see much problem with it. Currently I am running SQL Server on the Windows side, and accessing the data from the Mac using Parallel's network bridge feature. (The win'dohs side is treated like a separate computer on the network with its own IP address etc). > > 2. How easy is it to have file sharing between the Mac and Windows > partitions? Or is it best to just have an external drive that they > both share? Again, I'm thinking here of things like music/video/photos > that I would like both OSes to have access to. The Mac reads and can write pc format. I can take a flash drive, copy files off my PC either at home or work and plug it into my MacBook. I haven't had any problems reading any pc based files, as long as I have a compatible program to read the file (or a text editor). Mind you that's the same as on the PC side. I also have the Mac connected to our home network. It reads files from the server or the PC's without any problems. I've also set up a network alias so I can access the w files off my old dev box. Click on the icon and it opens up a window to that directory on the dev box. > > 3. I often use Remote Desktop from my windows laptop to access my main > desktop system, would that be possible with a Mac? Yes. M$ does have a remote desktop for the Mac that allows the Mac to access PC desktops. Its called (amazingly enough) Remote Desktop for the Macintosh. > > Any other comments on using this kind of setup would be greatly > appreciated! I still need to figure out as well if I can afford the > extra cost of the Mac, it sucks that they are still so darn pricey in > comparison to PCs. Not much to say really, the Mac simply works. As for Macs being pricey, are they really? Given what you get they're comparable. Price out a Dell laptop with the same feature set as a MacBook or MacBook Pro, you'll see that the prices are very close. Unfortunately its not the same for desktops. But when comparing to the higher end machines from Dell and other name brand PC makers, the total package comes very close in price when you factor the cost everything. One thing to think about is that all but a small minority of users are tinkerers, willing to build their own systems or tweak their OS until it operates the way they prefer. Most never even crack the box for the life of the machine. btw I have a Mac I bought in 1991 that still runs and runs very well despite its age. I'd like to see a PC last that long given comparable use. That said the Mac OSX is very configurable if you're comfortable with Unix (via the terminal). I run a several bioinformatics analysis programs directly from the Terminal this way. Also there are quite a few system add ons you can get that can do the tweaking for you. Over all I've had a better experience with Mac systems than PC's, in terms of networking, compatibility etc. regards, larry ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| ColdFusion 8 beta - Build next generation apps today, with easy PDF and Ajax features - download now http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/coldfusion/cf8_beta_whatsnew_052907.pdf Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:239153 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
