Genesis of a Virtual World

This is the first in a series of articles documenting my experience running Windows on a Mac, side-by-side with the Mac OS, using Parallels Desktop for Mac.I don't claim to be an expert on the subject, but I have figured out a lot of stuff, the hard way, while fine tuning my set-up. Hopefully, others can benefit from my experience. In this installment I explain what led me down this path, in the first place, and how I chose Parallels...

I was and had been a Mac guy for more than a 15 years when I went to work for Dell. What irony! I had been a Mac bigot, lo' those many years, and this was my just deserves.

Believe it or not, I slowly learned to embrace the "dark side", as we used to call it, and I realized that there a certain things I rather liked about Windows. Over time, I actually became more comfortable with Windows than I was with the modern Mac OS. Meanwhile, the rest of my family was all Mac, and they actually started referring to me as a  PC guy!!...

"Hey team, who introduced you to the Mac in the first place? Show some respect... Can't we all get along?"

Something had to be done!

In the summer of 2009, I conceived my master plan:

"I will replace my aging Dell Latitude laptop with an Intel-based MacBook Pro and run my Windows environment as a virtual machine! In the short term, I can use the Windows tools and software I had grown familiar with and over time I would reacquaint myself with the Mac OS... Brilliant!"

Parallels vs. VMware Fusion

Ah, but which virtual environment should I choose? The two heavy weights in this space are Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMware Fusion. I had a lot of experience selling VMware products at Dell, so  it seemed like the natural choice, although Parallels had much more experience with the Mac and their product was more mature. I read all the reviews, and by and large they both seemed to be good products. I was sort of on the fence, but figured I would probably stick with the VMware product. Then a funny thing happened...

A Twist of Fate

As I was buying my MacBook Pro from my local authorized Mac dealership, I had a copy of Fusion in my hands, when I happened to ask the kid who was checking me out, which would he recommend, "Parallels or Fusion?" He immediately snapped back, "Parallels". When I asked him, "Why?", he was honest and said, "I don't really know, but all the Mac guys that I respect, have all chosen Parallels." This may seem like a light-weight rationale, but it was an answer that I understood, and respected. I bought Parallels, then and there. Little did I realize the challenges ahead of me, to make it all work...

I'll share some of those experiences in my next installment.

Other Articles in This Series 
Magellan's Guide to a Parallels Universe... Part 2
Magellan's Guide to a Parallels Universe... Part 3
Magellan’s Guide to a Parallels Universe… Part 4