Parallels 4.0 is fast
Just when I was losing to the idea of configuring my macbook for dual boot (or even getting a new machine) to be able to use Windows XP with more ease.
I am using Parallels to be able to do testing of the apps I’m writing on IE (one site I’m working on has more than 1/3rd of users still IE6…) and to be able to recompile and package an old J2EE application using a proprietary framework and builder that works only on Windows :-(
Until upgrading to Parallels 4.0 (which I did yesterday), generating the EAR for said application was taking more than 25 minutes, now it’s just down to less than 5 minutes! The big improvement seem to be in the (shared) filesystem access but also everything else seems snappier and the VM feels lighter on the system.
Overall a highly recommended upgrade to anyone using the product.
Can’t say a bit about compatibility etc but Im using Virtual Box, a SUN-originated open source virtual machine engine, and it runs crazy fast. Installs in minutes, than “create a machine”, go with XP install disc etc, and you’re done. You can change the settings (eg alloc memory, devices, etc) everytime. No need for dual boot. It’s great! :)
I heard good things about VirtualBox as well, I’ll try it for sure. Do you know if there’s a way to transform Parallels VMs into VirtualBox one’s?
uh… I’m answering myself: http://bit.ly/vb1Uv (I put that into the experiments for the week end ;) )