Parallels 8 lets you run two platforms on one machine. Spotlight Chrome for Android Googles latest security update for the Android isolates content on each tab so that malicious websites do not have access to other sites that are open in the browser (Facebook etc). Many work on Apple machines that have both Mac OS and Windows installed. But rebooting to Windows every time you need to use it can be tedious. Parallels Desktop 8 is the solution. It allows you to run Windows and Mac simultaneously. Imagine running Mac OS and being able to switch to Windows just like you switch between tabs on your browser. Making the Switch Parallels 8 is easy to install. It has integrated Windows 8 and Mountain Lion,and works smoothly even with Windows 7. While you are using Mac OS,the dock will show the Windows apps running in the background just like normal Mac apps. Parallels allows you to distinguish between the two by marking Windows apps with its logo,which looks like a red pause sign. Black and white When you run Windows 8 on a Mac,it opens in a new window. The mouse pointer is a black arrowhead in Mac and as soon as you move it into Windows 8,it changes to white. When you move the arrow out,it sticks to the edges of the window for half a second before moving out. This is because in Windows 8,the corners of the screen are used to access the home screen,vital for navigation. Transitions The integration of the two operating systems feels polished. If you open a Windows file on the Mac,Parallels quickly opens it in Windows. On the Mac,you can drag a file to the mail app and it automatically creates a new mail with the file attached. This is not possible in Windows. But with Parallels,you can drag any file to Outlook and it creates a new mail with the attachment. Parallels also has integrated an open with IE button in Safari. Click that and the website opens in Windows,on Internet Explorer. But,transition effects were not smooth on Windows 8. There was a noticeable stutter when opening or closing apps. The OS did not crash,freeze or slow down,but the stutter looks bad. Space in place On the top bar in Mac OS,you will notice a menu called Virtual Machine. This helps you decide the space and resources you want to allot to your Windows installation. MacBooks and iMacs come with dual or quad core processors. In Parallels 8,you can allocate up to three cores to Windows. If you are running a heavy application,you will need more cores. Else,one core and 1GB of RAM are enough to run Windows smoothly. In case you are running short of space on the Mac,you can also reclaim space from Windows and allot it to Mac. If you are moving to a Mac from a PC,Parallels 8 allows you to transfer your entire Windows installation. This means all your installed software and other settings will be carried over,which eliminates the need to configure Windows after installing it on the Mac. Another feature is the easy installation wizard. This basically makes installing Windows or Ubuntu Linux a two-click process. Parallels will download and install the OS for you. Parallels 8 works well on powerful new MacBooks or iMacs,but it may not be as efficient on older machines. Price: Rs 3,999.
