Wide World of Windows

With Apple officially allowing Intel-based Macs to run Windows XP by utilizing the hack known as Boot Camp, users have had the ability to dual-boot their Mac computers. Which is cool, but not so very much productive. The lack of simultaneous use requires me to have a PC desktop at home for work purposes.

Virtual PC - Maturity

The standard on the market for virtualization has been Microsoft's Virtual PC for quite some time. I've used VPC since version 4-something many years ago when it was owned by Connectix , and I've always enjoyed being able to run Windows inside the Mac OS. It just has always worked pretty well for me. Unfortunately, VPC doesn't run on Intel-based Macs.

Parallels - Modern

Now, with Intel-based Macs out there, the software virtualization markey is enjoying a few newcomers to the product offering plate. The most recent I've heard about, is Parallels. This software has been getting more press lately and I'm not sure exactly why. Good marketing perhaps. But what is interesting is that some user performance specs show that on similar PC hardware, hard-core number crunching software like 3D renders, are only 2-5% faster. Now, that's no benchmark, but it is rather impressive. Parallels is in beta release now.

WinTel - It Boots Fast

Less known to me is WinTel. That's an interesting software name to choose as it was typically used in a derrogatory way to refer to Windows on Intel. OpenOSX touts super-fast boot times for WinTel. And, as with most software except VPC, you must provide a licensed copy of Windows to install.

Q - Open Source

Another run Windows on your Mac software entry is Q. The biggest deal about Q is that it is open source. You currently do not have to pay anything for it. And it just may stay that way. Not all open source projects do, but most remain free. What Q lacks, however, is a full set of features and a really stable release. It's only currently an alpha release, so there's plenty of bugs to enjoy there. But really, what is up with the colors on their site? My eyes are bleeding!

With Microsoft not keeping up with Apple hardware all that well for Virtual PC (they had a major delay when the G5 came out), it seems that Parallels might just run away with the prize this time and take some business away from the Giant. If I were in seriously in the market for new virtualization software, that's where I'd be lookin'.

For more information about x86 emulators/virtual machine software for the Mac Intel and PPC, check out MacWindows.com.