Gadget Techie

Parallels and OnTheHub are currently offering free copies of their amazing Parallels Desktop 4.0 to the winners of their Twitter contest. The instructions are on their twitter accounts and on the OnTheHub page but basically, all you have to do to enter is: Re-tweet #parallels4students. That is it! The contest might still be going so hurry up and start tweeting!

Enough about how I got my hands on a copy of this great software. Time to show you why I think it’s so amazing! For those that do not know, Parallels lets you create a virtual machine (VM) and install an operating system on it. In my case I installed Windows XP. This lets you, for instance, run a Windows XP machine within Mac OS X! So you can enjoy the benefits of both OS’ at the same time. I have recorded a little video of just how easy it is to move from one to the other. Click on the screenshot below to view it (the video was recorded at full 1440×900 resolution so you may have to maximize your window to view it properly).

As you can see, Parallels Desktop coupled with Mac’s Spaces is a dream come true! Not only does Parallels let you run a virtual machine in full screen mode as shown in my video, but it also gives you the option of running it in windowed mode, coherence mode (integrates it into your Mac OS X dock and task bar), and modality mode (like windowed mode but it scales everything as you stretch and shrink the window).

Overall I am VERY happy with my new software. As an individual I love using Mac OS X’s beautiful interface and great apps, but as an engineering student, I need Windows to run my simulation programs. Parallels solves this problem and increases my productivity exponentially!

For those not fortunate enough to get your hands on a free copy through the contest, OnTheHub offers student pricing, making Parallels Desktop very affordable at $40. I would say that every Mac owner should have this.

*I am currently running Snow Leopard and so I can confirm that Parallels Desktop is indeed Mac OS 10.6 compatible.