Parallels - upgrade XP to Vista? (is it worth it?)

[JayKay1967]

Unfortunately I have to run outlook at home to access pst files (and attachments) created via outlook at work.

I've set up Windows XP (pro) and MS office 2007 running under parrallels build 3188 with the windows drivers for Mac and all is working fine. I have downloaded but not run bootcamp - scared it will overwrite/screw up my setup.

I now have a BNIB version of Vista Home Premium and wondering wether I should upgrade the XP to Vista. I'm wondering what all the fuss is about Vista?

Q1. For those who use Vista Home Premium - what are the benefits over XP?

Q2. Is the only way to experience Vista Aero via Bootcamp? If so, if I run Bootcamp will it find the existing XP/Parallels set up or will I have to start again?

Q3. When is next Parallels build due out?


Cheers for any help on these Q's

Regards

Jay

 

[MattZani]

Gadget Show said no, most likely half the things you own won't work, the install process is risky, and you get no extra's, no speed increase(more likely decrease) and longer loading times...

DON'T DO IT!

sell it on, and stick with XP.

Matt

 

[JayKay1967]

Cheers Matt.

Jay

 

[jian]

Gadget Show said no, most likely half the things you own won't work, the install process is risky, and you get no extra's, no speed increase(more likely decrease) and longer loading times...

DON'T DO IT!

sell it on, and stick with XP.

Matt

... but by the end of the show, most of this turned out to be untrue and the presenter did not recommend it purely because it was expensive. If you are going to quote something, at least quote everything!

Personally though, I think you should decide yourself whether Vista will give you any benefit by reading reviews etc. I have XP and it does everything i need so will be ticking with that for the time being.

 

[pepsi]

You don't say what Mac you have?

If for instance you have a MacPro you can just install Xp or Vista to a seperate drive and select it at boot time.

Also to get Vista running you need at least 1 gig of memory but I've found you need at least 2gig for Vista to work properly on Mac(Intel) hardware. XP however seems to work on all Mac(Intel) hardware.

To answer Q2. Bootcamp will not find or use any of your Parallels settings, Parallels run sin a sandbox under OS X and nothing external to the OS can access it. One good note on Parallels, I have used it and if you have dual monitors it is handy to have OS X running in one and XP in the other with the ability to cut'n'paste between OS's.

Vista Home Premium, it's good, it's just that Vista has had alot or changes to the way the OS works and hence alot (like loads) of drivers that work under XP just don't work under Vista but it's not until you install that you find out! Personally, I run XP on a MacPRo as my primary OS works a dream, Vista, tried it and went back to XP at home and at work, just to cluncky to do things, I think by the time SP1 is out MS will have allowed you to switch off al the new (read: non-user friendly) features.

pepsi..

 

[JayKay1967]

Fair point Pepsi....here are the relevant details (I hope)

I have a 15.4 MacBookPro Core2Duo 2.33Ghz with 3Gb RAM/4200rpm 200Gb HD.....but only have 39Gb left (due to masses of iTunes stuff).

I'm starting to be turned off the idea of running vista but curiosity has a hold of me.

Could I set up a second VM install under Parallels to see what Vista is like - without disturbing the current XP install? Is it easy to remove this install if key Windows sofware is too clunky under Vista?

Cheers for your help?

Jay

 

[pepsi]

Jay,

MacBookPro is fine for XP/Vista. I have a MacBook aswell and it runs XP fine (funny though as the MacBook needed 2gig to run OS X fine!).

Really I'd get the iTunes stuff backed up first as when Mac HD's get to full they have a good reputation for falling over or is that the OS!. What you can also do is use an external drive and run Parallels from that. I would recommend at least a 30gig partition for Vista or XP under bootcamp or parallels, but parallels does compress the image it makes. Setting up a second VM install on parallels is fine but Vista is okay but you'll not be blown away by it. I have 2 MacPro's and a MacBook and still use XP as the OS of choice. Vista is good, but only I think the 64bit version cos it's the secure version of the OS.

pepsi..

 

[Deleted member 39001]

... but by the end of the show, most of this turned out to be untrue and the presenter did not recommend it purely because it was expensive. If you are going to quote something, at least quote everything!

Personally though, I think you should decide yourself whether Vista will give you any benefit by reading reviews etc. I have XP and it does everything i need so will be ticking with that for the time being.

Well said, the presenter said all his hardware worked perfectly, it was just the software that has issues, but it alway's will do, company's never bother to make their products work with new OS till the OS is out.
I think Vista is great, it gives lots of nice touches and looks good and certainly won't run any slower then XP. I am yet to upgrade, it's on my list, I'm getting a new LCD telly first. I did have the Beta version and loved it. Very slick looking.
As a tip, you can visit scan.com and buy the oem versions, save you about a third of the price of the boxed product, you are limited to installing it on one PC though and don't get any support from MS.

 

[ospreylia]

dont do it, stick with xp.

I had vista installed on my mac pro under parrallels for a week last month, and I couldnt get anything to work on it, neither could pc world tech guys for that matter... theres a lack of drivers for printers etc, I couldnt connect to the net on the parallels side because vista didnt recognise the mac ethernet port bridge.... loads of issues still to be sorted etc... and I had the latest build.

I wiped it and installed xp under parrallels and its not only quicker, it all works perfectly now, and I love it, parrallels is an excellent piece of software.... but use xp on it.

 

[MKPatrick]

I have to agree with Ospreylia. I've tried Vista under Parallels and it stank. Slow, too many devices not working and nowhere near as useable as XP under virtualisation. This is on a stock iMac Core 2 Duo 2Ghz.

 

[ancientgeek]

If Vista is an upgrade, then the license terms indicate that the XP license you are upgrading will cease. If you have to re-activate XP for any reason, it will fail to activate.

 

[JayKay1967]

Cheers everyone....I set up a second virtual machine under parallels to install Windows Vista...or should that be Windows Shister.

So glad I did not overwrite XP...at least that OS is useable...Vista sucks, not becuase it's slow....speed is fine on my MBP. Vista sucks because it's all gloss and no refinement. It's Phil Nevile thinking he's a world class footballer....think again son...someone have a quiet word...

For now I totally join the group that says DO NOT UPGRADE XP TO VISTA UNDER PARALLELS....it's just a poor rip off of OS X and it only half works under Parallels....works enough to satisfy your curiosity but not enough to use.

Regards

Jay

p.s. I also loaded Office 2007....(I only need it for Outlook but had a quick play with Excel and Word).....aargh .... does the dark side have any clue at all how to improve software.... IMHO MS office has gone 3 steps back for that's how many EXTRA mouse clicks it takes to do things that used to take one or two clicks.