Thanks for your help and suggestions everybody. It sounds simpler than I expected, although possibly not worth the effort for a naïve computer user.
-- Bob > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On > Behalf Of Stan Halpin > Sent: 19 April 2007 04:13 > To: Pentax-Discuss Mail List > Subject: Re: OT: MacBook > > The previous version of Parallels was a bit limited, specifically > with respect to its handling of the USB ports. I have been told (by > the company ads and by a friend who has tried it) that the recently > released version is much improved. (Though, of course, you have all > of the issues of a Windows machine, such as continual virus > paranoia, > frequent system patches, etc.) You do need a properly licensed > version of XP or Vista or whatever your preferred flavor is. You > would also want to be sure that the MacBook had plenty of hard disk > space, or plan on using a fast external - the more space you > allocate > to the Windows partition, the happier Parallels and Windows will be. > The price here is $60-80, often included for "free" if you buy a Mac > from one of the mail order outfits (MacConnection, etc.) One slick > thing about Parallels is that the Mac OS and Windows can > simultaneously use the same internet connection. I could be browsing/ > googling with Safari on the Mac while the Windows window, running > Exchange, was downloading my mail. At work I had to get a special > "patch" put into the organization's firewall to allow this, but at > home on my own net it was no problem. I have found another solution/ > work-around to allow me to get to my mail and otherwise use the > Windows-exclusive stuff I need to use - I occasionally log in to > others' workstations - so I haven't taken the time to upgrade to the > new Parallels. If the pain of my workaround gets larger than the > expected pain of doing an upgrade/reconfiguration of the network/ > reinstall of Windows, then I'll go back to Parallels. > > stan > > On Apr 18, 2007, at 4:22 PM, Bob W wrote: > > > The children of one of my friends want a laptop, and more > particularly > > they want a MacBook. My friend knows nothing about > computers, but she > > needs to be able to run Windows software for a course > she'll be taking > > later this year. > > > > What extras are required to be able to run Windows software > on a Mac, > > and what is the performance of Windows software like when run this > > way? > > > > Thanks, > > Bob > > > > > > -- > > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > > [email protected] > > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > > > -- > PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List > [email protected] > http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net > > -- PDML Pentax-Discuss Mail List [email protected] http://pdml.net/mailman/listinfo/pdml_pdml.net
