My design computer, in my office, which runs Windows XP Pro has become unstable and needs to be replaced. Recently a tech from Parallels logged into my older iMac and installed Parallels and Windows 7 Pro. My intention is to be able to install a new drive on my old PC and donate it to a worthy cause. Before I remove this machine from service I need to log some hours on the iMac that has Windows installed.
So far I have installed a few Windows utility programs that I have been using on my PC for many years. I have also installed Aspire 8 which went perfectly and seems to be running fine. I have decided today to install Corel Draw X3 on this machine, this is a legal copy that I had been running on my old PC so its basically a transfer of the software from one machine to another. I run Corel Draw X4 on my shop computer that runs my Laser Engraver and my CNC Router using Aspire. I hope to purchase the Corel Draw X8 upgrade in the near future for the old iMac once I have confidence in this setup.
My inexperienced opinion so far is that Windows looks great on the 27" iMac screen and it runs at least twice as fast as it did on my older PC. At this point I see plenty of benefits to running both operating systems concurrently and I haven't found any problems or drawbacks yet.
I know that there is a small group of people here who run parallels on a variety of Apple computers. Anyone who has information or experience with this program willing to share your comments please do...hopefully before I dump my old PC
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