When You HAVE to Run Windows, Go with Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac

Sometimes, you HAVE to run Windows. You know, sometimes someone will send you a Visio file to work with. What are you to do? Our preferred solution is to use Parallels.

Nova Development

Our Rating:

Thoughts/Words/Reviews:
The first solution that gives Apple users the ability to run Windows, Linux or any other operating system and their critical applications at the same time as Mac OS X–without rebooting–on any Intel-powered iMac, Mac Mini, MacBook or MacBook Pro.

The killer app for Mac is now even better than ever!
Parallels Desktop for Mac enables you to run Windows, Linux, and more side-by-side with Mac OS X on any Intel-powered Mac, without rebooting. With Parallels’ award-winning virtualization technology, you can run Mac OS X and your favorite Windows applications at the same time. You can even drag-and-drop files between desktops!

The latest release of Parallels Desktop for Mac comes packed with 50+ new features and enhancements, including SmartSelect, Snapshots, and 3D graphics. Learn more about the new capabilities in the latest release of our award-winning product.

View More about Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac (Intel Mac)

Here’s the afore-mentioned Visio

Not a bad product coming from Microsoft (of course they didn’t originally write it )

Microsoft

Our Rating:

Thoughts/Words/Reviews:
Office Visio Professional 2007 will make it easy for IT and business professionals to visualize, analyze and communicate complex information, systems and processes with clear, compelling diagrams. Make an impact on your audiences with professional-looking diagrams. Visualize your custom solutions with Office Visio 2007 diagrams, such as Unified Modeling Language (UML), data flow and Windows user interface diagrams

View More about Microsoft Visio Standard 2007

And if you don’t already have a copy of Windows, you’ll need that too.

We’d recommend you still stay away from Vista. XP Home will do for most situations:

Microsoft

Our Rating:

Thoughts/Words/Reviews:
Newton’s Fruit says: We give it three stars … but that’s kind of unfair, we’re used to working in Mac OS X

Amazon.com says:
Windows XP Home makes it easy to use your Computer for those Personal projects you enjoy. Service Packs round up the bug fixes and product updates you need for operating more smoothly. This Service Pack bridges the gaps between the original software and user requests more fully, responding to customer wishes — and making XP even better.
Share your home computing resources with simple-to-use Networking tools Service Pack features - Security Center offers a central control system for your Windows XP security — work with the firewalls, auto updates and antivirus tools Great news for people sick of pop-up ads - The built-in pop-up blocker controls them, with a new submenu and status bar icons New Add-Ons manager gives you instant access to all the Browser Helper Objects and extensions, enabling and disabling them easily Firewall now has its own control panel Enhancements to the Windows Update service make installing new updates easy Wireless Networking - Multiple wireless connections to choose from

View More about Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition FULL VERSION with SP2

Now you can “get in and get out” of Windows, all from within your Mac!