Windows on Mac is popular

ONE undoubted reason for the surge in popularity of the Apple Macintosh over the past few years is their relatively new ability to run Windows applications as well as Mac programs.

Macs are not free of glitches, of course - far from it, as a steady flow of software updates from Apple reveals. But few, if any, have been serious, and so far Macs have remained pretty well virus-free.

There are three ways to run Windows on a Mac, and two of them have just got decidedly better. There are new versions of both the Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion programs, either of which can turn your Mac into an effective Windows machine. Choosing either will cost money though.

The third - and free - alternative is BootCamp, software that Apple bundles with the Leopard version of its Mac OS X operating system.

BootCamp doesn't install automatically, You need to click on a BootCamp Assistant button in the Mac's Utilities folder, which guides you through the process.

As with Fusion and Parallels, you'll need a full retail version of Windows, either XP or Vista. Borrowing someone else's back-up disks won't work.

One big advantage of BootCamp is speed. It takes over the whole Mac and runs at similar speed to a standard Windows PC. Users see the same screens as on Windows machines, and applications are loaded and accessed in precisely the same way.

The big disadvantage is that since Mac OS isn't running you can't run Mac and Windows programs simultaneously and cut and paste between them.

Irritatingly, you need to reboot your Mac to switch between the systems.

To run both systems simultaneously you need either Parallels or Fusion, both of which use virtualisation software to emulate a Windows PC.

The just-released Parallels Desktop 4 for Mac is a great improvement on earlier versions. It's noticeably faster and puts less strain on the Mac's resources, thanks to a new virtualisation engine, or hypervisor in virtual-world parlance.

Parallels claims an "up to 50 per cent" performance boost, but that level is unlikely to be reached until Apple upgrades to Intel's new Core i7 processors, or something similar.

If you're using a MacBook portable, a power-saving feature is said to cut the drain on battery life, compared with earlier versions, by up to 20 per cent.

You can download the software directly from www.parallels.com, or from online stores such as Amazon.com, or Streetwise.com.au. Standard price is $US79.99 ($123), but new users can download a free test version that will work for 15 days.

Current Parallels users can upgrade for $US39.99 if they're quick, as that "opening" price is due to rise after November 30.

VMware's Fusion has also had an upgrade. Performance has been boosted, although VMware isn't claiming anything like 50 per cent.

One definite improvement is incorporation of a newer version of Microsoft's DirectX 3D graphics system, which should mean a greater range of Windows games work properly on the Mac.

Both programs now enable users to take automatic snapshots of Windows virtual machine workings. This works rather like the much-loved Time Machine software in Mac OS X. If something goes wrong you can switch the system back to a previous moment in time when things worked perfectly.

Then there's something VMware calls Unity 2.0. This allows you to run Windows without seeing the Windows desktop at all: you can access Windows apps from the Mac desktop. Unity 2.0 also features mirrored folders.

The Desktop, Documents, Music, and Pictures folders on your Mac will match the corresponding folders on Windows (Desktop, My Documents, My Music, My Pictures). So if you pop a new stack of photos into Pictures on the Mac, they'll also bob up in MyPictures.

Fusion 2.01 costs the same $US79.99 as Parallels, downloaded from vmware.com/products/fusion, but it's a free download for registered users of the earlier version - and there's a 30-day free-trial offer.

Doubleclick finds there's now little between these two useful programs.

If the asking price seems a bit much, you can always tramp off to BootCamp.

davfrith@gmail.com