Chris Pirillo » parallels

What Drives Your Productivity?

Chris — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 08:08:57 +0000

What Drives Your Productivity? is a post from Chris Pirillo

Being sick has its advantages – ones I never knew about! I have had some sort of crazy virus for several days now. I admit to spending one entire day sleeping it off as best I could. I stayed out of my office for the most part, and knocked myself out with the medicines the doctor gave me. Since that day, I’ve spent as much time as possible doing nothing other than sitting in my office. Since that happens to be where I work… I’ve actually accomplished quite a lot! I haven’t felt like going anywhere really, or “doing” anything much.

I’ve managed to catch up on some reading I felt I was behind on. I have come up with some ideas for upcoming projects. And, I’ve even managed to croak out some geeky new videos for the YouTube channel. I’m ahead of myself on those, which is kind of cool. Usually, the things I record are uploaded immediately the next day. Now I have a bit of a “buffer”, in case there’s a day I am too busy with other things to record.

As backwards as it seems, being sick has made me more productive. What helps boost your “get things done” levels? Also – what do you spend the most time doing when you’re sick? Do you curl up in front of the tv, or read a book? Do you spend all of your time sleeping? Or, are you like me and plant yourself in front of the computer monitors?

Don’t forget to check out all of the hot new apps we have for you in our downloads center. Today you’ll find several things for Windows, as well as mobile devices!

Parallels Review

Chris — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 07:37:22 +0000

Parallels Review is a post from Chris Pirillo

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

There have been numerous screencasts submitted over the past couple of weeks. Several of them are very, VERY good! I always knew that our community was full of talented individuals. It’s not too late for you to get involved, and have your screencast featured on this channel! Bwana has been hanging out with us for years, and is even a moderator in my chat room – when he has time! He’s gained quite a following of his own, and rightfully so. He does excellent work, and I’m always more than happy to have him do reviews for us. Today, he sent a screencast to me to give you all an overview of Parallels on the Mac.

When you first launch the software, you’ll only see the first two options: you’ll have to choose between a new Windows installation or to import a virtual machine. Since Bwana had already created a Windows image, he had a third option to use an existing VM.

The New Windows Installation option allows you to set up a virtual machine within Parallels to run inside of Mac OS X. There are several video tutorials online that show you how to set up and use a virtual machine. For the purposes of this video, Bwana chose to set up a new virtual machine in order to show you how it’s done.

Parallels is so easy to use that you can literally install Windows with just three clicks of your mouse. Run Windows programs like native Mac applications side-by-side using Coherence technologies. Gain instant access to your files, folders and data across both operating systems with SmartX technologies. And… you can remotely control your virtual machine using the iPhone application when you’re away from home!

Thanks to Bwana for sending a screencast in to us… and to all of you who are working hard and continuing to send in excellent material. I promise you – we’ll get them all up on our channels!

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code:

Can Online Discussions Always Be Positive?

Chris — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 04:27:45 +0000

Can Online Discussions Always Be Positive? is a post from Chris Pirillo

I noticed a thread today on Geeks that is talking about how discussions always end up turning negative in some way. This got me to thinking about conversations I have all over the web – on Geeks, over at Lockergnome, here in my blog, and even on sites like Twitter. It seems no matter what you’re trying to talk about, someone is going to be negative in some way. The people in this particular thread are right – it truly is annoying.

I’m not talking about differing opinions. Those are great, and I welcome them. Hopefully, you like hearing them as well. Having different viewpoints on things allows us to stretch our minds in directions they may not have otherwise gone. It can make us look at things in a whole new way, from a completely different perspective.

The negativity I’m referring to is exactly as it sounds – negativity, for no reason other than to be rude/demeaning. You’ll be having a conversation that’s going along nicely, and some person pops their nose in and starts going off on a tangent about something that may or may not relate to your discussion. They may even be completely rude about it, or directly “attack” someone involved in the thread/post. I really hate that. What’s the point of it? Why must Internet trolls even exist? Can’t we just like shoot them out of a cannon or something?

Seriously, though, why does it seem so difficult these days to have a completely intelligent conversation with others without the fear of someone taking it down a road it should never go? What are your thoughts? Are you seeing more and more of this lately, and how do you get past it to continue your discussion? What else are you reading and/or participating in online that has your mind stretching?

We have several excellent new Apps and Programs available today in our downloads center for Windows Mobile operating systems, as well as for OS X!

Virtual Machines Love Windows 7

Chris — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 15:11:08 +0000

Virtual Machines Love Windows 7 is a post from Chris Pirillo

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

Josh called in last week during live calls to talk with me about Windows 7. His general opinion at first was just that Windows 7 is a “great operating system”. I had to chuckle at that, because I of course agree. As we talked more, we got into a bit of a discussion about how much better Windows 7 runs on our Macs inside of Boot Camp. In my opinion, anyway, Vista never did run well on any type of virtual machine. It just plain stunk.

In a virtual machine environment, such as with VMWare Fusion, Windows 7 just – works. It runs clean, and it runs fast. When I used to try and run Vista in the same environment, with the same hardware and same configuration… it never worked. It was buggy. It would crash. It was slow. Things wouldn’t – work!

Don’t forget that I have an awesome Windows 7 eBook available for only $7.00! It’s filled with 70 excellent tips and tricks, to help you make the transition to Windows 7 even easier.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

How to Run Linux on Windows (Ubuntu)

Chris — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 05:09:17 +0000

How to Run Linux on Windows (Ubuntu) is a post from Chris Pirillo

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

Yes, it’s possible to have Linux and Windows installed on the same PC – and why wouldn’t you have both? You can install Linux using a live CD or even a USB drive. You could also use something like VMWare Fusion, as well.

Of course, you don’t need a coupon to run any flavor of Linux, as it is open source software. That is the biggest draw for many of you out there who use it. However, today I wanted to show you a new option I ran across that I think you will like. If you’ve never used Linux before, you may want to think about running Linux on top of Windows.

Using Portable Ubuntu allows you to do just that. It is an Ubuntu system running as a Windows application. For those of you who are hard-core Linux users, Portable Ubuntu is handy when you need to work from a Windows-based machine.

Portable Ubuntu allows you to run Ubuntu as if you’re using Ubuntu itself – but you’re actually using Windows. You’ll find the package manager, the bar that runs across the top of the screen, and more. You can even browse the Ubuntu file structure from right within Windows.

This is absolutely without a doubt the easiest way to use Linux from within Windows!

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

Parallels Coupon

Chris — Thu, 27 Nov 2008 09:58:48 +0000

Parallels Coupon is a post from Chris Pirillo

Parallels is a worldwide leader in automation and virtualization software that optimizes computing for consumers, businesses, and service providers. Parallels allows you to run another operating system (such as Vista, XP or Linux) inside of a virtual machine from within Mac OS X.

Save $10.00 today when buying Parallels to round out your desktop experience.

More Parallels Coupons:

Parallels - $40 off Parallels Desktop 4.0 Family Pack (3 licenses) only $199.99 - Posted on 4/28/09 and Expires on 12/31/15
Parallels - $5 off Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac, only $74.99 - Posted on 1/30/09 and Expires on 12/31/15

Find More Coupons

Parallels 4.0 Download and Coupon!

Chris — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 08:51:57 +0000

Parallels 4.0 Download and Coupon! is a post from Chris Pirillo

Parallels Coupons:

Parallels - $40 off Parallels Desktop 4.0 Family Pack (3 licenses) only $199.99 - Posted on 4/28/09 and Expires on 12/31/15
Parallels - $5 off Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac, only $74.99 - Posted on 1/30/09 and Expires on 12/31/15

Find More Coupons

I’ve done videos in the past about Parallels. The new version has been released, and man does it ever rock. It’s available for download now, and we’ve been able to arrange for our community members to receive $10.00 off! Let’s take a look at some of the new features inside of Parallels.

Install Windows in 3 clicks or bring your existing Windows system to your Mac with integrated Easy Setup tools.
Run Windows programs like native Mac applications side-by-side with Coherence technologies.
Have instant access to your files, folders and data across both OSs with SmartX technologies.
Automatically optimize performance for Windows programs or Mac applications on demand with Parallels Adaptive Hypervisor.
New GUI and VM directory with an easy-to-use interface with quick access to all your virtual machines.
The iPhone application lets you remotely control your virtual machines via your iPhone.

These things are literally only the tip of the iceburg. If you are on Mac OS X and need or want to run Windows inside of your Mac, you seriously need to check out what’s new with Parallels.

Boot Camp vs VMware or Parallels

Chris — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 13:07:01 +0000

Boot Camp vs VMware or Parallels is a post from Chris Pirillo

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

Apparently, Virtual Machines are a hot topic! I’ve had a few calls lately asking about them, the differences, and my recommendations. This caller is buying a Macbook Pro, and is wondering what he should use as far as running Windows programs. He has a copy of Photoshop, and wonders what program he needs on the Macbook in order to use Photoshop to its peak performance. He’s also curious as to whether he should use Rosetta.

What exactly is Rosetta? You’ll never see it, you’ll never configure it, you’ll never have to think about it. It’s built into Mac OS X to ensure that most of your existing applications live a long and fruitful life. Here are all the instructions you’ll need: double-click the application icon. Behind the scenes, Rosetta dynamically translates most of your PowerPC-based applications to work with your Intel-based Mac. There’s no emulation. No second-class status. It looks and feels just like it did before. On a Mac, you’d expect nothing less.

If you want, you could always use Photoshop inside a Virtual Machine, using something such as Parallels or VMware. Or, you could use Boot Camp, which is included with OS X Leopard. Boot Camp supports the most popular 32-bit releases of Windows XP and Windows Vista. When you use either operating system on your Mac, your Windows applications will run at native speed. This is exactly what the caller is looking for! Windows applications have full access to multiple processors and multiple cores, accelerated 3D graphics, and high-speed connections like USB, FireWire, Wi-Fi, and Gigabit Ethernet.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

Parallels or VMware

Chris — Tue, 19 Feb 2008 12:57:04 +0000

Parallels or VMware is a post from Chris Pirillo

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

I was involved in a conversation on the 888-PIRILLO line the other night, when the talk turned to using Parallels. The caller has been using Parallels, but has been having a lot of troubles with the CD drive not wanting to mount. It has been SO long since I’ve used Parallels. I asked if it’s happening on all builds, or just one Virtual Machine. My first suggestion, of course, is to try a second VM. If it doesn’t connect there, there may be an incompatibility with that drive and Parallels.

You might also try downloading a trial of VMware. They not only are one of our sponsors, they have an excellent product. Parallels has gotten a lot better lately. Some people swear by it, and some swear by VMware. I think either one is a fantastic product. I give more attention to VMware for a couple of reasons. One is that it can support two processors, instead of just one. The second reason is that it has been around as long as I can remember, much longer than Parallels. To me, longevity shows that a company knows what they are doing.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

50 Reasons to Switch from Microsoft Windows to Apple’s Mac OS X

Chris — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 03:52:13 +0000

50 Reasons to Switch from Microsoft Windows to Apple’s Mac OS X is a post from Chris Pirillo

Exclusive Coupons: $10 off Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac

I love my Xbox 360s; I think Popfly rocks (Silverlight will bring much needed competition to Flash). Plus, I can’t live without Exchange and its server-side rules. I love my Microsoft mouse more than any other mouse in the world. Surface looks totally awesome, too.

Microsoft does some amazing things – very amazing things. My choice, however, for a primary desktop operating system is no longer Windows – it’s Mac OS X. Duh. It’s rather difficult to admit that officially, if only because… well, I think Microsoft does amazing things. They’ve also been quite supportive of my own efforts over the years, if only because they understand the value of one user.

I’m still openly willing to give feedback to Microsoft’s product teams – Windows included.

If you’re also looking to Switch, let me tell you that VMware Fusion signed on as a Video Show sponsor – and would be more than happy to help you with the transition. Realizing that many of you are hooked on Parallels, I’m guessing that VMware would do just about anything to win your attention. I also have great sponsors like Plasq.com (who make Skitch.com and ComicLife.com) and Shinywhitebox.com, who makes iShowU, Stomp, and Chatter. These are independent Mac OS X software developers with widely-accepted products.  While I don’t need to justify my actions to anybody, I feel I have 50 strong reasons to finally make the move. This is after posting a list of my favorite Mac apps a few months ago, and inspiring Brian to create Appster (so that you could blog your favorite Mac apps with ease, too).

Anybody in my chat room who watches the live video feed with any regularity knows that I’m a platform neutral geek. Keep that in mind as you read the following list:

Seems that the future of Windows development is happening largely for corporate environments and customers. I don’t take issue with this other than being someone who doesn’t live or work inside a corporate environment at home.
Excellent power management in OS X. When I close the lid to my MacBook Pro, it falls asleep. When I open the lid to my MacBook Pro, it wakes up. Imagine that! Seems to be the case 99% of the time, and it happens quickly.
I’m ready to experience different frustrations. OS X isn’t perfect, certainly – but I already see its noticeably more stable than Windows Vista has been. Kernel Panics at least look prettier than BSODs. :) Seriously, I just find OS X’s update schedule to be more to my liking – instead of waiting for gigantic service packs, I get minor point releases along the way to major revisions to the OS. Bugs are going to happen, but knowing that showstopping / security bugs are likely to be squished quicker gives me amazing peace of mind.
There’s more interesting, useful, beautiful, and affordable software being developed for OS X. If you still believe that there’s no software for “the Mac,” you’re simply a fool who hasn’t done his or her research.
VMware Fusion makes it possible to have every operating system at my fingertips (as well as every app that runs on ‘em, FTW). Performance and stability is a reality, not a dream. More importantly, with USB 2.0 support in VMware Fusion, I have near complete compatibility with any external hardware. Parallels is also there, which should keep competition lively.
I believe that the future of Windows (or any OS software layer) will be experienced in a virtual machine of some sort. People have been dual booting for years – now I can triple-task cross-platform in seconds flat.
Not to say that Microsoft or Linux haven’t made great strides in recent years, but… at least Leopard feels like only one team was developing the UI. It’s not quite perfect, but closer to what perfect should be. I’m not a huge fan of iTunes or every other Apple utility – but at least with Leopard, they’re trying to make them look and work the same way.
I love the fact that most programs and their associated libraries are self-contained (apps). There’s no stress in installing / uninstalling most programs, and for true cleanup jobs there’s always AppZapper.
I’m not a huge fan of the Dock for task management, but Quicksilver has virtually no Windows equivalent (in terms of elegance and scriptability, although it’s still completely overwhelming to me right now). The dock isn’t a shining example of where OS X is “better,” but I do appreciate the context menu options for each of the Dock’s icons for “Open at Login” management.
Spotlight is to Windows Desktop Search as a BMW Z4 is to a Ford Pinto (in terms of performance, usability, and UI). No contest. I’m sure some would argue the opposite, but… they’re also probably the extreme developer “but it works if you just learn how to use it right” types. Feh.
The Apple community has been infiltrated by enough people who aren’t smug. You’re not better than me just because you run another OS or support another vendor, nor are you any less of a geek. Not every Windows user is a neanderthal, although some of their dated arguments would make them out to be. I think that most consumers are caught up in the idea that you NEED Windows for everything at home. You don’t.
My iPhone is not going away anytime soon. Would I switch for better compatibility with a communications device? Not necessarily, but if the future of OS X is in the present of the iPhone… they’re going to gain consumer market share at blinding speed. Remember, I wanted to hate this device – after years of being a dyed-in-the-wool Windows Mobile advocate.
The spyware / malware / virus threat is diminished by an extreme degree. Not to say that one should avoid running protective layers of software or hardware, but… I’m just not as nervous when I try a new app on OS X.
Many of my friends are considering making the switch as well. This dovetails nicely with my first point. I can tell you that just by showing off the fun features of CamTwist and Colloquy with my live stream, a few of those community members have already purchased MacBooks – or are strongly considering doing so in the not-too-distant future. Interestingly enough, those are two FREE apps that work amazingly better than most overpriced Windows shareware titles.
Microsoft Windows completely abandoned its power users, period. Where are the Windows Vista “Ultimate” add-ons? Where are the new Power Toys? Why doesn’t Windows Media Player have podcast support yet (despite me telling them to integrate RSS back when WMP9 was in beta, years before podcasting was a buzzword)? I’m not saying that Windows is dead – not by any stretch of the imagination.
Boot Camp, if all else fails.
A single SKU of Leopard is both 32-bit and 64-bit compatible. This, alone, is a fantastic reason to embrace the platform. It’s seamless. Why should a consumer have to come to a decision on which code to run – or understand the differences between them in the first place? Remember, I’m to be considered a “home” user.
Time Machine. Wow. Can it really be this simple? “Simply select your AirPort Disk as the backup disk for each computer and the whole family can enjoy the benefits of Time Machine.” Do you understand what that means? And no, Windows Volume Shadow Copy is not the SAME thing.
Leopard’s Finder will allegedly search networked computers seamlessly, as well as allow you to access those results remotely (through a paid .Mac account, which would totally be worth purchasing at that point).
Java app performance is decent on OS X, and the same code looks infinitely better when it’s not running on Windows. In fact, most third-party apps are very well designed so as to integrate seamlessly with the entire OS. That’s beyond refreshing.
You never need to defrag a Mac’s hard disk.
Adium is there – an Instant Messaging client that allows you to use AIM, Yahoo, Google Talk, and other accounts through a single client. It’d be my replacement for Miranda IM. Skype also works on the Mac. I expect to see even more universal IM apps reveal themselves over the coming months.
Bonjour is proving to be quite useful on my home network. Computers with Bonjour-enabled services are automatically discovered with virtually no fuss – even my networked Windows machines have been playing along.
Joining wireless networks in OS X is easier and more refined, easily accessible. The tools for networking don’t seem overly complex, either.
Setting up services such as Windows File Sharing, FTP, and even Web sharing can be done on OS X with just a few clicks. If you’re telling me that I could set up FTP just as easily in Windows, then… it obviously can’t be done as easily.
Almost all of the audio and video formats out there can be played on the Mac with Video LAN Player (VLC). One less barrier to entry.
Great Web browsers that work in Windows also work on the Mac (Firefox, Opera, SeaMonkey, Flock). The only exception here is Internet Explorer, or any third-party overlay to IE (such as Maxthon, which has been taking a slight turn for the worse with 2.0). Of course, there’s always the “invisible” virtual machine possibility (read: VMware Fusion’s Unity mode). Moreover, Safari / WebKit is gaining speed on all platforms.
Erasing deleted files placed in your trash (also known as a Recycle Bin in Windows) can be securely erased in OS X. No need to mess with third-party software.
You can still right-click in OS X – and the way Apple decided to implement it is far more convenient than you’d think. In fact, I find double-tapping the mouse pad far more intuitive than using a second mouse button. Didn’t take long to get used to it at all.
Wanna set up a VNC server on your Mac? No problem, its already apart of the operating system! Moreover, the feature isn’t buried three levels deep. It’s sitting right there in the Finder. Moreover, unlike Windows Remote Desktop, a Screen Sharing session doesn’t lock the remote user out of his / her session – one reason I’ve always loathed RDC.
Microsoft doesn’t have an iLife. Not even close. It has a set of multimedia applications, but they don’t seem to be cohesive in the slightest. Maybe things will get better as Live continues to evolve?
You really don’t get to play the blame game with Apple. They make the hardware AND the operating system, so… they really know what’s going on, and they really know if the problem is widespread.
A Mac costs about the same as a comparable Windows PC – for hardware and (for argument’s sake for those who don’t believe me) bundled software. And for those who still claim that Macs are still more expensive, they obviously have never seen or priced a gaming rig. Price / cost is relative. If you want a cheap machine, that’s your prerogative. The resell value on Macs has always been higher than that of an equivalent “Windows” machine.
You can record audio and video conversations from iChat 4.0 (natively). That’s pretty amazing, as it takes the idea of “video chat” and puts it into a time-shifted space. This isn’t just useful for those of us who conduct guest interviews regularly, but for home users who want to save calls for posterity.
Dashcode appears to take the geekery out of widget-building. Moreover, the new “Web Clippings” widget appears to work better than anything I’ve seen come from Microsoft, Yahoo, Google, et al. This is putting the user first…
With a .Mac subscription, you can save common local settings as global ones. You only have to configure your Dock or System Preferences on one machine to have those same changes appear on all machines connected to your .Mac account. Unbelievable.
Unlike Windows font management, you can activate fonts as you need them within Leopard. This translates to less wasted overhead by fonts that remain largely unused in memory. I can only imagine this results in far less resource-intensive sessions. Genius.
Automator now supports UI Recording and Playback, which means you can create “macros” without understanding a lick of logic. The last time I saw a native macro recorder in Windows was… v3.0? You don’t have to be a geek to gain access to geeky-cool features.
Can’t tell you how much I love Spring Loaded folders. Love ‘em.
Wikipedia information, while not always accurate, certainly stands to be updated a lot more frequently than documentation that ships with (or from) the operating system designer. That Apple has taken the step to integrate access directly from within the Dictionary tool…? It’s just kinda nice to have there. They’re placing trust in the idea of community rather than trying to hide it from us.
Mail comes with “Data Detectors” which will highlight phone numbers, addresses, etc. You can then choose to do something with that information, like map it or store it as an appointment, contact, etc. This is a feature I had not seen outside of a pricey plugin for Microsoft Outlook. I may not use Mail.app, but at least they’re continuing to improve its functionality – ugly capsule toolbar icons notwithstanding.
The Preview tool ain’t no joke – with annotations, basic image editing, Core Animation zooming and scrolling, GPS Metadata support, batch operations, etc. It’s all at your fingertips.
Expose works. ‘Nuff said. The only thing that surpasses OS X’s open window management is Compiz Fusion. None of this Flip3D nonsense.
Help. No, seriously – Help is the way Help should have always been all along. I related my “Help” experience a few weeks ago, with the system not just finding what I was looking for help on, but taking me directly to the spot where I needed to be. I’m pretty sure the Help system isn’t 100% accurate, but it hasn’t disappointed me yet.
Guest accounts are purged after every session in Leopard. Wow. Guest privileges, on the other hand, seem to be lacking somewhat on the security front (but most of my Guests are computer clueless).
I love the Universal Access zoom feature – and have used it so many times for countless reasons. Really comes in handy when you’re trying to show something to someone from across the room. Never found anything close to its simplicity anywhere else.
Call me crazy, but I love the fact that in OS X, the keyboard shortcut for opening Preferences is always the same (Command + Comma). Convenient. Dependable. Quick.
Device compatibility doesn’t seem to be as much of an issue as it used to be with the Mac. While I couldn’t get my brand new HP LaserJet to work inside of Vista, it works flawlessly inside of OS X 10.4 (despite having to use HP’s scanning software). Still, with any USB hardware hiccups in Leopard, compatibility issues are erased with VMware Fusion until newer software is unleashed.
Thanks to another one of our sponsors, GoToMeeting, I’ve had the opportunity to see quite a few of my friends’ desktops. Quite a few have gone to great lengths to make their installation of Windows look and feel like Mac OS X. At that point, what’s the point of sticking with Windows? Just about the only thing Mac users might want from Windows is the Explorer (FTFF) – and even then, there’s ‘Path Finder.’
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: Windows users need Apple’s software more than Mac users need Microsoft’s. That’s just a cold, hard fact. And given my severe disappointment with just about everything in Mac Office 2008, I’m even further driven away from Microsoft’s desktop software.

Please don’t take this post as an all-out lovefest for Apple (and it’s definitely not a hatefest for Microsoft, either). The two can co-exist peacefully if you let them, and if your routine supports it. I wasn’t ready to switch before now for a lot of reasons. This has been a long time coming.

I think it’s lousy that Apple charges for QuickTime Pro and Remote Desktop, I believe iTunes and iPhoto are inelegant management tools (Picasa for OS X would rule). At least Aperture 2.0 looks promising for me. And, for whatever it’s worth, I’ve yet to hear from anybody at Apple in respect to marketing, sponsorship, endorsement, support – or otherwise. I’d imagine they’d be interested in knowing my background, and why this leap is relatively monumental for me – and a sign of things to come for the greater part of our community.

So, let’s say that the next version of Windows is amazing – for argument’s sake. Would I switch back to the “PC” for my primary computing needs? Doubtful, because I’m guessing that virtual machine support will continue to improve in leaps and bounds (with greater hardware support to boot).  Microsoft Windows isn’t in trouble, necessarily – but I do believe that it’s better (read: somewhat safer, more affordable) to run Windows in a virtual machine with USB 2.0 hardware support than it is to run it directly on the desktop.

If you’re a gamer, all bets are off – you’re a different kind of user. Gamers are likely the reason Windows is still alive and well at home today. If the gaming industry shifted gears and started to develop OpenGL-based entertainment titles for Linux, you’d see Ubuntu adoption skyrocket. I’m a console player – still in love with my 360, as noted before. I’m a casual gamer, and I can casual game anywhere.

I’ll still have traditional PC hardware around the house – especially since Ponzi may or may not be making this switch with me. We’re still living inside of Outlook, with no other usable PIM in reach (on any platform). I’ve been showing her a few cool things that you can only do with “the Mac,” and she’s certainly seen me try Outlook 2007 in VMware Fusion. I’m also looking forward to tinkering with new systems as they’re released from a variety of OEMs. I couldn’t abandon my beloved HP All-in-One LaserJet!

Point is: I’m not going ‘all’ Apple.

In time, this will all become easier to manage – but there’s no time like the present to shelve the last ten years of Windows enthusiasm and… switch. I’m fine with being a Microsoft enthusiast in other areas, mind you – very much so. They’re doing too many good things for me to ignore, and their community involvement puts Apple to shame. My choice for an operating system is just that – my choice for an OS.

And before anybody jumps in and claims that you can achieve the same level of “happiness” after installing 50+ third-party add-ons, plugins, extensions, and utilities to Windows… you simply don’t get it, and you probably never will.   I can’t be alone, and I’m predicting that by the end of next year, even more people will choose (and use) Mac OS X over Windows Vista. I can’t open up the phone lines anymore without being inundated with calls that suggest such a tipping point. Everybody is curious…

…and curiosity is what keeps me going.

As a power user, Mac OS X has far more to offer me in terms of tweak-ability and modularity. I learned that by trying it, not by guessing that it wasn’t possible.

I heart MacOSXHints.com. I heart TUAW.com. I heart DaringFireball.net. I heart TidBits.com. I heart so many Mac software developers (like Steve Green and Wil Shipley and Randy Green and Brian Skrab and others). I heart watching for news of some new application, though I’m not quite on any review lists yet – it seems like a simpler nut to crack than it was in the world of Windows shareware.

It’s fun again.

To end this with a bit of humor, my live stream chatters (largely Windows and PC enthusiasts) gave me other title suggestions for this post:

C:\DIE.EXE
50 Reasons Why I Left Bill for Steve
Losing My OS Religion
Windows Broke My Heart
Obama Says It’s Time to Change to the Mac
/Volume/chris/switched
How to Switch to a Mac
The Wow Stops Now
Got Mac?
Once You Go Mac, You Never Go Back?

And now, I’d like to challenge any Windows enthusiast to publish 50 Reasons to switch from Mac OS X to Microsoft Windows. ;)

Virtual Machine Speed Tips

Chris — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 11:45:41 +0000

Virtual Machine Speed Tips is a post from Chris Pirillo

Add to iTunes | Add to YouTube | Add to Google | RSS Feed

The last time you used a Virtual Machine for anything, how frustrated did you get over how slow everything is? Did it make you curse, or want to give up? Well, here are some tips from a reader to help you speed up the state of your VM, and make you a much happier Geek.

Store Virtual machines on separate drive. One of the biggest performance bottlenecks in VMs is the Disk I/O rate. You can greatly improve vm performance by storing your virtual machines on a separate hard drive other than your boot drive. Sorry storing your VMs on the same drive on a different partition wont do it.
Don’t pay for anything you can get for free. Alot of VM software costs a good bit of money. Microsoft offers their Virtual PC 2007 as a free download, as does innotek who offers virtual box as a free download. VMware is the leader in VM technology, they offer VMware Server for free, it is kind of a half way between VMware workstation and VMware ESX. VMware server is available for windows and Linux Operating Systems.
Test new software on a Virtual Machine. Instead of trying new software on your primary computer, create a virtual machine and test it on that. VMware server offers a snapshot feature that lets you create rollback points that you can use to restore your Test VM in case something goes wrong or you don’t like the software. if you have a lot of extra hard drive space you can also convert your operating environment to virtual and use that to test with. if not next time you reformat you can always use vmware converter to create a clean version of your system in VMware. Symantec ghost also allows you to convert a ghost image to a virtual machine.
Always install Virtual Tools. The Virtual Tools make working with vm machines a lot easier. They provide special drivers for input, video, network , and other system devices that improve performance. it also allows you to move your cursor back and forth between your host and virtual machine with out having to manually change focus.
Run resource heavy development servers in Vmware. If you are a developer who likes having a test environment (LAMP, Oracle DB, Tomcat JSP,etc) on there primary machine, but don’t want to have it drag down your system when your not using it. try setting it up in a vm, with networking and only turn it on when needed. And then FTP, SSH,or HTTP into it to do what you need to. and then shut it down when you don’t need it.

Want to embed this video on your own site, blog, or forum? Use this code or download the video:

Buy Leopard and Parallels

Chris — Mon, 29 Oct 2007 04:05:36 +0000

Buy Leopard and Parallels is a post from Chris Pirillo

Are you ready to upgrade to the latest version of OS X, Leopard? Great. Here are the versions available to you today. Select carefully, as only one of them is right for you:

And if you plan on installing Mac OS X on more than one computer in your house, you better be even more careful about which edition you decide to purchase. I would recommend the following for those of you with more than one Mac in need of a Leopard upgrade:

If you still want to run Windows or Linux applications on OS X, you’re out of luck. Unless, of course, there’s some kind of magical software out there which would allow you to run those programs in Parallel. Gee, wouldn’t that be awesome? Yeah, and maybe pigs will fly out of my PC’s floppy drive.

Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac Update

Chris — Sat, 22 Sep 2007 20:49:00 +0000

Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac Update is a post from Chris Pirillo

Exclusive Coupons: $10 off for Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac.

There are two camps forming: one side who loves Parallels for the Mac, and another side who loves VMware Fusion for the Mac. It’s great to see that with a recent patch, many Parallels performance issues were minimized. Kevin emailed me about it the other day:

I normally wouldn’t send you a link to one of my articles, but I think you’ll appreciate this one. Since we cater to a mobile audience, I looked at how Parallels hits your battery life with their v2.5 a few months ago. It was so bad that I couldn’t run Vista on my MBP for too long when out and about. And the fan noise when running Parallels on the 2.33 GHz C2Duo….let’s just say it was embarrassing; like the Mac had a constant case of intestinal gas.
I just revisited the same basic tests with the newest release of Parallels and found a vast improvement in how effective the new virtualization software is.
I’m only running Vista on the MBP for Outlook 2007 since Entourage is stuck in 2003 for now.

I was loving my installation of Fusion when I was in Germany. I wasn’t using Outlook 2007 in a virtual machine, but I was relying on IE7 for OWA 2003 (Outlook Web Access). While a OWA Light 2003 works in Firefox, it’s beyond unusable. I have to wait for Rackspace to upgrade their servers to Exchange 2007 / OWA 2007 before I would consider using a native OS X browser to access my inbox.

Lord knows if Entourage 2008 will be any better than the current version of Entourage (I’ve only seen one screenshot for it, and it looks marginally better). The latest screenshots of the Mac Office Suite UI overhaul look very promising, however.

VMware vs Virtual PC

Chris — Mon, 27 Aug 2007 05:46:58 +0000

VMware vs Virtual PC is a post from Chris Pirillo

I say VMware, no contest. Tony Ring is pulling for Virtual PC:

First off, I last saw you way back in the TechTV days – the Screensavers with Kate and Leo. Sadly, TechTV jumped the shark for me when that show morphed out of existence. Tonight I was cruising the net looking for help with Vista problems and ran into you on YouTube, watched some of your videos on Vista, and wound up here.
I have a suggestion for your scanner and fax problems under Vista. Microsoft Virtual PC 2007. I believe that they give it away for just this reason. So, you might be thinking that it’s crazy for them to expect you to use some other product to work around the issues Vista DOES have, etc. etc.
Let me digress. I am an independent software consultant. I make my bucks doing implementation and configuration work for fat monsters like Oracle PeopleSoft. It keeps me traveling and my wife on a perpetual shopping spree, so all is good I suppose.
The nature of what I do means I deal with multiple large clients that each have private networks with BIG IT BOSS GUY security schemes. They give me access to do my thing, but it quickly became impossible for me to reconfigure my laptop to each different network environment every time I visited a client. Because of this I was forced into using Microsoft Virtual PC 2004 and now 2007.
I set up completely independent virtual environments for each client with all their domain crap, Novell crap, and you name it crap. When I get to their site I fire up the virtual machine I have for them and literally pick up where I left off when last working there. As a side benefit, I’ve gravitated toward keeping all of my files related to that client in their virtual machine instance. It’s really awesome and I can’t think of life without it.
Digressing further – you may wonder how I get away with all these “different” copies of XP? Well, I think this is legal so I will explain. Virtual PC has a thing called a Differencing Disk. It works like this. You create a base virtual machine and load your one licensed copy of XP on it and activate it. Then you configure another virtual machine as a Differencing Disk off of the base virtual machine. You can then customize the differencing instance as much as you like without changing the base disk in any way. Need to set up a second special instance? Just create a new differencing disk and customize it for the new client. You can effectively set up the same XP instance a dozen different ways. So long as I don’t use more than one instance at a time I’m pretty sure it’s legal. The nice thing is that when you’re done with a differencing disk – like you tried some new software and decided you really don’t want it – you just delete the disk and set up a new one. Nice and clean. You never have to reinstall XP again. Great stuff.
Well, this started out as a tip for you, so I guess I better get there.
I too have problems with my scanner at home and MUST have it to scan my weekly receipts and bill my clients. Vista choked on it. What did I do? I set up a differencing disk virtual machine running XP and installed my scanner on it. I also installed everything I need to make it a nice place to go and do my weekly billing. All in one package. I fire it up, do my work, shut it down and go back to wrestling with Vista and enjoying every minute of it.
In this way it’s easy for me to keep Vista.
Why do all this to keep Vista?
I’ve only been running Vista Business for a month or so now, but I can tell you the networking seems much more secure for someone who is on the road a lot. It is much, much better at handling rapidly changing network environments. My fingers would wear down if I tried to explain all the issues I used to run into with XP. My best guess is that some of the environments I used to hook into would push firewall rules or something into XP that would then cripple my ability to connect to other network environments. It was maddening. Vista is, thankfully, completely immune to this so far. What a relief!
I have other problems with Vista, and I’m just learning it. I was watching your video and realized the virtual pc route might save Vista for you.

Virtual PC may be free, but VMware is still better (for all the reasons I’ve previously explained). If all you want to do is test software, then I suppose Virtual PC is perfect – but if you’re looking for full power and compatibility, you have to look far beyond what Microsoft is handing out.

Parallels vs VMware Fusion – No Contest?

Chris — Fri, 17 Aug 2007 03:55:30 +0000

Parallels vs VMware Fusion – No Contest? is a post from Chris Pirillo

Parallels owns this space right now, no doubt – Windows virtualization on the Intel Mac platform. Despite its heavy branding, Parallels has yet to prove its worth in performance (and has, up until recently, been the only viable commercial virtual machine contender on Apple’s OS X). I had been taking a tentative look at Vmware Fusion, only after raving about Vmware Workstation solving my Vista woes with an XP VM.

More people are discovering Vmware Fusion now. Scott Beale, with Unparalleled Windows Virtualization:

I just installed VMware Fusion 1.0, a new desktop virtualization program that allows you to seamlessly run multiple operation systems on your Intel-based Mac. I setup a virtual machine for Windows Vista on my Mac Pro. The whole process was super easy and took only a few minutes, in fact for me it was much faster than installing Windows on a PC. So far everything works really well and I like it as much, if not more than Parallels Desktop for Mac (another great virtualization program).

And he points to Paul, who starts by pointing out why Vmware is pwning the performance game:

Fusion was built from the ground up in OS X’s native programming environment, Cocoa, and as such Fusion benefits from speed increases and lower memory overhead. Fusion puts less strain on your computer than any other virtualization product at this point. The use of Cocoa in development gives Fusion a more native Mac application feel with customizable toolbars.

Wither Parallels? Well, I wasn’t set up for a true side-by-side last night, but I did at least want to tell people that there’s a new VM in town – and it’s already giving Parallels a beating:

Aero is still missing, as well as the ability to dump a Windows VM into a new Boot Camp partition, but the idea of “switching” is finally worth seriously considering for those of us dyed-in-the-wool Windows users.

How to Handle Remote Tech Support

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 06:30:00 GMT

Using GoToAssist is the easiest way to view and control another person's computer online. Use it to provide instant technical support to family, friends and customers. Start a session with just one click, and instantly connect with the other party.

Network Tools for Windows

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

You need these network tools, no matter which operating systems and networks you have to support. SolarWinds ipMonitor: Affordable Network Monitoring for SMBs. Get turnkey network, server and application availability monitoring with SolarWinds ipMonitor v9.0. This easy-to-use, reliable solution for SMBs delivers out-of-the-box availability monitoring so you always know exactly what's up with Active Directory, DNS, Exchange, FTP, Web, IMAP, MS SQL Server, and SMTP. Download your free trial today. Or, try their totally free tools! And, through 2/29, save 20% when you purchase ipMonitor 9.0.

Get Your Own Web Site

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

Starting at just $3.99/month, web hosting from GoDaddy includes 99.9% uptime, 24/7 support and free access to GoDaddy Hosting Connection, THE place to install over 30 FREE applications sure to help you get the most from your hosting plan and Web site. Enter code CP2 at checkout, and save an additional 10% on any order.

Plus, as a friend of Chris Pirillo, enter code CHRIS7, that's C-H-R-I-S and the number 7, when you check out, and save an additional 10% on any order. Get your piece of the internet at GoDaddy.com.

VMware and Parallels for Virtual Machines

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 06:30:00 GMT

It doesn't matter if you're running on Windows or Mac OS X - every power user needs either Parallels or VMware (or both). There's never been an easier way to test software without destroying your primary operating system's stability. Think of how many times you wish you could press a 'reverse' button on your computer. Plus, there's no easier way to try new Linux distributions - see what all the fuss is about. Run Windows in OS X, run Linux in Windows, but the best way to do either is with VMware and/or Parallels.

Coupons for Online Shopping

chris@lockergnome.com (Chris Pirillo) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 07:56:13 GMT

This feed is fueled by Lockergnome Online Shopping and Coupon Codes

Before you shop next time, see if we have a coupon first.