1 post tagged “parallels”

Sure, I'll get flamed for this, but Windows computers are slow.  There, I've said it.

Sometimes when using the Pee Cee, I feel like I'm back in the old DOS days when it comes to speed.  Here's my theory:

1. Windows computers develop bit-rot, that just keeps perpetuating until your computer slows down to the speed of log cabin syrup on a cold day.
2. A 1.6GHz Intel or AMD processor, running Windows XP with all 2,000 updates, runs about as quickly as a 333Mhz iMac G3 running the latest version of MacOSX-10.4 "Tiger."
3. The same machine as outlined in #2, runs twice as fast using Linux, but because hardware proliferation, you have to be a rocket scientist to get most distros to work reliably on a home-brew machine.  Better off getting a Dell or something. 
   
4. Speaking of Dell, the Pentium 4, 2.4Ghz Dell Optiplex sitting on my desk, complete with 1Gig of RAM, runs Vista just slightly worse than my 4 year-old iMac G4/800 running MacOS 10.4.x. 
   

Someone please explain to me why my buddies have told me for years that Windows machines are faster?  Maybe they were faster out of the box, but after years of use, spending countless dollars on virus protection software, optimization software and more software you must have to survive in the nefariousness that surrounds the Windows universe, I'm giving up.  I cannot handle the 10 minutes of actual start-up time (you know, where Windows boots and appears ready, but really isn't ready, because it's loading stuff in the background--that loading render any "clicking" futile).   I just can't do it.  I try to keep up, but I can't.

So, I've installed Parallels Desktop on my Intel iMac, with it's glorious 20" screen.  Vista boots right up and starts, because I park it in a saved state, so I no longer have to wait for things to load---they're loaded when Parallels loads.  And speed: about the same as my 2.4GHz Dell and I get to switch between MacOS and Vista.  Nothing could be easier.

Plus, the best part?  No extra display on my desk dedicated to the Dell (it's plugged into my iMac, too), no extra keyboard or mouse, no KVM.  Just an elegant, flat iMac and one keyboard and one mouse.  Oh, and after using the Mighty Mouse for a few weeks, I love it.  I am really not sure why people like Leo LaPorte despise it so. 

Get a Mac, save your sanity and your time.

Change hasn't really happened here.