Parallels 3 is here — the first interpretation of this pop virtualization software for Intel - based Macs that ’s suited to gambling . That ’s because Parallels 3 incorporates computer hardware - base 3 - D graphics speedup . It offer Mac gamers with a degree of service program they did n’t have before . Even with these improvements , though , gamers face for maximum performance and compatibility are still well served byBoot Camp , Apple’sWindows - on - mackintosh offering .
Some Parallels background
Parallels Desktop for Maclaunched in 2006 , only months after the Intel - base Macs first debut . If you ’re unfamiliar with it , first of all , welcome back to Earth . Parallels Desktop enables you to run Windows on an Intel - based Mac without birth to bring up — your Windows - based virtual simple machine come along as a disjoined window running alongside your Mac applications . In contrast , Apple ’s Boot Camp requires you to reboot your scheme — you either run Mac OS X or Windows , but never both simultaneously .
The reward that Boot Camp offers is that when your Mac is working in Boot Camp , it is , for all intents and purposes , a Windows XP ( or Vista)-equipped PC . There are drivers install for everything , from your Mac ’s video chip to the iSight television camera . The downside is that you have to go through the process of shutting down and restarting your Mac each meter you want to run Mac OS X or Windows — that can take minutes , and those minutes add up if they bechance several multiplication a day .
Parallels Desktop for Mac put up an awe-inspiring alternative — hightail it Windows directly from within Mac OS X. The developer have tried to create as unlined an experience as possible , incorporate feature of speech like Coherence , which let you open up a Windows practical software from the Mac OS cristal Dock , and SmartSelect , which lets you open Mac text file with Windows applications ( and frailty versa ) .
But for gamers , the biggest advantage Parallels Desktop 3.0 go is the power to die hard games . Almost all game in the PC space ask 3 - D computer graphic quickening , even the casual ones , and up to now , Parallels has not had any 3 - D nontextual matter quickening at all .
A new dimension
To that end , Parallels 3 is a good first step . The software enables Mac users to run some Windows game that ask DirectX 8.1 or lower . DirectX is a Microsoft - made graphics program Programming Interface ( API ) that many game developers prefer to use instead of OpenGL .
The organization requirements of DirectX 8.1 or lower excludes many newer 3 - D championship which favor DirectX 9 . It also mean that the“Aero ” art personal effects of Vista(which manipulation DirectX 10 ) are n’t supported . All tell , it ’s fairly standardised in depth and width to the preliminary 3 - D graphics quickening offer in Parallels Desktop for Mac ’s chief competition — VMware ’s Fusion software , currently available as abeta .
This is a big adjustment for gamers who already have Boot Camp install . With the latest build of Boot Camp , Apple provides fairly up - to - particular date driver support for the 3 - D graphics chips include on its Intel Macs , which means that those Boot Camp Windows system know about the 3 - cholecalciferol hardware and know how to use it .
Parallels provide a dramatically unlike organisation visibility , and does n’t rely on all your Mac ’s RAM or your Mac ’s own art hardware configuration in rules of order to operate . So when you go Parallels , even if you ’re using your Boot Camp partition to do so , Windows recognise it as a very other than configured information processing system , as it does when Boot Camp is operating .
This relegate Parallels 3 mainly to running erstwhile Windows game , which it does passably well , though it ’s hit or leave out as to what game work and what plot do n’t . Parallels has allow , in the documentation that company Parallels Desktop 3 , a short list of secret plan that it has institute to be compatible . ( you’re able to also find the list onParallels ’ Web internet site . )
My test drive
To give Parallels 3 a effort , I prefer for some of the titles Parallels recommended . I tried Dungeon Siege 2 and Max Payne 2 , two older Direct3D - based game , and they both worked fine . So did OpenGL - based biz like Quake 3 Arena , Unreal Tournament 2004 and Far Cry . Generally , the more complex you ’d coif the computer graphic options and the higher the settlement , the more the performance difference between Parallels 3 and Boot Camp became apparent .
Where the software play into show - stopping trouble was with games that necessitate DirectX 9.0 - based graphic , such as The Sims 2 ( also useable for the Mac natively ) and The Elder Scrolls IV : limbo . Those games wo n’t work at all ; for that , you call for Boot Camp .
TheParallels Support Forumsis one of the best places to get information about how Parallels 3.0 work with game , by the way . Checking the Mac forum for Windows and entering “ game ” in the search field will yield hundreds of messages from Parallels exploiter who have traded story of getting biz to work and provided some estimate of performance . Some have even develop elaborate workarounds to get some newer games working .
Games that rely on OpenGL forthwith , or else — including recent game ground on the Doom 3 engine — have an easier time running . My colleague Rob Griffiths and I were both surprised to see Prey , the first person shooter , run moderately well inside of Parallels . But the game uses a modified variation of I d Software ’s Doom 3 engine , so we should n’t have been that surprised .
Compared to incline in Boot Camp , you will find a difference in speed — how much will be determine by how fast your Mac is and how you ’ve set up Parallels Desktop ( with RAM and so on ) . Macworld Lab is meddling crunching the number for the final review .
So is Parallels Desktop for Mac 3 deserving it , strictly from a gamer ’s view ? No . The penalty in performance and the want of compatibility with any DirectX 9 - compatible games really hurts Parallels ’ usefulness for gamers . But if you have modest play needs that can be attend by older title , and you have a need to use Parallels for other things besides play , it ’s certainly a step in the correct way .
