Virtual Windows Vista on Mac OS X

I love booting up my Mac and working in the Mac OS environment. Then I like to launch a Windows application without having to reboot. It sounds weird I know, but that's the world of "virtualization" I suppose.

Virtualization has been common in the servers world for some time but now desktop's and now notebooks have become so powerful as to make running multiple operating systems viable with acceptable performance.

Running another operating system side by side is achieved with a virtual machine, sometime known as VM or "VE" for Virtual Environment. A VM runs the guest operating system like Windows primary operating system like the Mac OS. Quite simply Windows is "fooled" into running as Guest Operating system.

The most successful virtualization option for the Mac seems to come from Parallels Inc (a rebranded SW-Soft. Their $79.99 Parallels Desktop 3 for the Mac allows you to run a full Windows computer within your Mac operating system. Most Microsoft family are supported, including legacy OS's such as XP, NT, 98 and 95. I gather even Windows 3.11 and MS-DOS are supported if you are on a nostalgia trip and want to revive old games. Parallels Desktop Premium is also available for immediate download and bundles in Acronis Disk Director Suite, Acronis True Image Home, and Kaspersky Internet Security for $99