workstation
Latest
Dell Precision 390 workstation goes Core 2, too
Dell's giving that sweet Core 2 love to more than just the XPS 410 and XPS 700 desktops; even workstations are getting into the game. As part of the continuing onslaught of spec-bumped machines, the company announced that its Precision 390 tower is now available with four Core 2 Duo options (1.86GHz E6300, 2.13GHz E6400, 2.40GHz E6660, or 2.66GHz E6700) or even the blazing 2.93GHz Core 2 Extreme X6800, along with a seemingly-ancient 3.0GHz Pentium 4. The new rig can handle up to 8GB of DDR2 RAM, up to a 7,200RPM, 500GB hard drive, and comes with a number of graphics options from either nVIDIA (the Quadro series) or ATI (either a FireGL V7200 or V3400). If you act now, you can pick up a base configuration (which includes the E6300) for just $800, though going high-end will cost significantly more: a Core 2 Extreme--equipped setup more than doubles the price to $1,790.[Thanks, Michael]
Parallels Workstation 2.1 beta6
Parallels has cranked out a 6th beta of their most excellent virtualizating Workstation software for Intel Macs. Fixes and improvements in this latest version include: USB fixes (more devices supported: PDA, scanner, etc.) Shared Folders fixes (added support for guest Windows 2000) Network improvements: host-only networking Custom video resolutions support added
How To: Run other OSes on your Mac with Parallels Workstation
Parallels has been creating a lot of buzz with their Workstation software that allows Intel Mac users to run almost any version of Windows, Linux and many other OSs right inside of Mac OS X, without the need for shutting down what you're doing in Mac OS X to reboot into the other OS. This 'virtualization' ability of the new Intel chips is a pretty big deal, and from my experience with running Windows XP and Ubuntu Linux on my MacBook Pro, I can understand why.However, all this stuff about 'virtual machines' and using Parallels Workstation to install another OS inside Mac OS X can be a little daunting, so I thought I would put together a basic how-to for anyone interested in this software and what's possible with it. I'll try to explain some terminology to help clear up any confusion, and I will cover using Parallels Workstation to install both Windows XP and Ubuntu, one of the more popular 'consumer friendly' versions of Linux, or so I'm told (disclaimer: I know absolutely nothing about Linux aside from the 'most of it's free' convention and the few headlines that come across digg, so go easy on me if you have Ubuntu questions).Click ahead for my five steps to running multiple OSs with Parallels Workstation in Mac OS X.
Macworld reviews Parallels, tests other OSs
Rob Griffiths has posted a thorough review of Parallels Workstation, the impressive new (and free while in beta) software that allows you to run other operating systems in a virtual environment within Mac OS X.Overall Rob is very pleased with his experience. He first tested Windows XP and even posted a video to demonstrate just how well this software can run most Windows tasks within Mac OS X, even on his Intel-based Mac mini. Rob also points out some of the really handy and unique abilities PW offers, such as being able to use the same clipboard between Mac OS X and Windows XP - that's right, you can install an extra set of tools from Parallels (which many say should simply be included in the app's install from the get-go) that will allow you to copy in Mac OS X and paste into Windows XP, and vice-versa. Rob also tested various other OSs, including Fedora Core and Debian, and at one point has three running - usably, by his standards - at the same time.It's a very interesting read, especially if you're interested in your Intel Mac's other OS capabilities. Check it out.
