This is a guest article, written by Tim Beyers. Rarely do I need access to Windows programs. For the times when I do, I've switched from a Parallels virtual machine running XP to CodeWeavers' CrossOver for Mac, a virtual environment that simulates the Win32 API, one program at a time. What CrossOver for Mac is CrossOver is built on the open source Wine project, which proposes to re-implement the Windows architecture for Unix. Thus, systems...

Continue reading about CrossOver: A Must-Try Windows Tool for Mac Users

Bad news. Every time I try to reboot my Microsoft Vista virtual machine in VMWare Fusion on my Mac, it says tht something's corrupted and it can't proceed. What the heck can I do about it?...

Continue reading about How do I fix a corrupt VMware Fusion Vista virtual machine?

I know you've written rather extensively about Parallels as a virtual machine environment for Mac OS X, but I'm wondering what you think of VMware Fusion and whether you know if it works properly with Microsoft Vista?...

Continue reading about How do I install Vista in VMWare Fusion?

Kind of a strange query, but I run Parallels extensively and often find that I need to email data files I've created therein -- within Windows XP -- to my colleagues. I don't want to have any mail program running in WinXP, however, I want to just use Apple Mail. Is there an EASY way to do this?...

Continue reading about How can I attach a Windows file to a Mac email message?

Like you, I am highly impressed with the Creative Labs Zen Vision:W [see my review] but it's darn frustrating that Creative only makes its software available for Windows computers, not Mac. I know about the XNJB application that lets me add photos and audio, but it won't let me work with movies. So is there some sort of solution?...

Continue reading about How can I use a Creative Zen Vision on a Mac?

I just read about Parallels 3.0 being released which is very cool, but rather than run Windows XP in Parallels, as you've written about, I want to run Microsoft Vista on my Mac instead. I have a MacBook Pro with 2GB RAM: is that enough? And if so, how do I install Vista in Parallels?...

Continue reading about How do I install Microsoft Windows Vista in Parallels 3?

I saw your earlier article about how to use a Boot Camp partition as the virtual machine in Parallels on my Mac (see Booting off Boot Camp in Parallels) but I don't want to risk having the same Windows install running in two different environments (Boot Camp and Parallels). Instead, is there a way that I can access my Boot Camp partition while I'm in my Parallels virtual machine?...

Continue reading about Can I add a Boot Camp partition as a secondary drive in Parallels?

Now that I have Windows XP installed on my Mac via Boot Camp, I'm wondering if there's any way I can use that same partition for a virtual machine in Parallels? I have read your article about how to install WinXP in Parallels (see: How to install Windows XP on your Mac with Parallels Desktop), but I don't really want to have two 8GB Windows installations, so hopefully there's a better way?...

Continue reading about How do I use a WinXP Boot Camp partition with Parallels?

I'm trying to install Windows XP on my new Apple MacBook Pro using Apple's Boot Camp utility, and I'm finding a very weird issue: when I start up the WinXP installation within Bootcamp, it goes through various steps then finally gets to a screen where it needs me to press Enter to proceed. Problem is, my keyboard's completely dead at that point and I can't ever proceed! How do I fix this?...

Continue reading about I can't install Windows XP in Boot Camp on my MacBook Pro?

I'm completely ignorant of mac systems but I'm learning quickly that macs are cool, and mac os x is excellent, but it seems I have to use Windows for a few things (less so over time as I buy mac versions of my normal applications) but I also like to play games (Nothing busts stress like a quick Quake break). Before I bought the macbook on a whim yesterday, I had also bought Neverwinter Nights...

Continue reading about Can I play Neverwinter Nights in Parallels Desktop?

I've been running with Parallels for a while on my new Mac Intel system, and am really happy with it. But I really wish I could cut and paste between the Windows apps and the Mac apps, wish it would sync to the correct time, and so on. Is there some sort of Parallels equivalent to the old VMware "helper apps" that you'd install within the guest operating system? I'm running Windows XP....

Continue reading about How do I install Parallels Tools on my Mac OS X Intel system?

I've gone ahead and installed Apple's Boot Camp product and Windows XP and I'm totally delighted with the results. Finally, I can pop into Windows as needed without having to drag along a PC on my sales calls. But how the heck do I get back to Mac OS X? It's now automatically booting into Windows each time....

Continue reading about How do I force Boot Camp to boot into Mac OS X?