Re: running Xy on a Mac

[Harry Binswanger hb@xxxxxxxx]

I've been running Xy on a MacBook Pro for a couple of years.
You install XP as a "virtual machine" on the Mac. I use
Parallels, a Mac program that's cheap, to do this. I'm very happy with
Parallels, and with the whole setup.


When you are running the virtual machine on the Mac, it's exactly as if
you were at a Windows machine, except for one advantage: the entire
Windows system and its files are constantly being stored in *one* file on
the Mac. So you have a continual clone of your Windows set up. If you
backup the Mac machine (I use the Mac program SuperDuper! to do that) you
automatically back up that one clone-file, so that you can always revert
to everything Windows had at the time of that Mac-backup. (I also
separately backup the Windows files as such--can't be too
careful.)


When I buy a new Mac, I will just copy that *one* clone-file onto it
(it's big, but so what?). Then I will  have your Windows machine
ready to go on the new Mac. No more re-installing of everything when you
get a new computer. What a relief!


I do little on the Mac itself. Mostly photo editing. I'm operating 95% of
the time with what appears to me as being a regular XP system. I don't
even think about the Mac side of things. (The only drawback is that I'm
not learning much about how to use a Mac.)


My recommendation is: buy a MacBook Pro (I got the smallest one), put
Parallels on it, install XP as your virtual machine, and hook up a big
sized external monitor to the Mac. Get a $20 keyboard, too. And a regular
mouse. You then are (seemingly) in the same position as now--running Xy
on XP. But with better backup and no more worries about ever-changing
Windows operating systems.





Harry Binswanger
hb@xxxxxxxx