Defying the Laws of Physics: Zune on a Mac

[Darius Wey]

<a href="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/zt/2007/wey-20070215-zunemaclg.jpg" target="_blank"><img width="500" height="312" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/zt/2007/wey-20070215-zunemacth.jpg" alt="" /></a><em><br /></em><em>Click the image above for a larger version.</em><br /><br />Zune on a Mac? Yes, it's possible - and no, I'm not talking about the <a target="_blank" href="http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/">Boot Camp</a> workaround. <a href="http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/" target="_blank">Parallels Desktop for Mac</a> makes it easy to run Windows and Mac OS simultaneously, although unlike older virtualization products such as Microsoft's retired Virtual PC for Mac, Parallels Desktop offers an extra set of features that take the virtualization experience to the next level. The latest beta offers a new mode known as <a href="http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/coherence/" target="_blank">Coherence</a>, which blends Windows with Mac OS to create an ultimate desktop environment where interaction is seamless. Both Windows and Mac applications appear on a single desktop and co-exist in the Dock and the Cmd+Tab interface.<br /><div style="page-break-after: always;"><span style="display: none;"> </span></div><br /><img width="312" height="87" src="http://images.thoughtsmedia.com/zt/2007/wey-20070215-zunedock.jpg" alt="" /><br /><br />So, armed with a copy of Windows Vista and the latest beta of Parallels Desktop, I decided to put Zune to the test. Installation of the two was painless and took around 30 minutes. The Zune software added another 10 minutes, thanks to the lengthy downloading of software and firmware updates. What was left? Connecting the Zune, of course. The screenshot above tells the rest of the story (and yes, USB 2.0 is supported).

[Ryan Joseph]

Hey Darius,
How do you like Parallels? I just ordered a Mac for video editing, and I was planning on using Boot Camp to use Windows when I need it (I'm a PC guy)...

Parallels just doesn't seem like a good idea because it seems like running two OSs at the same time would devour system memory and then trying to run memory intensive applications on top of that? Sounds like a bad idea to me.

But maybe I'm wrong...how do you like it?

[NPrtmn4evr]

That's really cool. My wife and I just got a Mac Mini this week as a Valentine's Day gift to each other (don't worry, I still treated her to flowers & dinner last night ;) ). We have it hooked up to our 32" LCD TV, and words can't describe how awesome that is:D . I probably won't connect my Zune to my Mac simply because it was such a hassle to transfer all my wife's iTunes songs to the Mac, that I don't have much desire to do it again with my Zune downloads.

[Darius Wey]

How do you like Parallels?

I love it, but yes, it devours memory. Many moons ago, I tried Vista and Mac OS on a Mac Pro with 1GB RAM and it was barely usable. On the contrary, XP and Mac OS was usable, but I was interested in getting Vista up and running instead. So, I upgraded to 3GB RAM recently, and now everything flies. I have 1GB allocated to the Vista VM, leaving (perhaps a slightly overkill) 2GB for Mac OS to do its thing.

Long story short, you'll want at least a system-wide 2GB RAM to do anything decent. It's worth noting that Parallels Desktop doesn't support any sort of 3D acceleration, so any 3D gaming or heavy-duty graphical tasks are best left for a Boot Camp installation. On a positive note, the Parallels team is working toward support for 3D acceleration in a future beta, so there's a good chance that you won't need Boot Camp in a few months time.

If you're still undecided, download the trial version (preferably the beta (http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/beta_testing/)) and play around for a few days.

[villian247]

now im def going out to buy and intel mack with a 21 + in screen been waiting and now after hearing this im so going for it but the ram issue does suck but thats not the point. 1st my wii now a new mac o yeah.