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[mhakman]

NickM, Glynor and others, would you have the time to describe your experience with Parallels, MC and Mac hardware support there, in particular graphics, sound, camera, USB and Firewire?

Thanks/Mikael

[NickM]

It sounds like you need to know how Parallels works first (!)

Any device that you have in the Mac environment can be mapped to a device in the virtual machine.  This is so easy to do that you can re-map devices real-time once Parallels is already running.

So, your Mac can have an In-Built Audio Device, a Blue-Tooth external audio device, an optical connected external audio device etc, etc... Each of these can be specifically linked to the virtual machine environment or you can choose to just link one device and change it as required.

When you plug in any USB or Firewire device to the Mac, when Parallels is running, can be directed to the Parallels environment rather than to Mac.  You can have a camera that syncs with iPhoto, and then start Parallels and it will sync with MC.

In general, I do not use WinXP under Parallels for playback.  You can, and I have tried most video and audio formats.  If the Mac is doing lots of other things ( as mine usually is ) then the audio can sometimes stutter.  The video seems better - maybe that's a function of the buffering(?)

Do you already have Parallels?  It's available for download on a trial basis.

For your reference, I use...
MacBookPro 2.33GHz, 3GBRAM, 250GB HDD, ATY X1600
MacBooks, 2GB RAM, 120GB
oMac, 2.8GHZ, 4GB RAM, 320BG
SlimDevices (lots)
TeraStationsPro's (few)
Snap Servers (couple)
Mac Mini's (basic)
HP switched gigaplex hubs ( yes, I know it's over-kill )
LinkSYS54G's
Airport Extreme's (for .n)

[mhakman]

Hello Nick!

This thread has quickly been moved here – very understandable.

Thanks for nice overall description of Parallels device handling. I will of course try the real thing sooner or later but before that I want to get as much information as possible. I want to avoid problems and unnecessary work.

Are there any problems with uninstalling it, both trial and licensed version? I had some unpleasant experience with some vendors’ software in this respect. The worst case was one trial version which after expiration made computer unbootable (Windows). I also observed that on OS X installations are usually very smooth, but often there is no uninstall procedure. Just throw the folder away they write, except that they leave a lot of stuff in other places behind.

Another issue is how does Parallels work with full-screen Windows programs such as MC Theater View or games? Also how does it react to an external (additional) monitor (display in OS X parlance) appearing and disappearing? Ditto for audio interfaces? Plain Windows and also OS X remember my settings and use my defaults when available but switch automatically to built-in when externals are not there, then automatically switch back to external when it appears.

Regarding MBP and iMac built-in camera - can you use e.g. MSN video conversation under Parallels? Not everyone in this world is using iChat yet 

If the only obstacle for using MC under Parallels are the other applications using CPU then it should work in my case – I do not run anything else while listening to music or watching a movie. Well, the computer has to fetch media over wireless network.

Does MCE IR remote (with that USB IR eye) work under Parallels with MC as it does in plain Windows? I have connected it to my iMac, I’m using Apple IR while in OS X but MCE IR while in Windows/MC. The remote itself is Logitech Harmony in both cases.

BTW, they fixed DD and DTS surround in Front Row. Yesterday evening I watched Eric Clapton Blues Guitar Festival in full DTS surround using Front Row and external S/PDIF connected audio system running from DVD drive in my iMac 

In my living room:

iMac 20’’ ALU
Genelec 8250A active digital speakers (5.0 configuration)
Sony KDL-46W2000 LCD TV
Denon AVR-2808 AV receiver (power amp not used)
Dilog DT-550 DVB-T 2-channel receiver/recorder
Philips DVD player
HDMI switch
Logitech Harmony remote

The rest of high-tech stuff such as servers, routers, switches etc is in the basement.

[glynor]

Ill try to get back to you with my experiences later this weekend.... I'm having a fairly rough day today as is.

[NickM]

Hi mhakman,

First, glad to see that you are already on the mac trail...  Trying to answer your questions in order :-

I first ran the demo version of Parallels under Tiger.  Then bought a licence.  Then upgraded the version to work under Leopard.  So, fortunately, I have not had to do an un-install!  There IS an uninstall option built into the installer ( just checked ).

Parallels can run under a window, full screen or coherence.  The last one is a bit tricky as you get a Windows taskbar and  Mac dock on the same screen.  Endless confusion for me!  So, I normally run windowed if I am only on my MacBookPro, or full screen on a second monitor if I'm at my desk.  If the last session is suspended on an external monitor, and re-started withou tthe second monitor, then evrything shifts over.  There was a bug with windows not shifting over for one part of the snapshot mangement screens, but this has been resolved.

I use MSN Messenger and Skype for Mac rather than within WinXP & Parallels.  The built in video works with Skype, but I must admit I have not tried it under MSN. Something to do next.

CPU usage - as I hald said before, I really don't use MC within WinXP Parallels to watch or listen.  I find FrontRow mush easier to use, so this is my primary HTPC.  For the times that FrontRow cannot play a particular format, then I use Parallels in full screen mode and it seems OK.  I have not tried 'every' video format...

Yes, the USB-IRT works.  That's the only one that I have.  However, I have just bought a Harmony 885 and 1000 to play with so will report back later.  Not impressed so far as the Logitech Mac software kept on going back to the login screen with a timeout message.  I will try the install under WinXP & Parallels later.

[saab05]

help! i just need to know where to go to download media center for my new mac. thanks. robert.weller@gmail.com

[NickM]

Sadly there's not a version for Mac.  What we're talking about here is running the current Media Centre program from within Parallels on a Mac.