![]() (Ditto in the Finder or Windows Explorer.) You have to switch from one window to another. Say you open a file in InDesign and want to resize the document window so that you can see another window, such as to copy content from one to the other. ![]() But that thrill quickly dissipates once you realize how little you can actually do. Yes, there's a thrill of being able to open InDesign or Excel on your iPad. ![]() Parallels Access's dock is a smart way to switch among apps on your remote Mac or PC.Įven with those smart adjustments, I found Parallels Access unsatisfying. Apps are also sized to fit that window, essentially acting as a single-screen app in the iPad style. Parallels Access also resizes your computer's desktop to 1,024-by-768-pixel resolution, to match that of the iPad. The $80-per-year service has some cool capabilities, such as the home-screen-like view of all apps (a clone of OS X's Launchpad or Windows 8's Start screen), a dock to easily switch among running apps, and a zoom-in pointer that works like iOS's zoom-in text cursor: Tap and hold to get a magnified view of what's under the pointer to overcome the cramped PC or Mac screen. I thought that maybe Parallels Access would change the game, making remote use of a Mac or PC from an iPad a good, workable experience. Windows 8's poor interface is a major reason that Windows tablets have failed, but the fact that a tablet isn't a PC and shouldn't try to be one is a bigger reason that no one's buying Windows tablets while millions of iPads and Android tablets are selling. And PC apps, as any Windows tablet user can attest, are too cramped to be readable or manipulable on a tablet's 10-inch screen. ![]() Even with iOS and OS X sharing a common core and OS X having recently adopted some gestures from iOS, they operate very differently. There have been VNC applications for the iPad as long as there's been an iPad, so you can run your PC or Mac from the iPad.īut they're awkward to use, given how different a computer operating system is from a tablet OS. Both Windows and OS X have built-in remoting, which is a boon to those who support nontechnical relatives and coworkers (if their firewalls allow VNC access). So I was excited to see what Parallels would do with the VNC (virtual network computing) technology that lets you remote into another computer and essentially run it over a network or Internet connection. Parallels Access's "home screen" for desktop apps Although recent versions of both products have been minor upgrades, it's an amazing technology. It's a favorite technology of developers who need to support multiple OSes and browsers. I have VMs for Windows XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, and Windows 8, as well as Ubuntu 13.04 and the beta OS X 10.9 Mavericks, which lets me test software and OS capabilities easily from one computer. I'll soon try VirtualBox again on my trusty old Mac mini, that might resolve the VM network issues, then I can pitch Parallels for good.If you've ever used Parallels Desktop or its younger competitor, VMware Fusion, you know how magical it is to be able to run a virtual computer on your Mac. Powerline Ethernet has proven to be quite reliable so far, although sometimes I get a strange hum in the speakers connected to the Mac mini (I'm actually using optical digital out to a small receiver, so I know it's not an issue with the Mac). The MacBook Air has the same amount of RAM (8GB) as my mini so that's not a factor.īecause my main home computer is the Mac mini, I returned to Parallels because VB networking via wifi was so awful.Ībout a week ago, I installed a powerline Ethernet adapter, and now my Mac mini is connected via a cable. By chance, the MacBook Air was connected via an Ethernet cable, and the networking speed was vastly better. The performance was markedly speedier, even though the VM resided on the same external drive that had been connected to the Mac mini. Out of curiosity, I installed VirtualBox on my newer MacBook Air (mid-2013), connected the external drive and started the virtual machine. I finally copied the VM to an external hard drive, the slower drive still was acceptable. I eventually moved the VM to the internal rotational hard drive to free up space on the SSD boot drive, the slower drive performance was still acceptable even though the network slowness was painful. The virtual machine booted fine, performance was acceptable, but networking (via WiFi) was dog slow. I initially installed VB on a Mac mini (mid-2010 server model) with plenty of RAM (8GB) and put it on a speedy SSD. Also, some features seem to be more robust than others. VirtualBox for Macs appears to be optimized for some processors, less so for others. I tried VirtualBox a few months ago and here's what I noted from my experience.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |