She used to own a 27″ iMac with 32 GB of ram with a 1 TB Fusion Drive, and AutoCAD would consistently crash on it.
My sister-in-law designs commercial landscapes for a living, and while she loves a Mac, she prefers the PC version of AutoCAD. I have some legacy applications that require me to access them in Internet Explorer Classic, but others might be required to use the PC versions of Office or another Windows-specific app. If you prefer using macOS but have times where you need to access Windows or Linux only programs, you can do with ease using virtualization technology (the technical term behind what Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion are doing. You don’t have to shut down your computer to reboot into another operating system, but rather simply launch the program and another operating system boots up. On macOS, you can use one of these apps to open a copy of Windows, Linux, or even additional versions of macOS (for testing).
When I read about Parallels Desktop 14, I decided that it was time to try something new.īefore we get started, let’s talk about why you’d need an app like Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion. I had certainly heard of Parallels Desktop before, but I jumped on the Fusion train and kept on upgrading over the years. One thing to note (and I think it makes gives my review an interesting perspective) is that I’ve used VMware Fusion (and supported it at my day job) since 2009. I’ve been spending some time with it since then, so I wanted to take the time to write about it in more detail. Still, I hate to lose functionality.I wrote about the release of Parallels Desktop 14 a few weeks ago.
Net net: If I could never connect my iPod again to this Windows 7 VM, I wouldn't be able to transfer some small subset of Overdrive audiobooks to my iPod. I believe Overdrive is calling some iTunes API to perform a conversion and copy in the background.
The workflow is: download data to Overdrive for Windows, run iTunes for Windows, connect iPod to Windows, then use the "Transfer" function in Overdrive to transfer the data to the iPod. The only reason I ever connect the iPod to Windows is to use OverDrive for Windows to transfer audiobooks in their old proprietary format (whose name currently escapes me).
So more data (and yes, this is very screwy but hey, it's software): I actually do have my iTunes library on the Mac side. Apart from a few minor configuration hiccups (and this iPod connectivity issue), the VM is running like a champ in the new version of VMWare Fusion on the new MBP.ģ. When I bought this latest MBP last month, I then a) installed the latest version of VMWare Fusion and b) transferred the Windows 7 VM from the previous machine by copying all the data to an external drive, then copying it to the new machine.
Re "Did you use VMware Fusion to migrate your existing Windows PC system into a virtual machine? Or is the virtual machine a new Windows 7 installation?" I first set up this Windows 7 VM on my previous MacBook Pro Retina (a model from 2012), in an older version of VMWare. Re "If you connect the iPod while VMware Fusion is running the Windows virtual machine, does a dialog come up asking if you want to connect the iPod to the Mac or to Windows?" Yes, it does. Please post back for more info on how you can do that, in your situation.ġ. And the iPod will treat it as the same iTunes library (because it is the same).
It will look like the same iTunes library, with all songs (and other media) and other supporting data such as playlists, play count, and ratings. Ultimately, if your current iTunes library data is on the Windows virtual machine, you should move it over to the "Mac side" and have iTunes on your Mac use that iTunes library. If you connect the iPod while VMware Fusion is running the Windows virtual machine, does a dialog come up asking if you want to connect the iPod to the Mac or to Windows?ĭid this work before, with iPod connected to the Windows virtual machine running iTunes for Windows? Or does "I used to be able to connect my trusty old 120Gb iPod to Windows" refer to connecting the iPod when you were using a "real" Windows PC?ĭid you use VMware Fusion to migrate your existing Windows PC system into a virtual machine? Or is the virtual machine a new Windows 7 installation?