Tightest Mac+Windows Integration Yet
I've spoken approvingly of Parallels Desktop For Mac, the virtualization software that lets you run Windows (or Linux) within Mac OS X, but I've been remiss in not mentioning the new beta build 3036 (available here) and its remarkable new Coherence mode.
At the start of 2006, we knew that Macs were about to use Intel chips, but it wasn't entirely clear that they'd ever run Windows. Then came the hack that first did the trick of letting you dual-boot between OS X and Windows, followed by Apple's similar-but-more-polished Boot Camp. And then there was Parallels, which let you run Windows within OS X, eliminating the need to dual-boot. (At least as long as you can live with the downsides of virtualization--which include a modest performance hit, and, at the moment, unaccelerated graphics and limited peripheral support.)
Until now, Parallels has let you run Windows either in full-screen mode (so you flip between OS X and Windows) or in a Window (so the entire Windows environment sits within a window on the OS X desktop). Coherence ups the ante by allowing Windows applications to sit within their own windows on the OS X desktop, enabling a world in which you can use Mac apps and Windows apps and just not think that much about which is which.
Here's a screenshot showing the Windows-only Word 2007 running in OS X, with both the OS X Dock (below) and the Windows Start Menu and Taskbar (up top--I dragged them there so they wouldn't interfere with the Dock):
How does Parallels accomplish this? Through a clever bit of sleight of hand: It puts Windows in full-screen mode, then makes the desktop transparent, so OS X seeps through. The result is what feels like a nearly-complete intermingling of the two operating systems, especially since this new beta also offers drag-and-drop data exchange between them. If there are programs you need or want that aren't available for the Mac, such as Word 2007 (which is an almost entirely different beast from its Mac cousin), you can use 'em in OS X. You might even begin to forget that they're not OS X apps.
I said that integration was "nearly-complete"--you do still need to launch Windows apps from the Start menu rather than the Dock (although Lifehacker has pointed to a workaround), and OS X's Expose window-management feature and other OS X window and application management tools treat your Parallelized version of Windows as one window rather than understanding that you may have several Windows applications running at once.
The Parallels folks have a terrific record of improving Parallels Desktop For Mac more or less continuously--so I'll betcha they'll refine Coherence quite a bit further in upcoming releases. Even in this first rough draft, it's one of those rare pieces of software that's both startlingly innovative and immediately useful...
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I've always been a PC person myself, but it seems the days of it mattering which OS you use are limited.
I recently installed my Parallels software on my Intel Core 2 Duo iMAc. Intitially I ran into some intstall problems. Then I contacted the Parallels Tech folks and they walked me patiently through the fix. They are one of the few software manufacturers who really support their product. The program works great and I now revise my web site from my iMAC using Win XP software.
Richard
I prfer Q (kju) because not only that it runs PowerPC versions of linux, it is free. although it isn't optimized fot intel macs.
and for windows apps, i use Crossover beta and Darwine. less viruses, smaller, and cheaper