Virtual environment turns a Mac into a PC

For several years, I've been a dual Mac and PC user. Each operating system has elements I like and I find it useful to be familiar with both.

When my aging Dell desktop needed to be replaced early this year, I was considering a modest new PC, as prices are so keen. Then Apple announced that its beautiful flatscreen iMac line was making the move to Intel Core Duo chips. I knew this meant it would be just a matter of time before Windows would be running natively on the Mac - like having two computers in one - so I opted for an iMac.

I'd barely had more than a few weeks to enjoy my new desktop system when Apple released a free program called BootCamp that would allow Intel Mac users to install Windows XP.

The disadvantage to BootCamp is that the user has to shut down and reboot the computer into either operating system - they can't be run simultaneously. Nonetheless I acquired a fresh copy of XP and was looking for a free weekend to set up my Windows Mac, when I read about a newly released program from Parallels (www.parallels.com) that creates a virtual environment in which to run Windows - or a dozen other supported operating systems.

I downloaded Parallels and set it up in minutes. With a few clicks you can create any number of "virtual machines"- micro-environments for running other operating systems. I followed the easy directions to get XP running within 30 minutes. Run it full screen and, apart from a few small restrictions, you won't know you aren't running a PC - except that several reviewers have clocked XP running faster on the Intel Macs than on new PCs.

Many Mac users will be familiar with the relatively sluggish Virtual PC program now owned by Microsoft, also a Windows virtual environment for the old PowerPC chip Mac, but the Parallels Desktop program is truly light years ahead.

It has the advantage of being able to activate Windows through an Intel chip, but the attention to detail and the fact that you can run XP - or half a dozen other operating systems if you want - simultaneously with the Mac OS makes it a real killer application.

If you really want to show off to your geek friends, you can even attach a second monitor and mouse to move seemlessly between Mac and XP.

You can add nearly all the Windows software - such as the Office suite - that you'd like and it all runs zippity quick. Next, I'll be installing a Linux virtual machine.

This, as far as I am concerned, is the future of computing, available now.

When my laptop goes, I'll be replacing it with a Mac, too - with the ability to have a Mac but also Windows and any other operating system I need in one box, I will have several computers in one package. How cool - and cost effective - is that?