Auto authorise parallels

urbansurgeon

Is there a way to have Parallels auto authorise itself? its only a small thing but too often i launch it and leave it to let windows load while i grab a cuppa or a custard cream only to come back and see it waiting for me to pop in my su password

is it possible to designate certain apps as 'super apps' and have them not need this step?

tia

chris

i've never had to enter an su password.

urbansurgeon

perhaps its because i run parallels on a bootcamp partition?

chris

that is possible. i can't remember switching any particular prefs when i installed it. though, i do use 2fastXP, rather than a legit copy of windows (not that it would make a difference, surely?)

urbansurgeon

shouldnt have thought so

J@ffa

VMware Fusion FTW!

Err, yeah. It did this to me too, but I've only touched Parallels once. Maybe try reinstalling it or something? It doesn't take long, and can't really hurt… try changing the permissions on the Parallels app itself? Or, just use Fusion. It pwns quite verily.

flak

Both Parallels and VMWare Fusion ask for your password - they need to unmount the Boot Camp partition, and they need root admin permissions to do so. This isn't the case if you're working with a Parallels/VMWare image.

VMWare is indeed much better, in my opinion - I used to use Parallels, but it's a big stupid program compared to the elegant VMWare (which, oddly enough, feels like a real Mac program). Also, I've uninstalled Parallels to find it still left startup items on my system, which is terrible practice.

VMWare only takes a second to open and prompt you for the password box, though, so you might still find it a viable solution.

urbansurgeon

i havent found a reasonable enough comparison review between them both and seeing as how i have actually paid for parallels im a little loathed to ditch it, much as i respect you both, on FTW type reviews

parallels just kinda disappears when im running windows - how can vmware improve on this, or do you use it in a more integrated way with hot window swapping etc?

chris

i also (ok, i didn't, but work did) paid for parallels.

Biff

Parallels/Fusion/Boot Camp/Anything else seems to be more of a religious choice than anything else...

McKs

Parallels starts (cold boot) up XP (XP-jacked-core) in roughly 5 seconds, Fusion takes much longer. Once they run, the difference is negligible. Oh, and VM Ware needs to do something about that bigass window and button on a suspended VM...

flak

Ah, I didn't pay for anything, so it's fairly easy to switch.

I found the Parallels interface and dialog boxes to feel like a fake Mac app - I can't quite put my finger on it, though. That, and though I once figured out how to disable the "share Mac applications with Windows" and "share Windows applications with Mac", I still couldn't manage to turn that off. It's a huge hassle to double click something, like an image, in the Finder to have it open up Parallels and start booting Windows.

I don't use Coherence or whatever that is - the feature that merges the Mac and Windows into the same screen - so I can't really say which is better there. I like to know when I'm running Windows, and shut it down when I'm finished.

I find VMWare to be much more like a Mac app, particularly the 2.0 beta. Mac buttons, interface widgets, etc. That goes a long way with me - I'd be a Firefox user (instead of Safari) if I didn't care about how the interface is put together.

One thing I miss from Parallels was the automatic share that appeared on my desktop of the C drive. VMWare doesn't do that, and sharing folders can sometimes be a hassle. Luckily, dragging folders and files directly onto the VMWare window starts a copy, so I just use that instead.

Boot Camp is great for the apps that require more resources. Some games, for example. I've also used Crossover Games successfully with Team Fortress 2, that works much better than one would think. If you install MacDrive, you can still access your Mac partition while booted into Windows, which can be handy when you need a file quickly.