Anyone running Phoenix on a Snow Leopard Mac

[kluson]

Hi All

Just made the change from PC to Mac. I really like the Mac and to be honest the only software I miss from the PC is Phoenix. I understand that it is possible to run Phoenix using Parallels but I guess this also means that I will have to buy windows 7 as well. Does anyone here run phoenix on a mac, how is it?
Is it easy to run parallels is it worth doing etc?

Many thanks

[xygax]

Nasty.... get your pea sea back out....

Steve

[KnifeEdge]

Works perfect. I bought an oem
Version of ms windows from Dabs.com. Just run bootcamp and follow on screen instructions.

[msssltd]

Just made the change from PC to Mac.

Well done.

I understand that it is possible to run Phoenix using Parallels but I guess this also means that I will have to buy windows 7 as well.

Parallels is a virtual environment. Which in simple words means clever software interprets instructions between one foreign operating system and another, i.e. Windows to Mac to Windows. The thing to note here is that just like trying to speak English through a French interpretor, a virtual environment is never as fast as working natively. You will get much better performance from Phoenix by using Boot Camp, which allows you to boot into Windows natively. Further, if you are going to run Windows in a virtual environment, you are far better off using Windows XP as it uses far less memory and processor cycles than Windows 7, leaving more memory and cycles for the 'Interpretor' to use.

Does anyone here run phoenix on a mac, how is it?

Well, I use VMWare Fusion heavily. Fusion is similar to Parallels but is (perhaps) better suited to development and business use. I tried Phoenix under Fusion on a 13" Macbook Pro with a dual core processor and 4GB RAM and it was bloody awful. No, matter, I just use Boot Camp and Phoenix runs as well on the Macbook as it does on my Dual Core Windoze PC.

Is it easy to run parallels is it worth doing etc?

On both counts, I think so. Parallels being marginally easier than VMware to set up. It really depends how often and how fast you need to run windows (or Linux) though.

I would not bother with Windows at all if it were not essential to my business. I have been supporting Windows servers and desktops for about 20 years, but switched to using OSX internally when Microsoft abandoned the common GUI (the one great thing Windows had going for it). I hardly ever use the last dedicated Windoze PC I still have hanging around. I provide support for all versions of Windows and Office back to NT 3.5, using Fusion on my Mac. Our Exchange and SQL servers are running on VMWare server under Centos Linux.

If you only need Windows to run Phoenix, I would suggest getting yourself a copy of XP (while you still can) and install it on your Mac using Boot Camp. If you need to run Windows or Linux applications next to OSX apps, then a copy of XP with Fusion or Parallels, is what you want.

[Paulo uk]

I run Phoenix on my my mac it runs well in both vmware and paralells, but I notice better performance under vmware where it runs flawlessly, however my machine is very powerful so if yours hasn't got oodles of power and ram you might want to bootcamp as others have said...

[msssltd]

however my machine is very powerful...

Out of interest, how powerful and what sort of frame rates are you getting from Phoenix?

My desktop is a Powermac 2 x 2.8Ghz Xeons (Hypertown) with 6GB of RAM. I have not tried running Phoenix on it though.

[Paulo uk]

Hi I have an 8-core with 16gb ram. I'm an apple engineer so I use this as an excuse to keep upgraded to the latest and greatest. I will check frame rates and get back to you. I would imagine your mac will easily cope in vmware.

[chipbutty]

I run both Parallels 5 and Fusion with Windows XP on OS 10.6.4, 2.66 Ghz Intel Core Duo with 4GB RAM. Phoenix runs very well, though I find it runs much better under Parallels. V3 beta runs great, I get 50fps.

[chipbutty]

I thought we'd moved on from square wheels

Nasty.... get your pea sea back out....

Steve

[Paulo uk]

I thought we'd moved on from square wheels

LOL - Nice

[ChrisB]

I thought we'd moved on from square wheels

Not really

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-hDEEl67_Y]YouTube - Square Wheeled Motorbike Jump - Bang Goes The Theory - Series 3 Episode 3 - BBC One[/ame]

[kluson]

Well done.

Parallels is a virtual environment. Which in simple words means clever software interprets instructions between one foreign operating system and another, i.e. Windows to Mac to Windows. The thing to note here is that just like trying to speak English through a French interpretor, a virtual environment is never as fast as working natively. You will get much better performance from Phoenix by using Boot Camp, which allows you to boot into Windows natively. Further, if you are going to run Windows in a virtual environment, you are far better off using Windows XP as it uses far less memory and processor cycles than Windows 7, leaving more memory and cycles for the 'Interpretor' to use.

Well, I use VMWare Fusion heavily. Fusion is similar to Parallels but is (perhaps) better suited to development and business use. I tried Phoenix under Fusion on a 13" Macbook Pro with a dual core processor and 4GB RAM and it was bloody awful. No, matter, I just use Boot Camp and Phoenix runs as well on the Macbook as it does on my Dual Core Windoze PC.

On both counts, I think so. Parallels being marginally easier than VMware to set up. It really depends how often and how fast you need to run windows (or Linux) though.

I would not bother with Windows at all if it were not essential to my business. I have been supporting Windows servers and desktops for about 20 years, but switched to using OSX internally when Microsoft abandoned the common GUI (the one great thing Windows had going for it). I hardly ever use the last dedicated Windoze PC I still have hanging around. I provide support for all versions of Windows and Office back to NT 3.5, using Fusion on my Mac. Our Exchange and SQL servers are running on VMWare server under Centos Linux.

If you only need Windows to run Phoenix, I would suggest getting yourself a copy of XP (while you still can) and install it on your Mac using Boot Camp. If you need to run Windows or Linux applications next to OSX apps, then a copy of XP with Fusion or Parallels, is what you want.

Thank you very much , that is an excellent explanation, appreciate your help
Cheers

[Kevs_the_name]

I use Phoenix on both my Macbook (2.13 4gb ram) and Imac (3.30 4gb ram)
on the Imac I use the highest settings. The macbook (I think) is also at the highest settings. Both run great, no jitters or blips.

And I have the benefit of it being on the Mac!!!

I use windows xp on the Macbook (Bootcamp)
and Vista basic on the Imac (Bootcamp) I HATE VISTA. (no choice!)

I never tried VM or parallels after reading other reviews of slow systems.

KEV

[Klaus]

I use phoenix in parallels on my iMac 2.8 w/2gb ram without ant problems really. The hassle of rebooting into Windows is just too much hehe.

Though idd love if phoenix came in a Mac version, only sw i need Windows for :P and im not able running skype at the same time-funky sound in parallels.

[Smudgyboy]

I reboot my imac to Bootcamp for one good reason... Sorry two goods reasons
1. Phoenix
2. Rfactor.

I bought xp online for £34 loaded Phoenix and away you go. Frame rate and online all good.

They ought to repackage Vista as the new Windows 2011 and really boost Mac Sales!

If you want to just use the Mac then Heli-X is a very good choice at 30 euro
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