One of the biggest disappointments about the Mac Pro, is that it will not run Parallels. Oh you can install it and setup a VM, but if you try to RUN the VM then it just crashes. As most Mac users are aware, Apple Macs do have crashes. 90% of them are related to poor programing, not to Apple issues. This is one of them.
I’ve contacted Parallels manufacturer, um…Parallels. Each time I have been told that they are working on a patch. That still doesn’t solve the problem that I paid $85 for something that I was told by the Apple employees would work great on the Mac Pro and no where on the Parallels box or website does it even mention issues with the Mac Pro. I’ve also tried installing the Parallels Beta version in case I just need the bleeding edge of virtualization. Still no luck. I’m really kind of pissed. I don’t consider multi-booting with Bootcamp a desirable alternative. I don’t want it for gaming. I need some specific MS compatible programs. Besides, virtualization is just plain cool.
I suppose I should be patient for the patch, but with all of the press Parallels has received (especially from Apple) you would think that they would have been prepared/anxious for the fastest Apple Mac ever. Maybe I should give Q a try and see if I can get my money back for an opened software box.
WARNING: Parallels VM causes a grey-box-of-death crash. It immediately locks the entire system and forces a restart.
As a Mac user, this is rare and particularly unsettling. As a PC user, it’s just another day. Since I’m both, I just restart, sigh, and keep working.
Update: Paralles have released RC2 which now fully supports the Mac Pro. See this post. Most of the issues with kernel panics have been solved as of their recent beta release.
Technorati Tags: Apple, Hardware, Mac, OSX, Parallels, Software, Windows
August 26, 2006 at 10:16 pm
Quit being so impatient. Apple has just released this line of computers, and Parallels probably hasn’t had a chance to do work on it yet. Remember, the Mac Pro is a 64-bit machine. What Parallels does is very complicated, as you understand. And solving this problem is not just something that they can produce in a predictable amount of time.
Granted, the salesperson at the Apple store shouldn’t have told you that it’d work when in fact it doesn’t.
Parallels will get this fixed, but it’s going to take some time. Hopefully it’ll be out in the next couple of weeks. Until then, have you tried turning off Intel VT-x support and lowering acceleration? It’s not an ideal solution, but if it works, it’ll be faster than Q, and it’s something.
August 27, 2006 at 3:55 pm
I don’t consider it a matter of patience. Parallels has received a considerable amount of press in the past couple of months. Rightly so. They have done an excellent job. I think it would have been prudent to make it known that their software does NOT work on the new Mac Pro (yet). That’s fine. So I would have held off buying the software, not the Mac Pro. I do have to give Parallels credit. THey offer a 30 day money back guarantee, which I will be taking advantage of. Don’t get me wrong. I hope that Parallels will be outrageously successful. They have created a potential solution for the two PC home. I just wish the limitations would have received sufficient press. At least a note on their website.
August 28, 2006 at 6:26 pm
If Parallels isn’t quick enough. VMware might step up.
http://vmware.rsc02.net/servlet/campaignrespondent?_ID_=vmwi.1756
August 30, 2006 at 9:46 pm
[...] It looks like I was not the only Mac Pro owner that was disappointed by the lack of Parallels support. TUAW has an article with a link to the Parallels blog. It looks like a fix will be out “soon” according to Parallels own blog. Maybe I will finally be able to boot Windows XP Pro on my Mac Pro without a kernel panic. That would be the excellent . [...]
September 6, 2006 at 10:01 am
I’ve had a similar experience with my MacBook Pro: http://www.benbrophy.com/item-detail.php?id=20060905203030
It was all going great for a couple months but the machine crashes more and more often while parallels is running in the background. As a UI designer in a compny full of PC users I need to run windows for some things, so I’m a little stuck.
Ben
September 15, 2006 at 6:41 pm
Same problem with the new (Merom) iMacs, also 64-bit. Therein lies the problem, methinks.
September 15, 2006 at 7:00 pm
So far, the new release candidate of Parallels is working great for me. Although I don’t push it very hard it has not crashed on me.
September 18, 2006 at 4:55 pm
I have both a new Core 2 imac and a mac pro and I get the save kernel panic on both, even with the new version of Parallels (RC) that clearly states that it supports Mac Pros. I heard that people have had better luck with osx 10.4.7 build 8K1124 but i havent got to trying that; good luck and I hope it will start working soon.
September 21, 2006 at 3:11 am
Yes, I received my iMac Core 2 Duo today and was disappointed to find Parallels would kernel panic on trying to start any system. Hopefully will be fixed soon.
September 23, 2006 at 1:30 am
I got my iMac Core Duo a day or two back and was counting on being able to use Parallels for my CSS editing (dull story).
I wasted time with grey-crashes until I found this page:
http://forum.parallels.com/thread4487.html
I downloaded this alt’ ver of Parallels and so far it has been fine (hooray). But ’so far’ means it boots, I have yet to put an OS on – but the fact that clicking the power-on button does not cause an instant crash is a great leap forward for me, so far.
September 29, 2006 at 7:40 am
Parallels is running great for me on my Mac Pro. No crashes and I’m running Windows XP pro. To be honest, I HAVE had crashes but they have been from Windows.
April 15, 2009 at 10:53 am
Not that I’m totally impressed, but this is a lot more than I expected when I found a link on Digg telling that the info is quite decent. Thanks.