Hey, all. I've got a mid-2007 MacBook2,1. It's running OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard with 4GB RAM and a 600GB Intel Series 320 SSD. For the majority of the work I do, it's still entirely capable and the investment in the SSD makes me hope to stay on this hardware for some time to come. Currently, I'm running the latest PD7 and have been quite happy with it. My VMs (XP and W7) both improved their performance in the upgrade from PD6 to PD7. I'm now looking at the possibility of upgrading to PD8, but only if there will be either equal performance or an improvement. I've seen some posters with MBPs indicate improvements in VM graphic performance under W7 after upgrading to PD8. The question, however, is whether the MacBook2,1's GMA 950 on-board graphics would similarly benefit or whether it's a case of better to stay where I am. If users (or Parallels staffers) have any data regarding a performance comparison on this hardware, I'd be most interested to see it. Many thanks, trane
I decided to take the bull by the horns. I downloaded a trial version of PD8, backed up my VMs and had at it. Alas, attempting to run the Windows Experience Index in W7 netted a failure to complete the test. Rather than fight to try to make it work, I reinstalled PD7, restored my VMs and I'll carry on with PD7 for the foreseeable future. One thing that was immediately noticed: Starting the Windows 7 VM in PD8 immediately reset my OS X input method editor to US, which is always set to Romaji (Japanese) in OS X. Not amusing. The VM settings should never override the host OS settings. Never. (The VM runs standalone, not splattering Windows apps all over the OS X desktop.) So, initial thoughts are that PD8 is a step backwards in usability.
