Is it possible, now that we have shared networking and the ability to open Windows programs from the dock, to be able to assign certain file types to windows programs? For example, if I have a Microsoft Word document (*.doc) on my MacOSX desktop, I would like to double click it and open the document with Microsoft Word 2007 which is installed in my Parallels Windows XP Image. Is this at all possible and/or in the works?
This is definitely one of those "unneccesary-but-cool" features, where I would probably prefer the Parallels engineers focus on other issues instead (like Tools for linux, my #1 hope), but it would probably be easy enough to implement this request, and if they did, I'm sure I would use it all the time. Somebody else requested the same feature in the opposite sense (double clicking in the VM opens the file in an application on the HOST). Either way, it would be pretty cool.
While I'm wishing, I guess for me, the less integration between host and guest the better. I really don't want some Windows virus scribbling all over my OSX partition, and the fewer paths between the two the better. I will never load coherence, and I really want drag and drop trapped so that a virus can't get to my Mac. I NEED a sandbox and all this "Make it run Windows programs on my Mac" stuff just scares me. It's the very last thing I want, so PLEASE make it ALL optional.
I'm in exactly the opposite situation -- Coherence is MUST for me and the tigher the integration, the better. But, then again, I very used to running Windows and keeping it pretty well airtight. So I use: Norton SystemWorks (except for Go Back) AdAware SpyBot Window Washer As far as I know, if you want to "firewall" the two, turn off shared folders and don't use drag and drop: ie use it like Boot Camp where transfers are done through external drives. I suspect that the larger number of users -- both current and potential -- actually want the tighter integration so, if these features become "optional" then I would make a strong suggestion for these options to be the default, with turning them off -- as you want -- to be the selectable option. This is something that you can do -- including using the various Windows utilities I've mentioned or others that fulfill the same purposes.
This would have to work also when the machine is not running. In order for this suggestion to work, Parallels would also need to implement a link between the application in the dock and it's image container, and an auto login function letting users specify username, password, domaine selection... and if they need an extra enter before geting the login dialog (for the company that think it is usefull to acknoledge a dialog stating that the computer is the property of XYZ... ... and then you would have to trap password errors and password change... A lot of work... but this would be cool ;-)
hey joem, that is definitely agreed: this stuff should only be implemented if it is completely optional. I would even suggest it all be off by default, in order to avoid any of the potential problems you alluded to.
