Thinking of switching to Mac, but have questions

[GolfHacker]

I'm thinking of switching to a Mac. Been using Linux for the past couple of years, and I am fairly happy with Linux. I am able to run everything I need for my business on Linux - development tools, gimp for graphics, sonik for audio editing, firefox and thunderbird for internet and e-mail, and even MS Office, Quicken, and other Windows apps I need via Codeweavers' Crossover Linux.

But I came across the Parallels (http://www.parallels.com/) product recently, as well as a testimonial from a fellow game developer who has used it, and I really like the idea of being able to run Windows and Linux on one Mac machine without having to reboot - I currently have three computers on my desk, and would love to reclaim some desk space. And my MacBook has been growing on me. Plus, I'd also love to get a desktop Mac, with one of those nice huge 32" monitors. :D

However, before I make this move I have some questions:

1) Has anyone used the Parallels product? Some guys on IndieGamer (http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?t=6938) were saying that it didn't run OpenGL games very well, at least a year ago. Is this still true? Are there alternative programs that I should maybe look at? I would definitely need to be able to run my OpenGL games on the Windows and Linux virtualization.

2) Is there a WYSIWYG web page editor for Mac comparable to MS FrontPage that is easy to use for authoring web pages? Any recommendations?

3) Is there a good UML editor on Mac that anyone would recommend? I use Enterprise Architect on Windows and Linux, currently.

4) Has anyone used Codeweavers' Crossover Mac product? How well does it run Windows programs on Mac?

5) I have a Palm Pilot Tungsten T2 that I need to be able to sync with an e-mail/calendar system. Any recommendations? Is there a good system that has Hot Sync conduits?

Thanks!

[OneSadCookie]

1) Has anyone used the Parallels product? Some guys on IndieGamer (http://forums.indiegamer.com/showthread.php?t=6938) were saying that it didn't run OpenGL games very well, at least a year ago. Is this still true? Are there alternative programs that I should maybe look at? I would definitely need to be able to run my OpenGL games on the Windows and Linux virtualization.

It's no use for OpenGL on Linux. You won't get acceleration, and in my experience, even software rendering doesn't work.

I don't know about OpenGL on Windows. Parallels supposedly does limited Direct3D acceleration these days...

3) Is there a good UML editor on Mac that anyone would recommend? I use Enterprise Architect on Windows and Linux, currently.

God, I hope not.

OmniGraffle is pretty nice as a general diagramming tool. It has some boxes designed to make life just a little bit better in the unfortunate situation that someone holds a gun to your head and starts chanting "UML".

4) Has anyone used Codeweavers' Crossover Mac product? How well does it run Windows programs on Mac?

I tried it, and was distinctly unimpressed. It seemed worse than WINE on Linux. Then again, I wasn't using it for any "supported" programs.

There's a native Mac OS X version of Microsoft Office, you wouldn't be running that in Crossover.

Most X11 (GTK+ / Qt) apps work OK in X11 on Mac OS X.

[bronxbomber92]

I know a lot of People over at the Unity forums use Parallels. They seem to play lots of games on it via Windows. Dunno about Linux, though.. You can check out VMWare Fusion, and see how it compares.

DreamWeaver? Nvu? Frontpage itself?

I haven't found one yet (for free at least). I guess you could check out http://www.visual-paradigm.com/product/vpuml/

Why would you want to use Crossover or Wine, when you have Parallels or VMWare Fusion :D

[igame3d]

I've used Parallels to run some PC games and to test. It works fairly well.
If you have a MacBook you should at least try it if you need Windows stuff without rebooting.

I also have Crossover, which totally fails with full screen anything.
It doesn't run everything I wish it would, but it does run an emulator for my computer from 1982 without ever seeing Windows boot up...woohoo!

[DesertPenguin]

1) Parallels/VMWare won't run OpenGL. Ironically, they have implemented basic Direct3d translation via native openGL on the mac. I think the problem may be that building an abstract OGL driver is harder than a DX one?

2) Dreamweaver.

3) OmniGraffle with UML stencils

4) Bronx is right - no need to run Crossover or Wine since VMWare and Parallels run basically everything.

5) iPhone ;-)

I had similar concerns before switching completely. Ironically, I think the lack of games actually helps me spend my time more productively. ;-)

[igame3d]

1) Parallels/VMWare won't run OpenGL.

Parallels runs openGL, its been almost a year since I've tested but I specifically bought it to test iGame3D and it runs well enough. Of course I have to test that again, its probably been seven months since I've touched windows.

[Blacktiger]

5) I have a Palm Pilot Tungsten T2 that I need to be able to sync with an e-mail/calendar system. Any recommendations? Is there a good system that has Hot Sync conduits?

I'm not sure if your palm is compatible or not, but there is a HotSync plugin for Apple's iSync that will sync with iCal or the palm software. There is also a program called missing sync which may work.

[DesertPenguin]

Parallels runs openGL, its been almost a year since I've tested but I specifically bought it to test iGame3D and it runs well enough. Of course I have to test that again, its probably been seven months since I've touched windows.

Didn't know this - now I need to test it out. For some reason I thought I read it was only DirectX....maybe I'm mixed up with vmware fusion....

Any idea how much support there is - e.g. glsl? (crossing fingers)

[igame3d]

Not sure about GLSL since we don't use it yet. :-(
But here's their 3D support features page (http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/features/3d/)