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Upgrade to Win 7. I find it is very easy to use, has no problems so far, and runs everything we need as adjusters. Perhaps MS has gotten it right this time.

Yes, I use one for both MSB and Xactimate.  You can boot up in the Mac Operating Software (OS) or boot up in Windows.  You will have to buy a separate copy of windows once you get your new computer- no it doesn't come with it.  This route/method is like having two (2) computers.

A second way to do this is to have a software downloaded onto your Mac that allows you to use both Windows and Mac through just a matter of switching windows.  Keep in mind that you are still using Windows and are faced with the same need to reboot, run virus scans, defender, etc. for the Windows aspect of your machine.  However, you can reduce your reliance on Windows by using it only for your estimating software and occasional internet use to access CMS systems that are only compatible with Internet Explorer.  Use all of your other applications- word processing, internet use, gaming, presentations, email, etc. on your Mac.

Two (2) softwares are out there that I know of that allow your Mac to do this; VM Ware and Parallels.  I discovered that Mac's highly touted VM Ware resets your MSB Registration everytime you need to reboot (which is still daily) Windows.  I switched to the lesser known Parallels and in addition to neater features/graphics and faster mechanics, it does not reset MSB's registration.  Both of them run Xact and Simsol just fine.

 Jud G.

Just so I understand, with Parallells you switch back and forth between Xact and Mac Apps like photos and email and such just by switching app windows right? Not like rebooting back and forth to partitions like Boot Camp. I desperately want to go strictly Mac and just want to cross all my T's. The Mac folks have told me ANY Windows program will run on Parallels but seen some forum threads that mentioned Xact locking up in Parallels and was a little hesitant. I use all 3, MSB, Simsol and Xact but predominantly Xact.

Just out of curiosity, do use a bluetooth keypad for numeral input? I so wish Mac would put the 10 key on the keyboard but know that will likely never happen.

I have a Macbook Pro that I run parallels on, and it works fine. I do not have any problems, or have not had any problems in the last 9 months since I installed parallels on this machine. The only issue I had at first was windows was real slow and would freeze up. I found the issue to be that I allocated to much ram to the virtual machine (windows). I simply added 8 gigs of ram, and only allowed 1.5 gigs of ram to the virtual machine, runs like a champ. You can use the 4 gigs that the pros come with now, but I chose to upgrade to 8 gigs.

I chose mac for the stability of the operating system. I do not run any anti virus software on either my mac side or windows. I only use a program called clean my mac to clean any un wanted files that might be on the machine. There is no need to ever defragment your machine.

I am in the process of trying out VMWARE on a seperate hard drive, and installing windows, and xactimate for testing purposes. VMWARE is faster then parallels, and will run xactimate, but I want to see the difference and might change in the future.

Hope this helps

Rick