[mythtv-users] Parallels.com: Slow but interesting

[Mark Paulus]

I heard about the new Parallels 2.0 Beta from another list, and immediately thought
of Myth as an application.  

I have a backend box in the basement, and I'm planning on using a Hauppauge
MediaMVP running mvpmc as my front end (when I get the wiring in place to the 
main room, and some other small details).  In the mean time, I have been 
playing with some remote options to my office upstairs, and when I heard about
parallels (www.parallels.com), I downloaded it and gave it a shot.  Used it to 
boot up Knoppmyth and it booted up the CD.  Tried to install the CD to the VM, 
but that didn't work like I wanted.  However, I was able to run mythfrontend off of the
CD just as if I had booted directly from the CD.  

One thing tho.  I couldn't really use it for watching live tv too well.  It only provides a
VESA 3.0 compliant Video card, so I don't think you get XVideo extensions, so I
was getting really choppy video/audio.  
However, it does give you full access to menus so you can do configuring and
recording setup/management quite nicely.

I was also able to load an iso image of the Knoppmyth CD into a Virtual CD drive
(www.virtualcd-online.com) and redirect the VM to use the Virtual drive, and that
booted just like the physical drive.  Made boot up/running "from the CD" just a 
bit faster.

Just some observations for anyone who is looking for an alternative to managing
a backend server without having to "reboot" or have a dedicated machine.