Using a Mac for Real Estate

This evening I had a visitor to the Blog chat with me on my new chat widget and it worked great. See this post?for more about the new widget.

She had some questions on my opinion of using a Mac for Real Estate and specifically how it would work with the MLS. The question was if her MLS only allows Windows computers with Internet Explorer to access the MLS should she then use Parallels,?Bootcamp, and another one called ‘north something’. I am not a Mac expert but I do know enough about Parallels and Bootcamp to give her an opinion. And so I figured I would pass it on to you.

My answer was to run Parallels instead of Bootcamp. Whats the difference you ask?

Bootcamp enables your Mac to be able to boot (startup) either Windows XP/Vista or the latest release of Mac. This is an ok solution but if the point of using a Mac is to avoid the security problems or whatever problem then it defeats the purpose. This is because when you choose to boot to Windows it is no different than booting to Windows on a standard PC.

Parallels is completely new to most of you who don’t know the term virtualization. When using parallels you are starting windows in a virtual environment while running Mac. Does that make sense? Another way to describe it – Running Windows in Parallels on Mac is just like running a regular program just a little more intense. When parallels you still have to deal with any problems with Windows but if for some reason you get your Windows “program” infected it will not infect the rest of your computer.

Do I recommend using a Mac over a PC? No. What I recommend for everyone is to use what they feel comfortable with and what they like.

Loren Nason
Future of Real Estate Technology