One of the most stunning and awesome things about a Macintosh is that you can run Windows inside a window alongside your Mac OS X environment, not only can you run windows in a window, but you can run multiple copies or versions simultaneously. So, if you were crazy, you could run a copy of Windows 95, 98, ME, NT, 2000, XP, Vista and 7 all in windows simulataneously while graciously browsing the web using Safari, or effortlessly transmitting files using the GREATEST FTP SOFTWARE IN THE WORLD: Transmit.

But one thing that is hard, is figuring out how to use your numeric keypad, the answer to that question is posted below, courtesy Brent V.

Wednesday, February 18, 2009

Numeric Keypad does work in Parallels

Well, to be fair the numeric keypad does work in Parallels, but it takes a little knowledge. What I found out is that when I run Windows XP in Parallels it looks to see if the num-lock is turned on or off. Just like a regular PC running Windows, the numeric keypad moves the cursor instead of typing numbers if the num-lock is off.

I guess the Mac OSX doesn’t really have a concept of num-locks (at least when using the Apple keyboard). So, Parallels changed the clear key (near top left of numeric keypad) to be the num-lock toggle key. All you have to do is hit the clear key while in Windows XP (under Parallels) and you can toggle your num-lock.

Not very intuitive, but hey, what do you expect when you mix Mac and Windows together.

Posted by Brent V at 8:52 PM