Installing Windows software through Parallels

I may be trying to do too much, too soon but we've been PC users since the Commodore 64. We bought an iMac last week and through the grapevine heard that Parallels allowed Windows-like stuff (technical term, I know). So I am trying to install our financial software (quicken for windows) through Parallels and it's not working. I'm most likely doing something wrong but I've searched message boards and Googles for two days now and I'm spent. Plus, I'm out of whiskey. Can anyone help me? Also, what is Mountain Lion (or Snow Leopard, for that matter?) and do I need it?

Thank you,

RB

First, Welcome to the Mac Forums.

Can't help you with the Whiskey... But maybe we can help out with your other questions. If you have a new iMac you already have OS X Mountain Lion installed. (OS X version 10.8.3) Don't worry about Snow Leopard as you can't install it on your new machine anyway. It's an older version of OS X.

Make sure you have correctly installed Parallels (assuming you have version 8) and have set it up to install Windows. You do understand that you have to install Windows as a virtual machine within Parallels in order to further install Quicken for Windows?

Quicken for Windows needs Windows in order to run. That means you need to install Windows within Parallels. I highly recommend installing Windows 7 and not anything earlier. You may also wish to install Windows 8 but that's up to you. The caveat here is that you will need a full install version of Windows which you can purchase direct from Parallels. It will be downloaded as an iso and installed at the same time. Very easy to do.

Just to clarify, chscag is assuming that by "new Mac" you literally mean a brand new Mac. Is that actually the case, or is it just "new to you"?

Second, I don't think he made this clear enough: to make Parallels run Windows (and thus Windows programs), you will need to buy a copy of Parallels *and* buy a previously-unregistered copy of whatever Windows version you're going to use (as chscag said, Windows 7 is your best option currently) *and* a copy of the Quicken version you want to use.

So really, the first thing you want to ask yourself is "do I really need this as much as I think I do?" There is a stripped-down version of Quicken available for the Mac already, and some alternative finance programs such as iBank. It very much depends on your needs what option would be the best for you.

It's working!

At first I thumped my head and exclaimed, "I need to INSTALL Windows 7!" but then I'd already done that (did I say I had finished off my whiskey?)
It took a few hours but I installed Quicken in Parallels and then had to work around getting my archived history file from an external hard drive. It wasn't easy. Everything seems to run slow when working in Parallels! Yes, I needed this file. And if I couldn't figure out how to do it I was set to return the iMac that we bought last week. Silly, right?
So here's to you, Mac-Forums-Replyers! Thanks!

Thanks for posting back and clarifying. Go easy on that whiskey now - it makes you do strange things when you're computing. ;D

Make sure Parallels has installed the Parallels Tools. Those tools help Parallels run WIndows faster. To check, open Parallels, boot Windows. On the top bar, open "Virtual Machine" and see if it has a menu option to Install Parallels Tools. If it says "Install" then the tools are NOT installed and you should install them. If it says "Reinstall" then the tools are installed and you are good to go.