I went ahead and bought an iMac anyway. Just in case anyone out there is thinking of doing the same thing, I'll post some info.
Windows XP SP2 (100GB boot camp partition) running in parallels desktop 3
Default Parallels virtual machine configuration (512MB RAM, 16MB VRAM
3DS Max 9
software rendering mode
Real system specs
iMac 24 inch
C2D 2.8GHz
4GB RAM
500GB HDD
nVidia 8800GS 512MB VRAM
Mac OS X 10.5.1
I opened a ~100k poly file, and it managed around 8 fps according to Max. Can definitely feel a bit of lag, but much better than I expected. I've yet to fiddle with the parallels settings nor install more software in windows, though.
The file I opened is rigged and textured, but the texture links are broken (aka did't show up in viewport) because I was too lazy to re-set up the paths :P
That said, using 3DS Max through parallels does have its disadvantages. I have to keep press the fn keys to access F1-F4, which is a drag. I know I could change the preferences on the mac side, but I'm reluctant to. There are many other cases of the wrong OS responding to your key commands, which is kind of jarring. Also, I had to open on screen keyboard in windows just to get numlock on? Or am I missing something obvious? (Is there an option for parallels to capture all your keystrokes when you're using it?)
Finally, I'll just like to add that while I'm still trying to figure everything out, it's insanely mind blowing to be working in Max while enjoying everything else Mac OS X has to offer at the same time.
