Bob,
I also run Windows 8 (also sometimes 7 or Vista), via Parallels on my iMac.
I had been a Mac Developer for nearly 15 years (beginning with the Mac II, i.e. we needed to use color).
It had always been a dream of mine to run them together.
Parallels truly offered that, so many more times better than separate Boot Camp.
However, like always, the Mac OS, Windows, and their respective applications, are constantly requiring more memory & more speed.
Hence, the combination eventually becomes slower & slower.
I think that I may soon be forced to go to a newer Mac, with as much speed & ram as I can get.

btw - have you ever used the Mac version of Online Bible?
I've got both the Mac & Windows versions
I had signed up to be beta tester for the Mac Version, when they were porting it to OS X, like 12 years ago

Gino