does it work? is there a performance hit? does XP work better or Vista, or the same? is there a difference between Parallels or Boot Camp? BTW, i have a brand new mac book pro. Thanks.
Don't have, but fiddled with. Don't use Vista. Go with XP. Boot Camp allows you to boot into either OS/X or Windows XP. Parallels is a virtual machine, meaning that you can run XP within OS/X. A much better solution is VMWare Fusion. It's also a virtual machine, but is a lot nicer than Parallels.
Agreed with Korr. I've used Vista in parallels. It sucks. Just a bit slow as a VM, but it will run faster in bootcamp, however, I have only heard that, not witnessed it.
Hey, Windows on a Mac = The best PC I've ever used....... Forget Vista (Everyone who can, has! ) Go with XP - Why would you want the Vista performance hog POS?.... Bootcamp: Pros - You boot into your Windows partition, and you're genuinely running a PC. No performance hit. "Games" etc run "natively" - If you just want the PC for playing games, this is probably the way to go (IMHO.) Cons - Booting between the two gets really old, really fast. Parallels / VMWare: Pros: No rebooting, All files (etc) can be accessed across environments. [This is actually pretty cool - You've got Windows inside windows on the Mac] Cons: It is a virtual environment, so yes, there is a performance hit - However, with the latest H/W it's more than "fast enough" IMHO. Some games don't run (properly). Recommend maxing out your ram with either. As to the choice between Parallels & VMware, I don't know - I use Parallels, and swear by it. Others use VMware and swear by that. I'd be interested in Korr's reasons for preferring VMWare - The general "consensus" seems to be "you pays your money and takes your choice" - They both get good reviews, and are the same price - I think they're keeping each other honest - They're certainly in a "features" race, and that's good for us..... HTH, cheers, Ian PS - The OP said "brand new" MacBook Pro - Do you mean the *new* unibody version announced the other day, or did you get one of the last of the "old" ones? (Hate it when I do that!.....)
Vista should run really well in a native install (with Bootcamp) on any new Mac hardware with 3GB+ RAM or 2GB if you are willing to fiddle. For running in a VM, XP is the best way to go since all you need is access to apps and don't need a resource heavy OS like Vista to provide that access in a VM.
+1 - However, I believe this is because Vista sucks, not Parallels! [Vista is a slow, buggy, bloated, driver deprived POS in it's own right, why would it be any good in a VM environment?......] Cheers, Ian
I'm sorry, I've got to respectfully disagree there - I guess, if you give it 3-4GB ram it'll limp along - which is about the best you can hope for from that POS. But that's got nothing to do with running it under BC or a VM - It is quite simply crap no matter what H/W you're running it on. It'll never run "really well" on *any* H/W IMHO cheers, Ian
No...it does not limp along as you have said on 3-4 GB of RAM. It flies. Native Vista install on Mac hardware, it flies fast and low. It's a good OS...not perfect but very very good. Task management under Vista is light years above the same in XP. Not at all comparable to previous OSes. Windows 7 + VM is the killer app.
We have XP running on 12 Macs through Parallels. Our KodaK Medical Imaging Software and Sensors had problems initially but we have worked through it. If running everyday applications I forget I am using an Apple.PM if you have any specific questions.
Could you please "quantify" why you say that? I've been happy with Parallels, but as of the last time I checked they were still having "trouble" with the latest DirectX stuff - I don't know if VMware is any better, but would love to hear your reasoning. TIA, Cheers, Ian
I can't speak for Vista, but I am running XP Pro SP2 on my C2D 2.4 Macbook and Bootcamp. It runs like a champ. I have had nothing but problems with parallels - 4 times it corrupted my windows installs so badly, I had to wipe the windows partition and reload from scratch. I have removed parallels now...
Shouldn't that be "I forget I'm using a PC"..... [ie, it doesn't do the BSOD to remind you on a regular basis ] Sorry, couldn't resist.... Cheers, Ian
+1 However, don't you get "bored" with rebooting between the two? - Drove me *crazy*..... Unless you "leave" it in peesee land all the time - Shame on you!
OK - Good, it's not just me!...... As has been said, it seems BC is the "safest" choice - Fast, reliable (Apple written drivers etc!) and smooth. (This only pertains to XP of course!) VMWare -v- Parallels: You choose - Many have great experiences with one, and curse the other. I guess it's all down to what applications you're running in the VM - I have just two - The datalogger app and the "video integration" app. They both run fine, and this includes connecting to a "special" USB driver for the logger. [The "features race" they're in is, I believe, mainly focussed on getting the "latest & greatest" PC games running - If that's your focus I'd check out their websites for info.] Anyway, to somewhat return to the OP - I believe both VMware and Parallels can be downloaded for trial - Here's what I would do in your shoes: Follow the driving instructions and set up BC. Get that going to your liking - Install/test your apps etc. DO A BACKUP! When/if rebooting gets too frustrating, I'm pretty sure both VM's can "migrate" your BC installation into a VM environment. Download your choice, install it and "go play".... Note however that both are very configurable and "tweaking" may be required. Report back! Cheers, Ian
That is exactly what I did ... installed XP in Boot Camp on my MBP then that installation just worked in Parallels. I never tried VMWare because all the apps I need to use (my floor covering industry-specific business management software and the config apps for my home automation systems) worked just fine in Parallels. Plus, I use and like the "coherence" mode in Parallels. (I'm not sure if VMWare has something like that or not.) I have my OSX dock at the bottom and XP's task bar "hidden" behind it. Both Mac and Windows apps share the single desktop, any open apps show up on the dock, and full drag-and-drop of files between the two systems just works. I think it's pretty slick. -- Garrett
