Simplify your laptop buying
Mac OS X: Windows?
Windows?
by Invader Bugs - 3/6/08 5:17 AMHey everyone, I'm looking to get Windows on my Macbook Pro. I was wondering what you think would be the best way of doing this, such as getting Leopard with Boot Camp, VMWare Fusion, etc. Thanks.
Fusion
by eddy m - 3/6/08 5:44 AM In reply to: Windows? by Invader BugsI'm sure there'll be others on here with much more informed advice, but I'm using VMware Fusion and found it very easy to install and use. I am running it on the very latest iMac 2.8GHz Intel Core 2 Duo Extreme with 2GB of RAM and Leopard 10.5.2, so I don't know if you might encounter performance issues with lesser machines.
I have to run MS Access, SQL Server and Visual Studio and have had no problems to date. It's great being able to able to swap between the PC and Mac windows at a click, plus the PC can be 'suspended' rather than shut down and so starts up again in seconds - far faster than my PCs do, even taking into account the 20 seconds or so the Mac takes to start up.
Specs
by Invader Bugs - 3/6/08 7:24 AM In reply to: Fusion by eddy mWell, here's the details on my mac.
Mac OS X 10.4.11
2.4 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo
2 GB 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM
What do you think?
Not a problem
by mrmacfixit
- 3/6/08 8:10 AM
In reply to: Specs by Invader Bugs
You can run Parallels or VMFusion with no problem with your machine.
I don't think BootCamp is an option any longer. I believe that when the Beta trial period ended, it was no longer available as a working download.
P
?
by Invader Bugs - 3/6/08 10:16 AM In reply to: Not a problem by mrmacfixit
Doesn't Boot Camp come with Leopard now?
That is why I am asking. As I can get a discount on Leopard, bringing it to $75, which is about the price of these other programs. Since they're all about the same, it's just a matter of finding out which one is better.
Yes it does
by mrmacfixit - 3/6/08 12:54 PM
In reply to: ? by Invader Bugs
but your original post said:
"I'm looking to get Windows on my Macbook Pro. I was wondering what you think would be the best way of doing this, such as getting Leopard with Boot Camp, VMWare Fusion, etc." which would indicate that you do not actually have Leopard right now and that you were only considering it as an option.
Using Boot Camp is completely different from using the other programs like VMFusion or Parallels. These two produce a virtual machine while Boot Camp produces an Actual machine. Your HD is partitioned and you boot into Windows or Mac OS X, NOT both at the same time.
Boot Camp has its advantages, faster and is able to use all the computers processing power and RAM while the Virtual Machine shares that.
If you need to move from one to the other, seamlessly, then Boot Camp is NOT for you. However, if you do not mind having to reboot to get from one to the other, it will be fine.
P
Much Misinformation Here
by robertmro - 3/7/08 8:49 PM In reply to: Windows? by Invader BugsI use Boot Camp for one very good reason: A PC program that I use doesn't run under Parallels or VMware Fusion.
There is an excellent little utility called MacDrive, which, when installed on any computer running Windows will read and write to all Mac formatted partitions and drives. Cost: $50, I think.
There is no evidence that Apple will discontinue supporting Boot Camp. That doesn't mean they wouldn't, there just isn't any evidence that they will.
Finally, while it is time consuming to reboot from OS X to Windows and vise versa, I believe, though I'm not qualified to say for sure, that computer's resources are used more efficiently in Boot Camp. If someone knows whether this is true or not I would like to know.
Best Way
by gerardoq - 3/7/08 9:29 PM In reply to: Much Misinformation Here by robertmroI have a MacBook Pro with 10.5.2 and i use VM ware fusion without a bootcamo partition and for me creating a virtual machine and switch between windows and mac os
No misinformation
by mrmacfixit - 3/8/08 5:19 AM
In reply to: Much Misinformation Here by robertmro
Boot Camp, as a separate download, was only available as a Beta product and the license expired when Leopard, which has Boot Camp built in, was released.
Once Leopard was released, Apple stopped supporting the Beta version and will only support the version that is built into Leopard.
It is not available now as a separate download from Apple. That said, if you installed the later versions of the Beta software, it should be possible to continue to use your Windows partition. Apple's statement about Boot Camp can be found Here
There may be Windows programs that do not run under virtualization and for these, Boot Camp will work fine.
You are correct in regard to the use of resources. Once you are booted into Windows, via Boot Camp, your machine becomes a Winbox and is running Windows natively, without having to support OS X and the virtualization software.
It runs better, partly because it can concentrate on only running the one OS.
It was noted in a number of journals that, prior to Vista being released, the Vista Compatibility Software issued by MS, showed that the Mac was the best machine to run Vista on.
P
Correct Me Please
by robertmro - 3/8/08 6:56 AM In reply to: No misinformation by mrmacfixit
Boot Camp is included on the Leopard installation disk. This version of Boot Camp is not a beta version. The beta version was partly to satisfy people who didn't want to wait for Leopard and it was never supported by Apple. It was a 'use at your own risk' offer.
That means, if you want to use Boot Camp in non beta form, you must upgrade to Leopard.
One of us doesn't know what we're talking about.
Will a third party step in please. I will gladly admit my lack of knowledge if I'm wrong.
misunderstanding, not misinformation
by saywhatnow - 3/9/08 6:29 AM In reply to: Correct Me Please by robertmroBoot Camp is included in Leopard, it is not a Beta. (mrmac said that )
Boot Camp was issued as a separate download long before Leopard was near release.
It was issued as a Beta, with little or no "official" support. Some Apple support techs would help if you called, others would just say it was "use at your own risk"
If you don't want to buy Leopard and you have a late version of Boot Camp that you downloaded and installed, it will continue to work. Unlike the early versions.
This will still be a Beta (robertmro, mrmac & Apple said that) and will not be "officially" supported.
For a supported version of Boot Camp, Leopard is needed (robertmro said that)
Looks like both are right.
Herbert
Thank You saywhatnow
by robertmro - 3/9/08 6:48 AM In reply to: misunderstanding, not misinformation by saywhatnowI rest my case.
bootcamp as actual machine PC vs Parallels as virtual machin
by cherlyng - 5/9/08 8:27 PM In reply to: Much Misinformation Here by robertmroYou are on the right track. It is absolutely better for the most part and more supported to use bootcamp as actual machine PC. Many of the Microsoft and adobe softwares and others do not support or recognize the virtual machine. It tired doing both bootcamp and parallels- even bought softwares for both to respect licensing and lost the licenses and authorizations for many software apps on the parallels. Went back and forth for hours and months with adobe and microsoft and HP. Bottom line- they don't support the virtual machines for their software. You can't go back and forth using parallels or bootcamp between the two and have the best of both worlds until those companies change how the registrations and key recognitions and authorizations work. Until then, bootcamp runs much much much better. Those are my two cents.
Tried Both...
by lehmberg - 3/8/08 6:23 AM In reply to: Windows? by Invader BugsI've tried both VMWare Fusion and Parallels, and I prefer Fusion over Parallels. I have an identical mac-- with 2gb of ram in it, and both run very well together. The integrated feature-- "Unity"-- in Fusion is quite good. If you do this, I recommend that you use Fusion or Parallels and not Bootcamp. When you setup Bootcamp, it permanently partitions your hard drive, making it impossible to change partition sizes once setup, although either of these pieces of software can run from a Bootcamp partition. If you allow the software to set up your partition, the size of the partition continues to be adjustable, so if you find that you're out of "mac space" and need to use some of your windows hard drive space to make it work, you can adjust the partition sizes. Both Fusion and Parallels are quite stable, on the whole-- although Fusion is less expensive.
Also....
by lehmberg - 3/8/08 6:26 AM In reply to: Windows? by Invader BugsI started with Tiger, and moved to Leopard... Fusion and Parallels run equally well on both.
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