Boot camp or parallels

[tRoN]

Hi

I am awaiting delivery of my new MBP 13inch with 256 ssd. I have never used Mac before.

Now I need to run a Lotus notes and the software provider said that they don't support Mac.

Which is the best way to run this without hassles...using parallels or boot camp.

Also if I do boot camp do I need to set this up before I do anything else on the device.

Any tutorials would be useful.

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

Boot camp is dual boot and Parallels is a virtual environment. You will get the best performance with Boot camp but easier and more fluid integration between the two OSes with Parallels.

Probably would be best to do your Boot camp on a fresh install but not required. Mac OS comes with "Boot camp assistant" and pretty simple to set up so you probably don't need any guides.

 

[scudsucker]

1) Best advice: dump Lotus notes. ANY other mail app is better. And mail is easy to setup, regardless of what your ISP says.

Even the quite *** Mac mail can read form the same server that Lotus Notes reads form - mail is mail, you dont need a specific program for it. f you do this, you dont need any Windows licences.

2) Parallels is the better option in your case, but costs.. US$90 I think? Bootcamp is free. But.. you will have to reboot everytime you want to check your mail, and you need a Windows license (+/- R2000 )
3) It will take you approx 1 week to get used to Mac ( you dont sound like a power user, and really, its not that different to PC) so just learn to use it, enjoy it.. the end.

If you really need help connecting the Mac to the Lotus Mail server - you only need ask, it is a 10 minute job.

 

[scudsucker]

...but easier and more fluid integration...

I guess its easy to see who is drunk and who can string together a meaningful sentence...

Why do you need Lotus Notes? It is the worst mail program I have ever come across. Do you have to have the app installed or can you read from the server like normal mail?

 

[DrJohnZoidberg]

I guess its easy to see who is drunk and who can string together a meaningful sentence...

Why do you need Lotus Notes? It is the worst mail program I have ever come across. Do you have to have the app installed or can you read from the server like normal mail?

Lol, you hit the head on the nail

I thought they stopped using Lotus Notes in the old testament already.

 

[tRoN]

I guess its easy to see who is drunk and who can string together a meaningful sentence...

Why do you need Lotus Notes? It is the worst mail program I have ever come across. Do you have to have the app installed or can you read from the server like normal mail?

I dont use Lotus Notes for email.
I have a medical Practice management application that uses Lotus Notes as the database program
http://e-md.co.za/technology.htm

Officially, the company does not recommend Mac and will not provide any support.

 

[Hamish McPanji]

I dont use Lotus Notes for email.
I have a medical Practice management application that uses Lotus Notes as the database program
http://e-md.co.za/technology.htm

Officially, the company does not recommend Mac and will not provide any support.

Since its a single app, would recommend parallels over boot camp because you can run both OS concurrently.

Personally I would run boot camp and use windows fulltime, because I use windows apps extensively but love mac hardware

Try virtual box : https://www.virtualbox.org instead of parallels as its free

 

[ph4t3]

I use VMware Fusion for most of my windows apps. Suits my needs absolutely perfectly.

 

[noxibox]

For a single application it makes the most sense to use one of VirtualBox, Parallels or VMWare. Of those the first is free, the second the most expensive with the most restrictive license. You can convert virtual machines between them, so it is worth trying VirtualBox first.

Boot camp is the best option if you need maximum performance, like for games, or you spend a significant amount of time working only on Windows.

You need a Windows license either way.

 

[tRoN]

For a single application it makes the most sense to use one of VirtualBox, Parallels or VMWare. Of those the first is free, the second the most expensive with the most restrictive license. You can convert virtual machines between them, so it is worth trying VirtualBox first.

Boot camp is the best option if you need maximum performance, like for games, or you spend a significant amount of time working only on Windows.

You need a Windows license either way.

Thanks.
What about the windows. Can I use XP pro? I have a full non-oem version that I never installed before.

 

[noxibox]

Thanks.
What about the windows. Can I use XP pro? I have a full non-oem version that I never installed before.

XP SP3 worked fine for me.

 

[Hamish McPanji]

Thanks.
What about the windows. Can I use XP pro? I have a full non-oem version that I never installed before.

I have xp running on several vm's under virtual box without a problem. I also use a legacy app which uses firebird SQL server 1.0 , so have to run so as windows 7 doesn't work

 

[Beavcoon]

I'm in the same boat as you!

I'm waiting for my new MBA to arrive and I've never used an Apple computer before. I'm also going to need Windows but I unfortunately have to buy a copy. I'm going with Bootcamp for the Windows experience too.

 

[tRoN]

I'm in the same boat as you!

I'm waiting for my new MBA to arrive and I've never used an Apple computer before. I'm also going to need Windows but I unfortunately have to buy a copy. I'm going with Bootcamp for the Windows experience too.

Great. It's my gift to myself!

Consensus seems to be to go virtual esp if the windows program is simple and low resource.
Also I dot want to use up valuable space to create a partition as I went for the 256gb ssd option.

 

[dh_za]

I find 256 way to small to run bootcamp....

In the same position but I use (office 2013) sorry but all Mac mail apps really leave a lot to be desired.

Run parallels or VMware and run Lotus notes in unity mode.

Been very happy with my setup. To get more space get yourself a class 10 128 sd micro card and a slim adaptor and use the sd slot to store your documents ( in my case my iTunes library and photos )

Unless there is a way to combine data from the different partitions that you can use in both Mac and outlook without duplicating. I would suggest the virtual machine .

(Can someone shed light on the partition issue?)

Oh I run 6 virtual machines...(not at the same time) all windows 7 with 2003,2007,2010,2013,lotus notes and group wise clients....and they all work very well...

 

[Beavcoon]

Great. It's my gift to myself!

Consensus seems to be to go virtual esp if the windows program is simple and low resource.
Also I dot want to use up valuable space to create a partition as I went for the 256gb ssd option.

Unfortunately I use fairly resource-hungry programs so I think Bootcamp will be better. But I may have to reconsider as I only have the 128GB SSD! But 128GB is actually plenty for me. I store my stuff on portable HDDs, so it shouldn't be a bother.

Good luck with your Apple experience!

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

My suggestion is to use VMWare Fusion and Boot Camp if your Mac does not come with at least 8GB RAM. You can install Windows natively into a Boot Camp partition and then import the Boot Camp partition into VMWare. This allows you to run Windows via VMWare or if you need to, boot natively into Windows via Bootcamp.

I nowadays run a number of Windows/Linux VMWare images in parallel (I have stopped using Boot Camp and Bootcamp imports as my Mac has now 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD - so beefy enough for VMWare).

 

[tRoN]

My suggestion is to use VMWare Fusion and Boot Camp if your Mac does not come with at least 8GB RAM. You can install Windows natively into a Boot Camp partition and then import the Boot Camp partition into VMWare. This allows you to run Windows via VMWare or if you need to, boot natively into Windows via Bootcamp.

I nowadays run a number of Windows/Linux VMWare images in parallel (I have stopped using Boot Camp and Bootcamp imports as my Mac has now 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD - so beefy enough for VMWare).

What if you don't need the windows anymore.
Can u reclaim the partition used by it in bootcamp without formatting the drive and reinstalling Mac OS ??

 

[MagicDude4Eva]

What if you don't need the windows anymore.
Can u reclaim the partition used by it in bootcamp without formatting the drive and reinstalling Mac OS ??

Beauty about the Mac - you can delete the bootcamp partition at any time without having to reinstall. I would perhaps start of with VMWare Fusion and install Windows on it and see if this works for you - in most cases you will not feel the difference. The only time you would need a native boot is if you have graphic heavy apps.

 

[Hamish McPanji]

My suggestion is to use VMWare Fusion and Boot Camp if your Mac does not come with at least 8GB RAM. You can install Windows natively into a Boot Camp partition and then import the Boot Camp partition into VMWare. This allows you to run Windows via VMWare or if you need to, boot natively into Windows via Bootcamp.

I nowadays run a number of Windows/Linux VMWare images in parallel (I have stopped using Boot Camp and Bootcamp imports as my Mac has now 16GB RAM and 512GB SSD - so beefy enough for VMWare).

He was talking about installing windows xp earlier, this won't work as the VM specs and the native specs will differ and so likely will get a wonderful blue screen on VM boot up. With windows 7 it might work, but will have to detect hardware on bootup every time?