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Speedster

Speedster

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Hi

My 13" MBP should be arriving this week (no, not the new model :cry:). Anyway, was considering getting Parallel's. Just a couple of questions regarding it:
  1. How does it affect system performance
  2. Do I then also need to purchase a seperate copy of Windows?

Thanks
 
1.) It does affect system performance. For gaming rather use bootcamp.

2.) Yes you need to have a copy of Windows.
 
Parallels is a great tool for virtualization. Works well with windows xp and 7. It will male your mac slower as it needs memory for the virtual machine. But it won't kill it.

And yes. You will need a legit copy of windows
 
Thanks for the quick feedback. I'm assuming I'll just need a standard copy of windows - there isn't a special "Windows for Mac" product?
 
Speedster said:
Thanks for the quick feedback. I'm assuming I'll just need a standard copy of windows - there isn't a special "Windows for Mac" product?
Click to expand...

Nope. Just normal Windows.

On another topic. I thought that I will miss Windows due to some applications that are Windows only, but now I am totally converted. You can use MS Office 2011, there is Steam for games, Adobe for editing.
 
Yes, any copy of Windows. Then use either Parallels, VMWare, Virtualbox (Free), or Boot Camp (free, native)
 
Speedster said:
Which of these is best? Any specific pro's and / or con's I should be aware of?
Click to expand...

It comes down to what you want to do with it. Windows 7 Home isn't great for "corporate" use. Windows 7 Pro has better network functionality and a few add-ons and Windows 7 Premium has EVERYTHING. Check out this site
 
creeper said:
It comes down to what you want to do with it. Windows 7 Home isn't great for "corporate" use. Windows 7 Pro has better network functionality and a few add-ons and Windows 7 Premium has EVERYTHING. Check out this site
Click to expand...

Thanks, but I was referring to the emulators / boot managers :)
 
Oops.

I did a lot of research:

1. Bootcamp --> the best for Windows as your Mac becomes a Windows machine, but you have to reboot to run Mac OS X.
2. Parallels --> Currently the better version IMHO. It is just a bit quicker than Fusion currently, but these two compete extensively.
3. Fusion --> Parallels competition. Also very good, but lags a bit in performance in Windows 7
4. Virtualbox --> It is free, but a bit slower. than the above-mentioned. Did I mention it is FREE.
 
creeper said:
Oops.

I did a lot of research:

1. Bootcamp --> the best for Windows as your Mac becomes a Windows machine, but you have to reboot to run Mac OS X.
2. Parallels --> Currently the better version IMHO. It is just a bit quicker than Fusion currently, but these two compete extensively.
3. Fusion --> Parallels competition. Also very good, but lags a bit in performance in Windows 7
4. Virtualbox --> It is free, but a bit slower. than the above-mentioned. Did I mention it is FREE.
Click to expand...

Thanks - that helps a lot. I think I'll give VirtualBox a go and if it gets too sluggish for my liking I'll upgrade to Parallels.
 
I bootcamped Win7 to play games so I can boot directly to enhance performance. I also have parallels which can then use the Win7 partition if need be from OSX. Best solution IMO.
 
I dual boot, and it works great.

Only good reason to use parallels is if you need to swop between mac and windows often.

W
 
I didn't like bootcamp or VM on my Mac. Just use Mac OSX...there isn't that much to get used to, and unless you have special windows software you need to run you will be ok
 
broken1 said:
I didn't like bootcamp or VM on my Mac. Just use Mac OSX...there isn't that much to get used to, and unless you have special windows software you need to run you will be ok
Click to expand...

I use software at work that only runs on Windows so I'll need the functionality.
 
How mission critical is the stuff you're doing? If its casual you'll end up not using it anymore and if its important you're better off dual booting just in case.

Another good option for small apps is Winebottler http://winebottler.kronenberg.org/ needs a bit of know how but overall works really nicely for smaller apps that dont need funny APIs.
 
Used both Parallels and Fusion (and Bootcamp).

Bootcamp obviously the best in terms of performance, but you have to live with the inconvenience of rebooting into Windows. Perfect for gaming.

Regarding the other two, both are good, but Parallels gave me the best 'experience' and least impact on the host machine. Be sure to have 4Gig Ram minimum (standard), or ideally 8Gig RAM. Makes a BIG difference.
 
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