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kbun

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2011
16
0
Hi all,

I'm planning to buy windows tomorrow for my MBP 13" (I bough it last May). The prime reason is the use of Microsoft Excel..I've been attuned to using the shortcuts on Excel (PC) for years and really need to be able to navigate it better.

I have a few questions below:
1. I'm a light user (no gaming, just word/excel/homework/internet surfing) - would you advise Bootcamp or parallels?

2. If I do install my windows CD on bootcamp, and I change my mind and want to use parallels, can I reinstall windows?? Do I have to? I don't think the CD can allow me to install twice.

3. Anyone who has the same adherence to Excel shortcuts can comment on the ease of excel with windows on a mac? do I need an external keyboard?

Thanks so much!!
 

MacDawg

Moderator emeritus
Mar 20, 2004
19,823
4,503
"Between the Hedges"
Parallels will read your Bootcamp installation, so no need to reinstall

But IMO, for what you need, I would skip Bootcamp and just go for the Parallels virtual machine
 

xxBURT0Nxx

macrumors 68020
Jul 9, 2009
2,189
2
If you just want to run excel, i would recommend using parallels. It will allow you to run windows inside a "window" without restarting your computer.

Bootcamp is only useful if you need to run windows natively.
 

kbun

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2011
16
0
Thanks for the quick responses! I think I was just thinking of saving the um..$70 it'd cost to buy Parallels...but if you think it's a lot more effective for my user needs, I'd go for that.

Thanks for clarifying about the windows installation, good to know.

Has anyone has tried using excel in parallels+windows and can verify that the shortcuts and keyboard become the same? I'm so dependent on my excel shortcuts at this point (and need to use it extensively for grad school), that I'm hoping I won't even have to purchase an external keyboard or a "cheap" laptop.

Thanks again.
 

xxBURT0Nxx

macrumors 68020
Jul 9, 2009
2,189
2
unless you want to restart your computer every time you need to use excel, then restart again when you need to go back to OSX, I think the $70 is a small price to pay.
 

kbun

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2011
16
0
Thanks again. It looks like I'll go for parallels.

Any thoughts as to Parallels vs. Vmware for someone of my needs?

Thanks!
 

clickclickw00t

macrumors regular
Jun 28, 2007
186
0
or just use Excel for OSX? I don't understand why thats not a viable option. Does it not have shortcuts?
 

konaseema

macrumors newbie
Jun 1, 2011
18
0
Office for Mac?

If you just want to use Excel, why not just buy Microsoft office for Mac?
 

MacDawg

Moderator emeritus
Mar 20, 2004
19,823
4,503
"Between the Hedges"
Thanks again. It looks like I'll go for parallels.

Any thoughts as to Parallels vs. Vmware for someone of my needs?

Thanks!

Parallels and Fusion
6 of one, half a dozen of the other
Personal preference

Both have their fans
Both have a free trial for you to test it yourself

I use Fusion
My GF uses Parallels

They both do the job

I haven't used VirtualBox, but I have heard tales of issues
For me, it was worth paying for Fusion
 

fat jez

macrumors 68020
Jun 24, 2010
2,083
614
Glasgow, UK
I haven't used VirtualBox, but I have heard tales of issues
For me, it was worth paying for Fusion

I use it at work to access a customer whose VPN insists on needing Internet Explorer for "secure" login, it works fine for me. It's free, it costs nothing to trial and/or keep. It's also written by Oracle (formerly Sun), so it's not as though it's some bedroom coder who is developing it.
 

Resqu2

macrumors 6502a
Apr 23, 2011
862
293
or just use Excel for OSX? I don't understand why thats not a viable option. Does it not have shortcuts?

I like the Mac version of Excel, not sure why the OP doesn't at least check it out, plus you don't have to fool with Windows at all
 

cherishzm

macrumors regular
Mar 13, 2011
158
4
Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (iPhone; U; CPU iPhone OS 4_3_1 like Mac OS X; en-us) AppleWebKit/533.17.9 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/5.0.2 Mobile/8G4 Safari/6533.18.5)

I use both Excel for Mac 2011 and Excel 2007 for PC through Parellels. If you work with large Excel files often, I'd recommend using Bootcamp. I have 2010 i7 MBP 17 with 8GB RAM but somehow Excel is just much slower on OS X especially with large files (5MB +)
 

kbun

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2011
16
0
Hi all,

I just got up (in Asia time zone), and saw the messages, thanks for all the responses!

I do have Mac Office 2010 installed on my Mac - to answer your question, yes the shortcuts are all different..the Mac keyboard is different in itself.

Sadly, for those Excel monkeys like myself who have pounded away at their PC keyboards at work in Excel for years, it's like learning Excel all over again as the shortcuts and keyboard is completely different. This slows my work down more than 5x (no joke).

I've actually been trying to tackle another question - finding Office 2003 (NOT 2007, as work uses 2003 and again the shortcuts are all different..go figure), anyone have wise suggestions? Seems like you can buy online for $120+.

cherishzm - thanks for the tip about the bootcamp with large excel files. I guess I'll first try to use it with bootcamp and see how it goes..I can always supplement by buying parallels later on (per MacDawg, no need to reinstall windows)
 

jwksmith

macrumors member
Apr 27, 2008
33
1
Calgary
With most Microsoft software, if you buy the latest version, you can also order older versions of the same software at a nominal price. It is a bit of a pain to find the necessary link on the MS website but I think it is there.

If I remember right, 2003 was the last non-ribbon release. Many people still want that format.

Good luck !
 

scrapple

macrumors regular
Sep 23, 2004
191
5
I use vmware.... its a great product..

Make sure to do the bootcamp install of windows first, then after your windows bootcamp is all updated and everything, run vmware. It will recognize your bootcamp install, and all is good from there.

Then you just click on the app, and it loads windows in about 45 seconds (inside of osx).

I use it mostly for newsgroup stuff, as their really isnt a good newsreader for mac. (I use newsleecher).
 

Heavertron

macrumors regular
Jun 2, 2011
130
0
UK
Happy Parallels user here. The integration with Mac OS X is great, Coherance mode is just what you need. I tried VMware, but I find the performance of Parallels 6 to be better, and if you ever need to run anything 3D, it has much better 3D performance.

It works nicely with a fast hard drive though. I run it from an eSata external drive and it's fine.
 

apd

macrumors member
Mar 8, 2011
46
0
I know how you feel regarding Excel for Mac - the shortcuts do take some getting used to. Is it really worth buying Windows, Excel for Windows, and Parallels (or Fusion if you must!) and potentially some extra RAM for your Mac (all virtualisation really benefits from lots of RAM) just for one program?

Wouldn't you be better either learning the shortcuts on the Mac or buying a book?
 

johnnj

macrumors 6502a
Dec 11, 2008
598
0
Not here
It's also written by Oracle (formerly Sun), so it's not as though it's some bedroom coder who is developing it.

Ha! I think that both Sun and Oracle could probably benefit from some bedroom coders. Maybe there would have been some opportunities for streamlining and a decrease in suck. I make a living managing an Oracle financials environment on top of Solaris on Sun hardware. In my experience just because something has the Oracle or Sun name on it doesn't mean it's automatically a quality product. :)

Regarding OP, I have a Parallels VM that I set up exactly like my Windows environment on my crappy HP work laptop, so I never really need to take the HP home. Maybe you'll come for the Excel and stay for having everything else you use in a VM.
 

kbun

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2011
16
0
Thanks for all the comments. I ended up buying windows today and will install it within bootcamp in a few days. I think I probably may end up getting parallels (or vmware), but that will be the next step.

FYI, I did some research on Office 2003..I called Microsoft and they said unless it was an 'open' license (sorry, forgot the exact wording), then I could not download the older version. They don't sell Office 2003 anymore..my best shot is buying it off ebay for ~40-50$ it seems.

So yes, it's quite a lot of work for Excel..haha..I guess the answer is, I'm trying to justify having gotten my mac (vs. a pc) given my really light usage and my need for using excel a decent amount....

I'll post after I do the installation in bootcamp and make more headway :)
 

Ccrew

macrumors 68020
Feb 28, 2011
2,035
3
Thanks again. It looks like I'll go for parallels.

Any thoughts as to Parallels vs. Vmware for someone of my needs?

Thanks!


I'd run VMware Fusion personally, in Unity mode you can run Excel on a Mac desktop. Not having played with Parallels don't know if that's an option there.
 

kbun

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2011
16
0
As promised, I wanted to post on how my installation went/feedback so far. So I just installed Windows on bootcamp (figured I'll install Parallels or Fusion later if needed, but want to see how this goes first).

First of all, easier said then done. I had to troubleshoot..including having to delete some files (by downloading iDefrag demo, because I'm cheap and would prefer not to buy the full version unless needed) so there was enough free space.

I had to decide how much space to allocate to Windows..which involved more googling to the uninitiated me. I finally allocated 70GB (out of 250GB originally) to Windows, since I don't plan to use windows for anything other than Microsoft office and perhaps only simple utilities..yet I didn't want to worry too much about lacking space.

Remember to format the drive so it's NTFS partition.

Next step in my saga: Finding if I can "downgrade" my version of Office 2010 to 2003.....or as I can see, can eventually buy on ebay for ~50US. Any other ideas appreciated :)

I must say, as painful as this process was, it's kind of cool to be able to run windows on my mac!!
 

fattire357

macrumors regular
May 18, 2011
176
0
If you want your macbook to run fast using Parallels don't forget to upgrade to 8GB of RAM.


4GB was fine for me until I started doing virtualization work... macbook definitely started stuttering, and most of the stuttering was resolved with the RAM upgrade. Still stutters a bit but its not too bad.
 

kbun

macrumors newbie
Original poster
May 15, 2011
16
0
I did find an Office 2003 version and installed it on my windows (via bootcamp currently). I had to fiddle a little more (download a key remapping thing), but I'm very happy with the way I can move around in Excel (very much/exactly like my windows Excel at work).

I may find the need for parallels (or vmware) later down the road as I actually start to use it more...question is, when I install it, do I need to reinstall any applications I currently installed on my windows bootcamp? Thanks!
 
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