Virtual Windows vs. Native Windows

[wayland1985]

I'm about to make a jump (Probably a bad one at that) to buying Vista for my mac. I want it for extra usability, but I'm still not 100% sure I want to do it (Heck, I can buy 2 copies of Snow Leopard for the cost of Vista Ultimate, and antivirus software!!!)


So, my question is this: IFF I order Vista, should I consider Paralells or Fusion too? I'm basically wondering how well these programs can run Vista. I mean, we are talking about emulators here, so obviously it won't be the true mean and green Vista. But will it work? (Something about being able to have Mac OS X in 1 space and Vista running on the second space is very very appealing...)

[MacDawg]

They are not emulators, they are virtual machines, and it will be true Vista

You can run it natively if you install with BootCamp and dual boot
Or you can run it virtually with Parallels or VMWare from the BootCamp partitiion

Regardless... it is true blue Vista
You will take a performance hit with virtualization, but for most things it works well

I would add RAM

Woof, Woof - Dawg http://homepage.mac.com/k.j.vinson/pawprint.gif

[DoFoT9]

I'm about to make a jump (Probably a bad one at that) to buying Vista for my mac. I want it for extra usability, but I'm still not 100% sure I want to do it (Heck, I can buy 2 copies of Snow Leopard for the cost of Vista Ultimate, and antivirus software!!!)


So, my question is this: IFF I order Vista, should I consider Paralells or Fusion too? I'm basically wondering how well these programs can run Vista. I mean, we are talking about emulators here, so obviously it won't be the true mean and green Vista. But will it work? (Something about being able to have Mac OS X in 1 space and Vista running on the second space is very very appealing...)

OP, can you please inform us of the types of applications you will be running, so we can suggest something more 'customised'.

oh and yes, having them on a different space is a very good showoff technique haha.

parallels comes in a demo version, i suggest you download that and give it a try first before purchasing the real thing.

They are not emulators, they are virtual machines, and it will be true Vista

You can run it natively if you install with BootCamp and dual boot
Or you can run it virtually with Parallels or VMWare from the BootCamp partitiion

Regardless... it is true blue Vista
You will take a performance hit with virtualization, but for most things it works well

I would add RAM

Woof, Woof - Dawg http://homepage.mac.com/k.j.vinson/pawprint.gif

very sound advice on the RAM, more hard drive space might be needed too depending on things.

you sure they are virtualises and not emulators>?< whats the diff?

EDIT: hhmmm... taken from wiki... seems like it is both hahaha!

Parallels-wiki (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parallels_Desktop_for_Mac)

...Parallels Desktop for Mac is a hardware emulation virtualization software,...

[cg165]

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I'm about to make a jump (Probably a bad one at that) to buying Vista for my mac. I want it for extra usability, but I'm still not 100% sure I want to do it (Heck, I can buy 2 copies of Snow Leopard for the cost of Vista Ultimate, and antivirus software!!!)


So, my question is this: IFF I order Vista, should I consider Paralells or Fusion too? I'm basically wondering how well these programs can run Vista. I mean, we are talking about emulators here, so obviously it won't be the true mean and green Vista. But will it work? (Something about being able to have Mac OS X in 1 space and Vista running on the second space is very very appealing...)

I'm not sure if you're in the U.S. but if you are, you shouldn't be paying anywhere near that much for vista ultimate. Go to newegg.com or if you aren't in the states, get the OEM version which is much cheaper. I think I paid $150 for vista ultimate 64 bit oem. It will be tied to that machine but you can reinstall as long as it's on the same machine.

[DoFoT9]

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I'm not sure if you're in the U.S. but if you are, you shouldn't be paying anywhere near that much for vista ultimate. Go to newegg.com or if you aren't in the states, get the OEM version which is much cheaper. I think I paid $150 for vista ultimate 64 bit oem. It will be tied to that machine but you can reinstall as long as it's on the same machine.

dont tell the OP things that he wont be able to do, to be able to buy the OEM version you must purchase at least 5 hardware items in the same transaction!

[plinden]

dont tell the OP things that he wont be able to do, to be able to buy the OEM version you must purchase at least 5 hardware items in the same transaction!

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116493 - where does it say you have to buy five hardware items?

I bought Windows XP OEM without any extra purchases.

[Cromulent]

dont tell the OP things that he wont be able to do, to be able to buy the OEM version you must purchase at least 5 hardware items in the same transaction!

Incorrect.

[DoFoT9]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832116493 - where does it say you have to buy five hardware items?

I bought Windows XP OEM without any extra purchases.

Incorrect.

:mad: :mad: :mad:

are you friggin serious!!!!

are you telling me that only australia has those laws. what a f*cking outrage !!! :mad:

[yg17]

Why Vista?

Other than both suck and blow at the same time, there's nothing that Vista does that XP doesn't :D

We may all have our complaints about XP, but I'll take it over Vista any day.

[Cromulent]

:mad: :mad: :mad:

are you friggin serious!!!!

are you telling me that only australia has those laws. what a f*cking outrage !!! :mad:

Laws? It has nothing to do with law. It is just the licensing restrictions that Microsoft puts on its products. Just sounds like the people you are trying to buy from are trying to get extra cash.

[babyjenniferLB]

Incorrect.

Oem license reads more that is needs to be 1 peace of important hardware such as a mouse or CPU but it can not be something such as a sound card as this does not affect the running or users operation of the computer.

[BayouBengal]

Why Vista?

Other than both suck and blow at the same time, there's nothing that Vista does that XP doesn't :D


But AERO is so, so pretty!!!!:p

[Cromulent]

Oem license reads more that is needs to be 1 peace of important hardware such as a mouse or CPU but it can not be something such as a sound card as this does not affect the running or users operation of the computer.

Eh? That was pretty hard to read. The OEM license as far as I know states that in order for you to qualify to use an OEM version of Windows you need to do either hardware or software installation. Therefore if you are planning on installing Windows yourself you qualify. There is nothing in the license which states you need to buy it with hardware.

[jbernie]

(Heck, I can buy 2 copies of Snow Leopard for the cost of Vista Ultimate, and antivirus software!!!)

Given your purchase of Snow Leopard would be an OS upgrade and your purchase of Vista is buying a full version for initial install your comparison is off the mark.

[George Carlin]

I am using VM ware and going into a corporate network remotely running windows XP side by side with OSX - You will be needing RAM for sure but other than that every other app works just like it should. I purchased Office for Mac so I could save files and work on them without using the virtual machine as it soaks up alot of resources.

[DoFoT9]

Laws? It has nothing to do with law. It is just the licensing restrictions that Microsoft puts on its products. Just sounds like the people you are trying to buy from are trying to get extra cash.

laws, licensing, same difference.

AFAIK, of the 5-15 stores that i have been to searching for the best price on parts, software etc they ALL state you need 5 hardware parts in the same transaction to qualify for the purchase of OEM software. what a rip off

Oem license reads more that is needs to be 1 peace of important hardware such as a mouse or CPU but it can not be something such as a sound card as this does not affect the running or users operation of the computer.

hhmm interesting. where do they even document all of this crap?

Eh? That was pretty hard to read. The OEM license as far as I know states that in order for you to qualify to use an OEM version of Windows you need to do either hardware or software installation. Therefore if you are planning on installing Windows yourself you qualify. There is nothing in the license which states you need to buy it with hardware.

can i please see the license?

[cg165]

dont tell the OP things that he wont be able to do, to be able to buy the OEM version you must purchase at least 5 hardware items in the same transaction!

Wrong. I don't know where you heard that, but it isn't true at all. I ordered mine from newegg.com and didn't order anything else with it.

[cg165]

:mad: :mad: :mad:

are you friggin serious!!!!

are you telling me that only australia has those laws. what a f*cking outrage !!! :mad:

Ah, I didn't know there were laws like that! That's pretty crazy, but here that one doesn't exist (to my knowledge).

[cg165]

Why Vista?

Other than both suck and blow at the same time, there's nothing that Vista does that XP doesn't :D

We may all have our complaints about XP, but I'll take it over Vista any day.

Why not vista? There's nothing wrong with it (the 64 bit version). How about:

1.) Use more than 3.2GB RAM (64 bit)
2.) Directx 10
3.) Looks better
4.) Functions better
5.) Speed
6.) Security

Vista isn't bad (on newer hardware). Don't expect to use 5 year old components for a new operating system. The same can be said about any operating system. If you want to take advantage of the newest hardware, get the newest software.

[Minimoose 360]

Why Vista?

Other than both suck and blow at the same time, there's nothing that Vista does that XP doesn't :D

We may all have our complaints about XP, but I'll take it over Vista any day.

XP Doesn't do DirectX 10. Unless it doesn't work on Mac Windows anyway...

[juanster]

Actually, today, I was doing some Windows stuff and it was driving me nuts, i was running it thru vmware... I got so frustrated,soooooo.. i ran to the storage room, undusted my Old P4, went out to the shop, got me a kvm switch and a wireless adapter (got both of them for under 50 bucks) plugged it all in and now i 've got Leopard and with a click of a switch I'm on my old xp machine.. its great.. here is my setup... so far Im loving it, so native it is in my opinion...:D

[SnowLeopard2008]

^ You should of spent that ~100 bucks on a new chair mat lol. ^

[jlamb0]

Before you spend money on VMware or Parallels, check out Sun Microsystems' VirtualBox. It's free, and an excellent alternative. I've been using it for about two months, and I'm quite happy with it.

[juanster]

^ You should of spent that ~100 bucks on a new chair mat lol. ^

Lol i know, i didn't even noticed how bad it was until i took those pics... I'll get a newer one tmr or something..

[Cromulent]

can i please see the license?

Sure.

http://www.microsoft.com/

[gumbyx84]

Before you spend money on VMware or Parallels, check out Sun Microsystems' VirtualBox. It's free, and an excellent alternative. I've been using it for about two months, and I'm quite happy with it.

I agree that VirtualBox would be good for you if you don't use VMs for "extracurricular" uses. While VirtualBox is good for some stuff (programming, Office, Web browsing, etc.), if you plan to use USB devices and/or game with your VM, I would suggest going with one of the commercial solutions (I prefer Fusion). Being Open-Source, VirtualBox doesn't have any DirectX support or USB "IDing". Example being if you plug in a USB printer and want to use it in your VirtualBox VM, there is a very good chance it will not work. Sames goes for USB Controllers or anything above a USB Mass Storage Device. Know this from personal experience.

If you just need something simple, VirtualBox is a good, free alternative. If you want/need better hardware/software support in your VMs, I would go with Fusion or Parallels.

[DoFoT9]

Sure.

http://www.microsoft.com/

yes, because that really helped your arguement so much...