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Parallels Install "Like a Mac or Like a PC"?

G

Gator Bob

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 3, 2011
148
3
What's the "best" answer? I'll be running Windows 7 Home Premium, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop), Quickbooks and MS Office and other Windows software. I have a loaded new Retina MacBook Pro with a 512 GB SDD, 16GB RAM and a 2.6 GHz processor.

Parallels only states: "Select how you want to use Windows:
• Like a Mac: Windows programs appear on the Mac desktop, just like Mac applications. Documents and media from Mac OS X and Windows are kept together on your Mac.
• Like a PC: The Windows desktop and programs appear in a single window, separate from Mac applications. You can drag and drop objects between Windows and the Mac.
 
M

murphychris

macrumors 6502a
Mar 19, 2012
661
2
Personal preference. Try both see which you like.

As for running Photoshop in a VM, if you do this rarely it may be useable. Otherwise you should get the Mac version instead of putting it in a VM. Performance will suffer by a lot if you work on appreciably large files.
 
G

Gator Bob

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 3, 2011
148
3
murphychris said:
... running Photoshop in a VM ...performance will suffer by a lot if you work on appreciably large files.
Click to expand...

So you think performance will be perceptibly slower even with 16 GB RAM and a 512 SSD? (I have a Nikon D800E which produces BIG raw files.)
 
M

murphychris

macrumors 6502a
Mar 19, 2012
661
2
Gator Bob said:
So you think performance will be perceptibly slower even with 16 GB RAM and a 512 SSD? (I have a Nikon D800E which produces BIG raw files.)
Click to expand...

Yes it will be slower and it will be a PITA because you have to manually allocate a portion of that RAM to the VM, and then within the VM you have to dedicate a portion to Photoshop. If you do this sort of thing once a week, fine, maybe it's OK. But this is not a professional workflow. You have a Mac. OS X is the base OS. You need to use Mac apps.
 
W

wicked45

macrumors newbie
Oct 2, 2011
14
0
i am trying to install win 7 64 bit ultimate on my rMBP. i have created a win 7.iso image file to use during the installation of parallels 7. i get this error "there is no operating system installed in this virtual machine please insert an operating system installation cd into the optical drive of your mac and restart the virtual machine." I dont have a cd/dvd drive on my rMBP. i have recreated the iso file thinking it might be corrupted or something but i still get the same error. can somebody shed some light and give me some insight on this issue please?

thanks in advance!
 
skoldpadda

skoldpadda

macrumors 6502
Sep 28, 2010
360
2
wicked45 said:
i am trying to install win 7 64 bit ultimate on my rMBP. i have created a win 7.iso image file to use during the installation of parallels 7. i get this error "there is no operating system installed in this virtual machine please insert an operating system installation cd into the optical drive of your mac and restart the virtual machine." I dont have a cd/dvd drive on my rMBP. i have recreated the iso file thinking it might be corrupted or something but i still get the same error. can somebody shed some light and give me some insight on this issue please?

thanks in advance!
Click to expand...

Did you mount the .iso, as though it was a CD/DVD in the machine
 
Odisey

Odisey

macrumors member
Mar 10, 2008
54
0
Adobe Creative Suite

I am a developer and have had a Mac since 2008. I have never used the Mac side, I been running Windows XP because I could not afford the extra money for a new Master Collection in Mac version. So, today I got 16 GBs RAM and installed, as well as Parallels 8. I am going to attempt to run some Adobe programs through the VM and see how it goes. But I am going to invest time in learning how to use the Mac side, Final Cut HD, maybe get Final Cut studio, and lease .... yep I said lease .... Adobe Creative Suite CS6 Mac version for about $50.00 a month.
 
G

Gator Bob

macrumors regular
Original poster
Aug 3, 2011
148
3
wicked45 said:
Nope, not sure how to do so. During the install of win 7, i just browsed to the .iso file. Am I not doing it correctly?
Click to expand...

Not nice of you folks to highjack my thread. My question in my first post that started this thread was never answered.
 
Odisey

Odisey

macrumors member
Mar 10, 2008
54
0
Gator Bob said:
Not nice of you folks to highjack my thread. My question in my first post that started this thread was never answered.
Click to expand...

I thought someone answered ... unless they edited their answer and now it is gone. Swore I read "try both and see which one you like."

Can you not change the way you use parallels in settings after install, from one to other and back? I think you can!
 
J

JoelBC

macrumors 6502a
Jun 16, 2012
926
62
Gator Bob said:
What's the "best" answer? I'll be running Windows 7 Home Premium, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop), Quickbooks and MS Office and other Windows software. I have a loaded new Retina MacBook Pro with a 512 GB SDD, 16GB RAM and a 2.6 GHz processor.

Parallels only states: "Select how you want to use Windows:
• Like a Mac: Windows programs appear on the Mac desktop, just like Mac applications. Documents and media from Mac OS X and Windows are kept together on your Mac.
• Like a PC: The Windows desktop and programs appear in a single window, separate from Mac applications. You can drag and drop objects between Windows and the Mac.
Click to expand...

I prefer "Like a PC"...I have Parallels configured such that Windows has its own desktop / screen and I very much like this setup...I have also found that when select "Like a Mac" (i.e. Coherent mode) there are way too many cross-pollinated icons (i.e. I like things clean and simple)...

Hope this helps...


Joel
 
iLondoner

iLondoner

macrumors 6502
Nov 27, 2012
366
324
London (the big one, not London Ohio, Texas, Kentu
It doesn't matter which you choose when you setup, you can switch between them on the fly.

'Like a Mac' opens Windows apps in their individual windows on the Mac desktop. Parallels refers to this as 'coherence mode'.

'Like a PC' opens up a Windows desktop within a window on the Mac and your apps then opens up within that.

You can switch from coherence mode by selecting 'Exit Coherence' from the parallels symbol in the status bar.

Once in desktop view you can switch back to coherence mode by selecting View>Enter Coherence.
 
James_C

James_C

macrumors 68030
Sep 13, 2002
2,817
1,822
Bristol, UK
Gator Bob said:
What's the "best" answer? I'll be running Windows 7 Home Premium, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop), Quickbooks and MS Office and other Windows software. I have a loaded new Retina MacBook Pro with a 512 GB SDD, 16GB RAM and a 2.6 GHz processor.

Parallels only states: "Select how you want to use Windows:
• Like a Mac: Windows programs appear on the Mac desktop, just like Mac applications. Documents and media from Mac OS X and Windows are kept together on your Mac.
• Like a PC: The Windows desktop and programs appear in a single window, separate from Mac applications. You can drag and drop objects between Windows and the Mac.
Click to expand...

I personally prefer "Like a Mac" as you hide the Windows Desktop and makes the Windows Apps appear if you are running them directly on the Mac OS X desktop. All depends if you want to see the Windows Desktop or not really.
 
skoldpadda

skoldpadda

macrumors 6502
Sep 28, 2010
360
2
You can swap between the 2 at any time it is not as if you are commiting to one or the other when you do the setup.
 
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