Hey guys thanks for all the responses. I will definitely be using osx, just want windows for me and the wife while we are learning osx. She will have a harder time for me, and since she needs it for her business/school i want windows incase she is somewhere on the go and is having issues with osx. Is parallels free? What about bootcamp?
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Whats the cheapest way to get windows 7 and ms office for mac?
Boot Camp is included with OS X. However, if you use that, you need to reboot into Windows manually (you hold down the option key and select Windows from a menu). You can't run Windows alongside the Mac. You also need to partition the drive. It also isn't easy to change the size of the Windows partition if you need more space later (you need third party software). Boot Camp works better for gaming since you have the full resources of the Mac available.
If you use Parallels Desktop or VMWare Fusion, you have a choice:
1) You can either install Windows directly in a "virtual machine" that the programs create (essentially just a big file on your hard drive). The advantage is that the VM shrinks and expands as your needs change (i.e. all the free space on your Mac drive is "available" to Windows). The downside is that you can only access Windows from within Parallels/Fusion, and the performance can be lower since you are running two operating systems at once. For Office/Internet Explorer this shouldn't be an issue.
2) You can use your Boot Camp partition as a virtual machine. This lets you choose to run Boot Camp if you want Windows to run exclusively, or run it as a VM alongside the Mac. The downsides are that you'll have to partition the drive, and you might run into activation hassles with Windows and Office (Parallels and Fusion do their best to work around it, but you will wind up having to activate Windows a second time, which might require the annoying phone call method).
I'd recommend going the Parallels/Fusion route if you are only using Windows occasionally.
There is a Windows on Mac forum here where you can ask more of these types of questions.
Parallels Desktop lists for $80 but check around (e.g. Amazon, NewEgg) as there are often specials. Occasionally you will see specials available through MacUpdate, MacBundles and similar sites that bundle Parallels with other utilities for $50, but usually that's in the summer before a new version comes out (usually annually).
VMWare Fusion 5 is $50 and works well, as well. I prefer Parallels because it does a better job of integrating with the Mac. For instance, Parallels adds an option in your Explorer menu to open up a file from your Windows VM on your Mac (e.g. a PDF or Office file). Fusion has a similar feature, but it doesn't work as well (it needs to be in a special "shared" folder). Games tend to run better in Parallels than Fusion.
Parallels Desktop 7 may still be available, and that will work fine with the 2012 MacBook Air and Windows 7 (most of the changes in Parallels 8 were for Windows 8 and Retina Display support).
NewEgg is a good source for Windows 7 licenses.