Bootcamp v Parallels Questions

MiniD3 said:

Hi Guys,
I have very little need for Windows but would be nice to have for a couple of reasons,
I have just purchased a new GPS for my 4x4 trips, unfortunately, updates and mapping software can only run on a PC,
The only other use is the program that monitors my house solar panelstats, also, only accessible with a PC

1. Which is safer, bootcamp or parallels?
2. Due to price, is Windows 7 good enough?
3. Can I put Windows on an external drive and keep it off my mac altogether

My operating system is
iMac 27" 2012
32GB ram
750GB SSD
View attachment 500261
......Gary

Click to expand...

In my opinio Bootcamp is good.. My friend is using it so I have shared my opinion..

For what you want I would just run Windows 7 with Virtualbox. Virtualbox is free and gets the job done. If you want something more feature rich then use Fusion or Parallels.

MiniD3 said:

Hi Guys,
I have very little need for Windows but would be nice to have for a couple of reasons,
I have just purchased a new GPS for my 4x4 trips, unfortunately, updates and mapping software can only run on a PC,
The only other use is the program that monitors my house solar panel stats, also, only accessible with a PC

1. Which is safer, bootcamp or parallels?
2. Due to price, is Windows 7 good enough?
3. Can I put Windows on an external drive and keep it off my mac altogether

My operating system is
iMac 27" 2012
32GB ram
750GB SSD
View attachment 500261
......Gary

Click to expand...

1. Both are safe. I prefer Parallels because BootCamp drivers are bad.

2. Windows 7 should be good enough. But I recommend choosing the most current version of Windows, which is Windows 8.1.

3. I don't know, but perhaps you can do that.

MiniD3 said:

1. Which is safer, bootcamp or parallels?
2. Due to price, is Windows 7 good enough?
3. Can I put Windows on an external drive and keep it off my mac altogether

Click to expand...

1. They are more or less equally safe depending on how you use them. If you transfer files between your two environments (Mac and Win), then theoretically there is greater risk. In practice it's the same for Parallels and Bootcamp.

2. Win7 is good enough but MS have said they will give a free Win10 upgrade to owners of Win8 (I believe that's true anyway). If so, you may be better off getting Win 8.

3. Your best plan is to install Windows on your internal (speed; that's the way Bootcamp expects it to work), and then install apps on an external drive. I have done that for ages and it works fine. If you have limited speed (USB2 drives for eg) and it's critical for your app, you can install that particular app on your internal partition of course.