parallels v bootcamp

[thewall]

What is the difference between parallels and bootcamp,which is best,and is parallels a waste of money if you have bootcamp

[darkangel7696]

Originally Posted by thewall

What is the difference between parallels and bootcamp,which is best,and is parallels a waste of money if you have bootcamp

Parallels, VMWare, and Vbox are all software that virtualizes the hardware (i.e. video, network, and hard disk adapters.) The host (Mac OS X) provides pass-through drivers for guest USB, firewire, and thunderbolt devices.

The nice thing about virtual software is that you can create a virtual appliances that is standard and can be easily portable amongst different machines (PCs and macs). The above virtualization software will let you prepare a copy of your bootcamp partition and use it is an appliance. It is great if you just want to runs specialized apps, for example MS Office or IE Explorer. However, if you want to do anything that requires intensive graphics-- video gaming or even watching dvd/blu-ray-- it is much better to boot right into the bootcamp Windows partition. Graphical performance on virtualization software has improved over the years, but DirectX support is rather limited compared to the normal desktop.

[OT2000]

Parallels is great because you can run Windows within OSX. With Bootcamp you have to log out of OSX, completely, then boot up in Windows/Bootcamp.

Both are good options, just depends on how you'd like to use Windows.

[majkom]

Parallels allows you run virtual machine - windows, so you do not have to reboot everytime you want to jump in win - you just jump in another desktop, while bootcamp means reboot everytime you want to switch os. On the other hand, under bootcamp win will ise all power of your mac as it is not virtual machine. So, if you need win for light usage such as office, you can use parallels, if for heavy usage such as demanding games, use bootcamp. For both of them u should have original win license and last thing, there are free alternatives for parallels.

[thewall]

Thanks for the replies great help,what i want to do is run some website software Serif webplus 10,which do you think i should use,

[slffl]

Originally Posted by thewall

Thanks for the replies great help,what i want to do is run some website software Serif webplus 10,which do you think i should use,

Parallels for sure. Bootcamp is really only if you want to do Windows gaming.

[Notohyr]

Parallels allows you run virtual machine - windows, so you do not have to reboot everytime you want to jump in win - you just jump in another desktop, while bootcamp means reboot everytime you want to switch os.

That's why I use virtualization software. VMware Fusion in my case. For my study I need windows for some programs. I can quickly switch between OS's. With enough RAM it's easy.

[giampablo]

Originally Posted by majkom

... and last thing, there are free alternatives for parallels.

Can you elaborate, please?

As a web developer I just need win for checking site rendering on IE7 and/or light office usage (no games).
What would you suggest: VMware Fusion, Parallels or free alternatives?

[gagaliya]

bootcamp is the only option if you want to play games or any 3d graphic intensive applications.

[firedept]

Originally Posted by thewall

What is the difference between parallels and bootcamp,which is best,and is parallels a waste of money if you have bootcamp

Parallels. I am doing pretty much the same thing you are doing. I run Windows 7 while I am coding so I can see what is happening in IE. Nice thing is I can run as many browsers as I please and still have IE open. VM should work for you as well but I have never tried it. Both softwares have a 30 day trial that you can use to see which will work for you better. Should help you with your decision. Parallels is simple to set up and I have never had any problems with it. I also use it to run some programs I have that will only run in Windows. It runs flawlessly.

[majkom]

Originally Posted by giampablo

Can you elaborate, please?

As a web developer I just need win for checking site rendering on IE7 and/or light office usage (no games).
What would you suggest: VMware Fusion, Parallels or free alternatives?

Sorry, someone else must hrlp you, do not use windows on mac at all, once used paralells and was ok, but someone here will give u free alternative for sure

[Chupa Chupa]

I run VMWare off of BootCamp. Best of both worlds IMHO. BootCamp only requires rebooting into Windows which cuts down on productivity. But sometimes Virtualization doesn't cut it does it's clutch in those situations. Plus if your Parallels or VMWare install gets corrupted you can just reinstall w/o have to reinstall Windows which is a PITA.

[slffl]

Originally Posted by giampablo

Can you elaborate, please?

As a web developer I just need win for checking site rendering on IE7 and/or light office usage (no games).
What would you suggest: VMware Fusion, Parallels or free alternatives?

Virtualbox is free

[thewall]

I like the look of VMware,i'm going to ask some stupid questions now,
If i download VM is it like an app do i just click on it to open it.
Do i need a windows disc and where does it load to when i load it.
Do i have to load windows based software once or everytime i want use it.
Can i drag photos from iPhoto to window based software.

[Rich2Putt]

My first iMac is arriving on 12/26.

It is my understanding that some Window programs do not work with Parallels etc....As an example I use Corel software which will only run in bootcamp.

If I am incorrect, please show me the light, as I am new to iMac OS.

[bflowers]

Originally Posted by thewall

I like the look of VMware,i'm going to ask some stupid questions now,
If i download VM is it like an app do i just click on it to open it.
Do i need a windows disc and where does it load to when i load it.
Do i have to load windows based software once or everytime i want use it.
Can i drag photos from iPhoto to window based software.

I haven't used VMware, but I have used Parallels. I assume they work more or less the same. It would create a file that pretends to be a hard drive partition. You then install Windows into that file, just the first time. You would open the virtual machine as if it is just an application. There is some pass through between the Mac OS environment and the virtual machine. I can't specifically answer if it will let you drag photos across, but quite possibly.

[Roller]

Originally Posted by thewall

I like the look of VMware,i'm going to ask some stupid questions now,
If i download VM is it like an app do i just click on it to open it.
Do i need a windows disc and where does it load to when i load it.
Do i have to load windows based software once or everytime i want use it.
Can i drag photos from iPhoto to window based software.

You have to install Windows (or any software you want to run under Windows) on the virtual machine you set up, just as you would on a real Windows computer. In fact, you can think of and use your VM as a real computer. Whenever you want to run a Windows app, you launch Fusion and boot the VM, or you can save time by pausing and restarting it, which is faster because it stores the current state of the VM. Sharing files between your VM and Mac OS is as easy as drag-and-drop. It's all pretty intuitive.

[Chupa Chupa]

Originally Posted by thewall

I like the look of VMware,i'm going to ask some stupid questions now,
If i download VM is it like an app do i just click on it to open it.
Do i need a windows disc and where does it load to when i load it.
Do i have to load windows based software once or everytime i want use it.
Can i drag photos from iPhoto to window based software.

After you set it up, yes, you just click and use it like any other app.

First time you set it up, if you don't use Boot Camp, you will need the Windows disk. If you already have a Book Camp partition you can just link to the partition and done, no need to re-install.

You can set up Fusion to drag and drop certain data files from Mac to PC. Parallels also has this feature.

[herbapou]

Originally Posted by gagaliya

bootcamp is the only option if you want to play games or any 3d graphic intensive applications.

Not true with version 7 or later. Performance is pretty surprising, even if there is a small drop of performance.

[the.sheepdog]

Im mystified why anyone would even want to use a windoze product. The only usable windows was XP Pro and that was years and years ago.

[Lucianrider]

Originally Posted by the.sheepdog

Im mystified why anyone would even want to use a windoze product. The only usable windows was XP Pro and that was years and years ago.

You obviously think people run windows to just play with the operating system. I'm sure you would be surprised to learn, but there are some excellent applications that are only available for windows and in most cases these will run extremely well on a virtual machine via parallels.

I have a dual monitor setup and run win 7 on the second monitor for the best of both worlds.

This is a huge advantage to a Mac over a PC in my opinion.....

For the record Parallels is an excellent program and well worth the cost.

[bielen]

I also do web development on the Mac. I've been using VMWare since 2008, but recently started testing Parallels. While I find speed of Paralells and VMWare comparable, I find Parallels a bit faster when opening/closing a virtual machine. Both applications offer converters so you can migrate your VM to the other application should there ever be a reason.

When I run the Windows Experience test, I find Parallels faster, but overall the speed difference is marginal. I would recommend downloading both the 14-day trial of Parallels and 30-day trial of VMWare and see what works best for the way you work.

While I have used VMWare, I'm considering moving the Parallels because the open/closing speed of VMWare and the convenience if I want to view a page in IE when looking at it in Safari.

Overall, you will not go wrong with either product. I use Windows 2008 R2, Windows 7, Windows, SharePoint 2010 and Visual Studio. You just want to make sure your system has plenty of RAM and a 7200rpm hard drive at a minimum.