Running Parallels

cmcintos said:

May not be the proper place for this question, but I'm new to Mac and one of the guys in the store suggested that running Parallels is better than windows in a partition with bootcamp.Are any of you guys running either of these? On the new MBPr?

Click to expand...

Parallels (or any VM solution) is excellent because you don't have to leave your native OSX behind. If you plan on using OSX Mail, Safari, Calendar, Contacts, Notes, Reminders, Messages ..., it's a PITA to have to totally reboot out of Windows (bootcamp) to access them.

Bootcamp will be faster than any VM (since it's basically a native Windows install), but you lose quite a bit of flexibility....

When I decided to go Mac, I knew I wanted to use OSX as much as possible, even though I knew I needed to deal with Windows for a few apps (all for professional needs).

I also wanted to be able to share resources between the machines (files, peripherals, etc.), and I knew I wanted to be able to VM a few other environments too (CentOS for example).

As far as specific VM solution, I originally went Parallels because I liked some of the operating modes like Coherence (that puts Win and OSX windows on the same desktop) and the performance, plus a few other features unique to it.

I'm currently running a trial of Parallels Desktop 7, since my PD6 (that I purchased) won't run on Mountain Lion. PD7 feels a bit faster vs. 6, but I'm a little unhappy with having to pay a $50 upgrade fee. I'm seriously considering VMWare for $49 or even VirtualBox that's free (though not as feature rich as PD or VMWare).

FWIW, I run VS2010, IIS, Oracle, MS/SQL, and several other development tools in my VM while I'm running several apps in OSX (Mail, Safari, iTunes ... sometimes Netbeans, MAMP, Cyberduck) and it runs smooth as can be.

Another point worth noting is that you can run Parallel or Fusion from a BootCamp install which provides the most flexibility in that i) you can run Windows 7 native or ii) you can run Windows in a virtual machine in OS X.

Hope this helps.

Joel

JoelBC said:

Another point worth noting is that you can run Parallel or Fusion from a BootCamp install which provides the most flexibility in that i) you can run Windows 7 native or ii) you can run Windows in a virtual machine in OS X.

Hope this helps.

Joel

Click to expand...

Yeah, that's a good point. Basically you install Bootcamp, then use that same partition as the OS for your VM! Bootcamp gives you maximum performance, VM gives you maximum flexibility.

Though one thing I like about an OS as just a VM, is the whole OS is relegated to a file, that can easily be backed up, and easily be replaced. I keep a copy of my VM files on a server and if one goes pear shaped, "re-installing" is as simple as just copying the file back to my local machine.

JoelBC said:

Another point worth noting is that you can run Parallel or Fusion from a BootCamp install which provides the most flexibility in that i) you can run Windows 7 native or ii) you can run Windows in a virtual machine in OS X.

Hope this helps.

Joel

Click to expand...

That's what I do. My only problem is that for some reason I can't get my Printer to work under the Windows side (USB plugged into my iMac). Even though I can see the printer and it says it is ready, when I try to print, noting happens. I can only print on the MAC side. Other that that it works great.

I used to run a Bootcamp partition through VMware
But I found I never booted natively (too much trouble)
And I was able to do everything I needed in my virtual machine

I dropped the Bootcamp partition when I upgraded to Windows 7
Haven't missed it all

For most things, virtualization works just fine without Bootcamp
The exception would be gaming (which I don't do)