2016 Macbook Windows 10 - virtualise or bootcamp

[jgbr]

Hey Folks,

Been hunting around for an ultraportable as a long standing mac user. However for work commitments I have to use windows 10. Updated Macbook with M7 seems ideal.

People who are using Windows 10 on this, are you finding its ok for Virtualisation of Windows or are you going for Bootcamp?

I note the story of one guy saying W10 works better on the macbook in bootcamp with great peformance, but I wondered what it was like to use W10 [for basic needs] with OSX running in the background with minimal tasks.

Thanks,.

 

[Hellhammer]

With light Windows usage, I would vote for virtualisation. It's a hassle to constantly switch between operating systems, especially if it's just to do one thing. Boot Camp certainly provides better performance, but you really only need that with CPU/GPU intensive tasks like gaming. For general use virtualisation usually provides sufficient performance and I would at least give it a try first.

 

[SteveJUAE]

I would say when you are at work and using a windows desktop/laptop you are fully immersed in the system and not distracted or frustrated by looking at other options to perform various tasks simply as you are tempted to step back and forth.

To me it's much better to perform your work duties in bootcanp and when you want to play or do personal stuff revert back to OSX in a few seconds to re-boot

 

[762999]

Hey Folks,

Been hunting around for an ultraportable as a long standing mac user. However for work commitments I have to use windows 10. Updated Macbook with M7 seems ideal.

People who are using Windows 10 on this, are you finding its ok for Virtualisation of Windows or are you going for Bootcamp?

I note the story of one guy saying W10 works better on the macbook in bootcamp with great peformance, but I wondered what it was like to use W10 [for basic needs] with OSX running in the background with minimal tasks.

Thanks,.

well when I needed it, I chose bootcamp + vmware. I installed windows under bootcamp so I could dual-boot but VMware also let me start the bootcamp partition under a vm while OSX was running. So it's the best of both world, you can run the same instance native or in a virtualized mode.

I don't know, maybe parallels have that feature too.

 

[jgbr]

I will only be doing light tasks in Windows intially so it shouldnt be an intensive virtual system but then shutting down as much as I can in OSX kind of defeats the point of a virtual box but I am worried about how much of an impact this will have on the macbook. It seems bootcamp is the better way to go.

 

[Ma2k5]

I will only be doing light tasks in Windows intially so it shouldnt be an intensive virtual system but then shutting down as much as I can in OSX kind of defeats the point of a virtual box but I am worried about how much of an impact this will have on the macbook. It seems bootcamp is the better way to go.

Definitely virtualisation. Bootcamp is not fun and honestly I find the usability on the virtualisation is better than on bootcamp (due to various driver issues and what not). Parallels is a very nice experience and allows you to seamlessly do tasks between OS's which is useful in many scenario's (even simple copy/paste).

I'd only use bootcamp if you end up having a performance bottleneck (and even then, depending on what it is, bootcamp may not resolve that issue).

 

[Hellhammer]

I will only be doing light tasks in Windows intially so it shouldnt be an intensive virtual system but then shutting down as much as I can in OSX kind of defeats the point of a virtual box but I am worried about how much of an impact this will have on the macbook. It seems bootcamp is the better way to go.

You don't need to shut down anything in OS X, at least not initially. If you start to run out RAM and the system slows down, then it becomes worthwhile to close RAM hungry apps in the background, but 8GB should be plenty if your usage is relatively light and you can also limit Windows to just 2GB for example, so it won't hog all your RAM.

 

[maflynn]

but 8GB should be plenty if your usage is relatively light and you can also limit Windows to just 2GB for example,

My iMac is running with 8GB and its more then enough to keep apps up and running in OS X, and also have a virtual session up and running. I've all but given up using Virtualization with my iMac though. For my needs, Bootcamp is better, but when I have fired up Vmware, I was happy with the performance, from a ram perspective.

Given that the MacBook is on a M3/M5/M7, I'd question the overall performance of both the guest and host OS, the OP may not be altogether happy with running a virtualized session of windows on a Macbook. Bootcamp will give him the best experience imo

 

[Ma2k5]

My iMac is running with 8GB and its more then enough to keep apps up and running in OS X, and also have a virtual session up and running. I've all but given up using Virtualization with my iMac though. For my needs, Bootcamp is better, but when I have fired up Vmware, I was happy with the performance, from a ram perspective.

Given that the MacBook is on a M3/M5/M7, I'd question the overall performance of both the guest and host OS, the OP may not be altogether happy with running a virtualized session of windows on a Macbook. Bootcamp will give him the best experience imo

Again it depends on use, I have noticed no performance issues using parallels and Windows 10. If it is just bursts of activity rather than pro-long stress being applied to CPU, the OP is unlikely to encounter issues. I'd definitely try the virtualisation first, before bootcamp.

 

[MagicBoy]

Depends on the Apps really. Windows 10 is better on a slow system with an SSD than you'd expect. Light usage business apps are usually fine on any supported hardware. I've been fooling around with it at work on a 6 year old ThinkPad with 2GB and a slow Core2Duo with an SSD. It positively flies via Parallels on my rMBP even when limited to 2GB RAM.

Apps that use lots of CPU and GPU, like CAD, games etc would be better via Boot Camp.

 

[jgbr]

I'm running outlook,word, skype, and looking at large pdfs and documents.

I guess this really depends how much system resources are dedicated to one or another system. This is why im going for the m7. I have to agree its nice to run OSX in background and swap between systems if needs be. However, this is my travel machine as I have a macbook pro elsewhere, so its purely on the go computing. Im unlikely to be using anything intensive in OSX at any period. Unforauntely its a stipulation for windows 10 but im from a mac background/enviroment.

 

[Hellhammer]

I'm running outlook,word, skype, and looking at large pdfs and documents.

I guess this really depends how much system resources are dedicated to one or another system. This is why im going for the m7. I have to agree its nice to run OSX in background and swap between systems if needs be. However, this is my travel machine as I have a macbook pro elsewhere, so its purely on the go computing. Im unlikely to be using anything intensive in OSX at any period. Unforauntely its a stipulation for windows 10 but im from a mac background/enviroment.

Do you really need Windows in that case? Microsoft has a Mac version of Office that should fulfil your needs.

 

[MagicBoy]

I'm running outlook,word, skype, and looking at large pdfs and documents.

It'll be fine virtualised, those apps are not intensive.

Do you really need Windows in that case? Microsoft has a Mac version of Office that should fulfil your needs.

OP already stated that his employer stipulates Windows 10.

 

[jgbr]

So really I am asking how users are finding windows 10 virtualised on the macbook.

 

[Leo90]

Bootcamp all the way as it always works like a charm. Virtualisation is only handy if you need to transfer files quickly between 2 OSs. Besides, do you really need an m7? You dont seem to be a very power user, so I would stick to an m5 and save a few bucks.

 

[jgbr]

I did read the blog of someone who used W10 natively on the macbook and said they felt it was better ironically.

My feeling was the m7 would provide some extra 'umph' in the system if virtuilsaition was being used.

 

[Trey M]

OP, I certainly think the days where qualms were associated with VMs are over. For the most part, Parallels (or a similar solution) will run near flawlessly in OSX today. Windows 7, Windows 10, all good. The only qualm that exists is the performance hit you'll take when running a VM, and most users are completely aware of this going on. It's totally user preference at this point.

For me personally, I seldom have to use Windows apps but there are times when I do. Particularly at my job I have to use a web-app that requires Internet Explorer from time to time (which I hate). This is not everyday though. So for me, virtualization is a much better option as I don't want to interrupt my workflow while I just need 1 or at most 2 Windows apps.

However, I think if you will use Windows as your primary machine, either at work or home, that Bootcamp is the better solution. Unless you highly value using your Mac apps simultaneously, I think overall on an everyday basis Bootcamp is the better option should you require Windows for your job, etc. To me, Mac OS can at times be distracting (always notifications, iMessages, phone interactions popping up), so I can definitely see the appeal of booting into Bootcamp during the work day and switching back on over to Mac OSX while surfing at home.
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I did read the blog of someone who used W10 natively on the macbook and said they felt it was better ironically.

My feeling was the m7 would provide some extra 'umph' in the system if virtuilsaition was being used.

I currently have a '16 m7, and I'll say I wouldn't expect to see a killer difference between an M5 and an M7 for the current Skylake generation.

Sure the m7 will be faster, but the difference won't be extremely noticeable, especially not enough to run a certain app significantly better than the same app running on an m5 processor.

 

[MagicBoy]

Agreed, the m5 is the sweet spot. There's very little between the two, it's mainly marketing.

100MHz on the base frequency, 300MHz on the turbo and 100MHz on the graphics clocks. That's it. Less than 10% CPU speed increase appears poor value for £120!

 

[Trey M]

Agreed, the m5 is the sweet spot. There's very little between the two, it's mainly marketing.

100MHz on the base frequency, 300MHz on the turbo and 100MHz on the graphics clocks. That's it. Less than 10% CPU speed increase appears poor value for £120!

Exactly. And when you're talking less than 10% on a processor that has a base frequency of 1.1GHz, the difference is quite frankly not very large.

I have an m7 and I realize this. But I also understand the appeal of buying the m7 which means to buy the top of the line machine if it'll be a long term purchase (5-10 years of usage). Admittedly, I lucked into getting my m7 on an eBay purchase for a ridiculously great deal. Were I to have purchased the machine at the Apple Store, though, I'd have opted for the m5.

 

[boltjames]

Hey Folks,

Been hunting around for an ultraportable as a long standing mac user. However for work commitments I have to use windows 10. Updated Macbook with M7 seems ideal.

People who are using Windows 10 on this, are you finding its ok for Virtualisation of Windows or are you going for Bootcamp?

I note the story of one guy saying W10 works better on the macbook in bootcamp with great peformance, but I wondered what it was like to use W10 [for basic needs] with OSX running in the background with minimal tasks.

Thanks,.

Bootcamp for me, I have last year's model and I use Windows 100% of the time, never use OSX at all. If you don't need to go to/from both operating systems multiple times in a day, take advantage of Boot Camp as its free and doesn't draw against the performance of the OS you're not using at any given time.

BJ

 

[MaciekP]

2016 base model. VMware Fusion 8 works very well. 2 vcpu cores per windows 10 and two for El Capitan, 4GB of Ram per each system. Full comfort of working in both OS

 

[jgbr]

2016 base model. VMware Fusion 8 works very well. 2 vcpu cores per windows 10 and two for El Capitan, 4GB of Ram per each system. Full comfort of working in both OS

What types of apps do you have open in both running at the same time?

 

[MaciekP]

What types of apps do you have open in both running at the same time?

Office 2011 for mac, office 2010 for windows, html based demo system on windows (huge number og small files simulating real application, some other professional apps on windows to configure telecommunication systems. No video or photo edditing.

 

[happyslayer]

I use mine with Windows 10 Pro 64 bit in Parallels and it works great. Though, I don't do a lot with Windows 10. Mostly use it for Internet Explorer when I need to configure certain old routers and such and a couple custom Apps my customers run. Also, I do some Outlook stuff on it. Regardless, it works well for that. If you are going to spend a lot of time in Windows, I would probably Boot Camp it. If it's just occasionally, or you want to use Mac Apps while also using Windows Apps, then virtualize it. Just my opinion though.