Apple Keyboard + Parallels ?

[twitter]

After reading the forum for almost a year and waiting for a redesign of the MBP I cant wait any longer I am going to get a Mac.

I will buy a MBP in the next weeks and have to run windows on it for science software. From the performance tests it looks like paralles would be best for windows xp.
So now the question will a additional apple keyboard also work in
the windows area? Since the Minimum System Requirements at the apple
page say:

* • Mac computer with available USB 1.1 or USB 2.0 port
* • Mac OS X v10.4.10 or later
* • Keyboard software update

btw: how much space do I need for a windows partition?
I read in another thread that I have to use up to 30GB?
Do I need to format the HD before I set up the system for
the win. partition?

Thanks

 

[themoonisdown09]

From the performance tests it looks like paralles would be best for windows xp.

The best for Windows XP would be using bootcamp since it will be running natively. If you want to run both OS's at the same time, than yes, Parallels is faster.

So now the question will a additional apple keyboard also work in
the windows area?

Yes it will.

how much space do I need for a windows partition?
I read in another thread that I have to use up to 30GB?
Do I need to format the HD before I set up the system for
the win. partition?

I would say a minimum of 5-10 GB. I'm not using a partition for parallels, I'm using a virtual drive (it's 15 GB). You can use a bootcamp partition if you want. If you use a bootcamp partition, it's already formatted to FAT32.

 

[Vghty]

So now the question will a additional apple keyboard also work in the windows area?

Yes, it will for sure. And you get a great bonus: you'll now have a 'break' key that can be most useful for certain windows programs. For instance when running MS Access and stopping a query that takes way too long.

Unfortunately, there is no such key on the MB or MBP keyboard itself. As I understood, the 'break' key on a keyboard is physically different in hardware sense and cannot be remapped like virtually any other key can.

succes rudi

 

[twitter]

thanks a lot for the fast answers

great to hear that the keyboards will work!

themoonisdown09
If you want to run both OS's at the same time, than yes, Parallels is faster.

Yeah the plan was to run it side by side to be able to do as much in OS X
and just switch to win if needed for exel or other stuff since i dont want to buy the office for mac.

I would say a minimum of 5-10 GB. I'm not using a partition for parallels, I'm using a virtual drive (it's 15 GB). You can use a bootcamp partition if you want. If you use a bootcamp partition, it's already formatted to FAT32.

That sounds pretty good so that would mean I could use a Truecrypt partition for windows, right? Is that the way the most people use
windows on mac with parallels??


Vghty

es, it will for sure. And you get a great bonus: you'll now have a 'break' key that can be most useful for certain windows programs. For instance when running MS Access and stopping a query that takes way too long.

Sounds great, too bad that the new wireless keyboard has no numerpad
anymore. You have to wonder what is the point of a second keyboard if
you dont have a number pad.