Best method to run windows?

[holyindian]

Hi all,

I am new to Mac, and hence this question. I am on a learning curve trying to grasp all that the mac os offers.
I just brought by first rMBP and i would also like to install windows 7 on this.
I realize there are several options to do this, BootCamp, Parallels etc.. probably also on the boot?
Anyhow, whats the best option to do this.. with least amount of CPU and memory consumption? or will i have to sacrifice on one while i run both mac and windows together?

PS. at the apple showroom, i was able to use three fingers to swipe right to windows desktop.. what was that?

so, whats ur most sought out method?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

It depends on what you want to do in Windows. While gaming in Windows as a VM is possible, it might not satisfy your gaming needs.
Almost everything else besides that and some video and film editing and composing and 3D modelling can be done with Windows as a VM.

Booting Windows on the Mac

 

[mentaluproar]

Three finger swipe, gesture support, etc can only happen in OSX. You can get those by virtualizing windows with parallels, virtual box, VMware, etc...

Running windows in bootcamp grants it direct access to the hardware. That is far more efficient than virtualization. If you are playing intense windows-based games on a mac, this is your only real option. If you are doing office work, lighter gaming, web development, most anything else really, you are better off with virtualization.

Virtualization is more about convenience. No partitions to manage, no rebooting, no separate clipboards, etc. You can even take some of the features you like from the host os (OSX) and use them in the guest os (windows 7.) The lack of gesture support in windows 7 REALLY infuriates me.

You can also run some applications in wrappers, so you don't have to manage multiple operating systems. This is a bit harder to set up but if if it just one or two apps, there is no need to take up space with a second OS.

Be aware the windows 7 is surprisingly obese. It will take up a LOT of space on your mac, and as a fellow rMBP owner, I know that could hurt you a bit. Flash storage has its disadvantages.

 

[holyindian]

It depends on what you want to do in Windows. While gaming in Windows as a VM is possible, it might not satisfy your gaming needs.
Almost everything else besides that and some video and film editing and composing and 3D modelling can be done with Windows as a VM.

Booting Windows on the Mac

Thanks for your response. I won't be gaming on my rmbp. There are apps that i run on windows is not available on the mac, and mainly for the sake of sometimes having a hands on windows machine on my laptop.. hence.

Three finger swipe, gesture support, etc can only happen in OSX. You can get those by virtualizing windows with parallels, virtual box, VMware, etc...

Running windows in bootcamp grants it direct access to the hardware. That is far more efficient than virtualization. If you are playing intense windows-based games on a mac, this is your only real option. If you are doing office work, lighter gaming, web development, most anything else really, you are better off with virtualization.

Virtualization is more about convenience. No partitions to manage, no rebooting, no separate clipboards, etc. You can even take some of the features you like from the host os (OSX) and use them in the guest os (windows 7.) The lack of gesture support in windows 7 REALLY infuriates me.

You can also run some applications in wrappers, so you don't have to manage multiple operating systems. This is a bit harder to set up but if if it just one or two apps, there is no need to take up space with a second OS.

Be aware the windows 7 is surprisingly obese. It will take up a LOT of space on your mac, and as a fellow rMBP owner, I know that could hurt you a bit. Flash storage has its disadvantages.

Thanks for your fantastic reply. This is a lot of knowledge for me to grasp, and i would love to. Do you mind posting a link, or probably a youtube window about using applications in wrappers? So what Virtual machine app is the most preferred by the members here? Does using Windows on VM consume lot of CPU and Memory overheads? My machine is a 2.6Ghz, 16GB ram, with 512gb SSD.
Thanks for the tip about windows 7 being a bloatware. So windows 8 is it? I don't even mind using remote desktop application.. i have a extremely fast media server running 24/7. If i could use that on my rMBP, that works fine.

I've used VMWare on my windows machine with ubuntu and RHL.. man that slows ur system down like crazy.

 

[mentaluproar]

Does using Windows on VM consume lot of CPU and Memory overheads? My machine is a 2.6Ghz, 16GB ram, with 512gb SSD.

You are fine. I use virtualbox, which has a setting for how much resources to allocate to the guest OS. I would imagine that is available in parallels too, which has a big following here. I don't use parallels because virtualbox is free and I'm cheap. Still, Parallels has a good reputation and is supposedly tops in performance.

For wrappers, there are tutorials everywhere about using an app called Wineskin. I have a few on this site, but they are focused on gaming. What windows-only apps are you trying to run? Wrappers don't work well for everything.

 

[mneblett]

Your machine will handle VM fine -- I have a 2.3/512/16 that doesn't bat an eye at a VM while several over OSX programs are open. The convenience of moving data between the VM and OSX is terrific -- for example, this evening I had a file on my first OSX screen that I dragged across 3 other screens before dropping it into a Windows program in the VM to open it. I briefly tried BootCamp, but the cross-OS experience is night/day different -- I doubt I'll ever do BootCamp again.

The two primary VM's are Parallels and VMWare. Their proponents have near-religious zealot feelings about which is "better." Your best moves are (i) do your due diligence by researching/reading to understand the differences between the VM's, and (ii) download and try *both* trial copies to see which you prefer.

Windows 8.1 is not any less of an over-loaded OS than Windows 7. I run 8.1, but the interface is a pita on a non-touch screen. If I had it to do over again, I'd go with Win 7.

 

[holyindian]

Your machine will handle VM fine -- I have a 2.3/512/16 that doesn't bat an eye at a VM while several over OSX programs are open. The convenience of moving data between the VM and OSX is terrific -- for example, this evening I had a file on my first OSX screen that I dragged across 3 other screens before dropping it into a Windows program in the VM to open it. I briefly tried BootCamp, but the cross-OS experience is night/day different -- I doubt I'll ever do BootCamp again.

The two primary VM's are Parallels and VMWare. Their proponents have near-religious zealot feelings about which is "better." Your best moves are (i) do your due diligence by researching/reading to understand the differences between the VM's, and (ii) download and try *both* trial copies to see which you prefer.

Windows 8.1 is not any less of an over-loaded OS than Windows 7. I run 8.1, but the interface is a pita on a non-touch screen. If I had it to do over again, I'd go with Win 7.

Thank you Sir, this helped a lot. I am off to researching now between Parallels and VMWare. Telling you frankly, i love Win 7 over Win 8, its the same reason cos of the interface. Its not that i am not progressive, and i am still stuck with the win 98/XP mindset, but i think win 8 is best suited for tablets or ultra books with touch screen laptops.

 

[simon48]

Thank you Sir, this helped a lot. I am off to researching now between Parallels and VMWare. Telling you frankly, i love Win 7 over Win 8, its the same reason cos of the interface. Its not that i am not progressive, and i am still stuck with the win 98/XP mindset, but i think win 8 is best suited for tablets or ultra books with touch screen laptops.

I use Windows 7 in Parallels all the time and it works great. Not to start a best Windows version conversation, but I like Win 7 over Win 8 too, but I've run both in Parallels just fine.

What windows apps are you planing on running?