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jmpantalone

macrumors newbie
Original poster
Apr 6, 2008
28
0
Was looking for some advice on which might be better for running windows xp on my mac.....Bootcamp or Paralles?
 
Apples and oranges

Boot Camp partitions your disk to run Windows natively

Parallels allows you to run Windows through virtualization

Check out this guide and it will give you all the info you really need: Booting Windows on a Mac

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
Both...

Install and set-up XP using Boot Camp. Then install Parallels, and set it to use your Boot Camp partition.

This gives you the ability to run XP full out with Boot Camp, but you can also then use it in Parallels for times when you need it for just a bit.

I have mine set up this way, the main reason being that I have a couple applications that need to use the USB ports for communication via a serial converter. For whatever reason, I could never get the serial port thing to work when in Parallels (the Mac took control of it just when I would have Windows setting it up...).

But 98% of the time, I use it in Parallels.

:apple::apple:
 
What do you mean exactly/need to be more specific....adivce on which one or the other????? DAH!!!!

What will you be doing with windows? if you're playing games on it then you want to use bootcamp, if you're needing to access windows and mac os x at the same time then you want parrallels

Edit-GET OUT OF MY HEAD MACDAWG!
 
If you are going to use Office 2007 then use Bootcamp. I know they have Office 2008 for Mac, but it doesn't always play well in a Windows environment.

As a personal preference I like Bootcamp better. You can run XP/Vista natively which is nice plus you don't have to buy the extra software. It is already included.
 
If you are going to use Office 2007 then use Bootcamp. I know they have Office 2008 for Mac, but it doesn't always play well in a Windows environment.

As a personal preference I like Bootcamp better. You can run XP/Vista natively which is nice plus you don't have to buy the extra software. It is already included.

Not sure I understand your post

What does "I know they have Office 2008 for Mac, but it doesn't always play well in a Windows environment" mean? Do you mean the Mac version's files are not always compatible?

And what do you mean by "you don't have to buy the extra software, it is already included." Do you mean you don't have to buy Parallels if you run in Boot Camp natively?

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
Install and set-up XP using Boot Camp. Then install Parallels, and set it to use your Boot Camp partition.

This gives you the ability to run XP full out with Boot Camp, but you can also then use it in Parallels for times when you need it for just a bit.

I have mine set up this way, the main reason being that I have a couple applications that need to use the USB ports for communication via a serial converter. For whatever reason, I could never get the serial port thing to work when in Parallels (the Mac took control of it just when I would have Windows setting it up...).

Also remember they are not mutually exclusive, you can set up a windows partition using bootcamp and then run that same partition on mac os x using parallels as viggen61 said in this post
 
If you are going to use Office 2007 then use Bootcamp. I know they have Office 2008 for Mac, but it doesn't always play well in a Windows environment.

As a personal preference I like Bootcamp better. You can run XP/Vista natively which is nice plus you don't have to buy the extra software. It is already included.
What do you mean by no extra software its already included? I know windows vista has not done very well.Does it run better on a mac
 
And what do you mean by "you don't have to buy the extra software, it is already included." Do you mean you don't have to buy Parallels if you run in Boot Camp natively?]

I believe that's what he's talking about, but as far as office is concerned I don't know since I don't use office
 
What do you mean by no extra software its already included? I know windows vista has not done very well.Does it run better on a mac

Bootcamp is built into leopard which means you don't have to buy any extra software other than the copy of vista or xp, but for parallels you have to pay $80 for parallels and need a copy of vista or xp
 
What do you mean by no extra software its already included? I know windows vista has not done very well.Does it run better on a mac

I mean bootcamp is already set up in your Mac. You have to go buy Parallels software.

I run Vista Home Premium 32 bit and it runs really run with what I do on it. I haven't had any problems with it and it is easy to use. That said I love OS X, but Vista isn't that bad.
 
What do you mean by no extra software its already included? I know windows vista has not done very well.Does it run better on a mac

Vista is Vista whether on the Mac or on a PC... no difference

If you boot natively using Boot Camp, it is just like a PC

If you run it virtualized (Fusion, Parallels, Virtual Box) it will be slower
Max your RAM and allocate it

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
 
Vista is Vista whether on the Mac or on a PC... no difference

If you boot natively using Boot Camp, it is just like a PC

If you run it virtualized (Fusion, Parallels, Virtual Box) it will be slower
Max your RAM and allocate it

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif
Thanks MacDawg thats pretty much what i wanted to know. Sorry again kingyuba
 
Not sure I understand your post

What does "I know they have Office 2008 for Mac, but it doesn't always play well in a Windows environment" mean? Do you mean the Mac version's files are not always compatible?

And what do you mean by "you don't have to buy the extra software, it is already included." Do you mean you don't have to buy Parallels if you run in Boot Camp natively?

Woof, Woof - Dawg
pawprint.gif

Sounds like you understood what I was saying. I guess there are a few smart Dawg fans.
 
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