Hello, as mentioned in the title.. I would like to ask the users if the base 13" 4GB ram and 128GB SSD can handle windows? Since i'm most likely going to use parallel 7. This is my main concern. Would really want to get an Air instead of Pro but i heard that air specs aren't suitable to use both windows and mac at the same time. >.<
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Can base 13'' Air handle windows?
- Thread starter mushroomzx
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The base should handle it without problems, although boosting ram to 8gb should make it a more pleasant experience!
If you're running them side by side, I would upgrade to 8GB ram for a more smooth experience and you can allocate 4GBs to each OS 
I have been running Parallels on my 2010 MBA also (4GB/256GB SSD). It runs pretty well, but I would prefer 8GB of RAM. A lot depends on the applications you plan to run simultaneously.
I run it on VirtualBox on my 2011 13in 4GB/128GB/i5 and it works splendidly. And actually only give it 1.5GB of RAM haha. Best Windows experience I've ever had, weirdly.
I'm sure it'd fly if you were bootcamping it
I'm sure it'd fly if you were bootcamping it
Why not? My Windows experience on 2011 Macbook Air is even better than Mac OS. (in terms of performance) Mac OS X Lion is a resource hog with all those animations and stuff. And Safari... It's a nightmare.
Why wouldn't it handle video ??
Also, how "safe" would Windows & Parallels be on the Air (space-wise) going with only 128GB rather than 256GBs?
Thanks.
4GB of RAM is PLENTY, but that statement also depends on what you are doing in each environment simultaneously. let's just say you will get away with 4GB for sure. upgrading to 8GB means you can do whatever you want, in one or the other environment, simultaneously and whatnot.
me personally, i would spend the extra $$$ and get 8GB. in fact, i am looking at getting a Macbook Air 13" soon w/ the 8GB add-on
me personally, i would spend the extra $$$ and get 8GB. in fact, i am looking at getting a Macbook Air 13" soon w/ the 8GB add-on
I use the base 2011 13" as my primary work and personal computer every day. 128Gb goes a long way if you don't store media. I have 60GB for osx, 40 for windows, and 20 for Linux. Would I like 256? Sure, but I'm not paying $300 extra for it.
The ram is a different issue, I'm definitely upgrading to 8.
The ram is a different issue, I'm definitely upgrading to 8.
I agree, the 8 or 4 decision is a no brainer (8 wins in my book). The tougher decision is 128 vs 256.
I agree as well. With USB 3.0 an external drive becomes much more enjoyable. One should get as much storage as one can afford, as these are not exactly upgradable. But 128GB works.
As far as the horsepower is concerned, the 2011 was quite well, and even the 2010 was usable enough with Windows 7. With 4GB RAM, I gave Parallels 1.5GB to use for Windows 7, and it was perfectly adequate for what I use it for (Quicken 2011 for Windows, Internet Explorer for logging into my corporate site).
This is going to sound stupid because i suspect it is but im going to ask anyway because i cant find out either way, the allocation of ram is irrelevant when only using OS X right? So if you assigned 3 of 8 gb to the VM when not using the vm you would still have 8 to play with?
I can't say for Parallels Desktop as I don't use it, but VMware allows full screen.
Yes, Parallels allows both full screen and something called "coherence mode", which runs the Windows apps on top of the OS X desktop like if they were Mac apps. Pretty cool.
Sounds pretty good...
This probably deserves its own thread, but what's the least expensive way to buy a copy of Windows? And which is recommended for use with Parallels?
as for running windows on bootcamp, what is a good rule-of-thumb for how much sdd space to allocate for the os - programs aside? i would need very little storage anyway for things like office.
i've seen others mention allocating almost half of their 128gb storage. that seems like a lot. but minimally, could i get by with, say, 10gb?
and is that a one of the reasons why people run windows as a vm? - you don't have to partition in advance and plan for you storage use?
that's the other tough decision about the base 13mba configuration... 128gb means you really have to pay close attention to what you leave on your computer.
i've seen others mention allocating almost half of their 128gb storage. that seems like a lot. but minimally, could i get by with, say, 10gb?
and is that a one of the reasons why people run windows as a vm? - you don't have to partition in advance and plan for you storage use?
that's the other tough decision about the base 13mba configuration... 128gb means you really have to pay close attention to what you leave on your computer.
Windows 7 itself takes up about 16-20 GB depending on whether you install the 32-bit or 64-bit versions.
Yes, one advantage of a VM is that it simply creates a file on your Mac, and expands and contracts as necessary.
If you don't encrypt your Mac partition with FileVault2, Boot Camp will install a driver that lets you read your Mac partition from Windows. However, it doesn't work with encrypted partitions. If you run Windows from within a VM, the virtual machine software will let you share access to your Mac drives with Windows.
I had the 128GB drive for 3 years and managed to include Windows and OS X. I don't have a lot of video, though. Last year I upgraded to the 256GB SSD model.