CrossOver vs Parallels vs Fusion

[DoFoT9]

BUT.... what problems have people run into migrating from boot camp to Fusion.. especially concerned over partition issues? gwd ...

i have a good proposal that might work nicely for you.

1. install bootcamp (using Bootcamp Assistant that comes with your Mac), then install Win7 (it will walk you through how to)
2. insert the grey Snow Leopard OS disc you have to install the Win7 drivers for the computer, etc.
3. DO NOT register win7 - you will have the usual 30 days to play around.

if, within that time, you are comfortable, register it by all means! if you want to give VMware a go (i recommend Parallels), install/buy you VM software and link the VM to your Bootcamp install. so long as you havent registered it wont worry about the hardware.

having setup both Bootcamp + your VM to boot from the same Win7 partition, you can easily choose either method to boot, open VM, or restart for better GPU support and whatnot.

hope this helps

 

[bobm]

How about VirtualBox

I am an old long-time PC guy... and have FINALLY made the jump to a MAC. Lovin' it too! Windows 7 was the last straw for me.... XP was fine.
I have recently purchased an iMac with 3.06 GHz intel duo, 4gb mem, 1TB, None-the-less I still have two Windows Apps, i wish to run. photo editor (originally from U-Lead called Photo Impact now owned by Corel) , and a CRM database by Maximizer.. 2 questions:

1. Has anyone run Win XP or 7 with either these using boot camp or Fusion?
2. My initial thought was to first try boot camp, and see how much of a pain re-booting would be. If not so good, I'd THEN buy either parallels, or fusion... Having read this thread, sounds like Fusion is the one.
BUT.... what problems have people run into migrating from boot camp to Fusion.. especially concerned over partition issues? gwd ...

I would take a look at the current version of VirtualBox, it's free and while not as polished as Parallels or VMware there is something to be said for free. I'm running XP and Win7 (64bit) in parallels and Fedora (Linux) in VirtualBox. I switched from VMware Fusion because I was running tight on memory on my macbook. Parallels uses less memory (for some strange reason) and based on my experience seems faster.

The discussions on Parallels stability are from 5 months ago and while I've been running Parallels since April I've had no stability issues. Most of my work is in software development (Eclipse, Java, some C, etc) and I'm running VMs of up to 2G.

My wife has a MacBook Air and was also using VMware (version 2.x) to run MS Money and a couple other windows only apps and she has seen a massive improvement in usability by switching to Parallels (version 5), note that we didn't try Fusion 3.x so we're comparing 2 different release cycles.

So, first try VirtualBox and then go for the products that cost $$$.

good luck,
bob

 

[gwd4YQL]

Can I assume Win Xp would be the same...?

Hello down under in Australia. That really is a terrific idea. Beauty; and it would be nice to have the multiple boot option. I would rather use XP though...
and no plans to ever go on the web in Windows - once I get all the PATCHES and security fixes for XP. I'll confine my on-line browsing to the Mac side of things. Thnx

 

[gwd4YQL]

Is is clean and easy to remove software and partition in Mac OS?

I would take a look at the current version of VirtualBox, it's free and while not as polished as Parallels or VMware there is something to be said for free. I'm running XP and Win7 (64bit) in parallels and Fedora (Linux) in VirtualBox. I switched from VMware Fusion because I was running tight on memory on my macbook. Parallels uses less memory (for some strange reason) and based on my experience seems faster.

The discussions on Parallels stability are from 5 months ago and while I've been running Parallels since April I've had no stability issues. Most of my work is in software development (Eclipse, Java, some C, etc) and I'm running VMs of up to 2G.

My wife has a MacBook Air and was also using VMware (version 2.x) to run MS Money and a couple other windows only apps and she has seen a massive improvement in usability by switching to Parallels (version 5), note that we didn't try Fusion 3.x so we're comparing 2 different release cycles.

So, first try VirtualBox and then go for the products that cost $$$.

good luck,
bob

So many choices in VM too, eh? (Yes, I am Canadian, eh!) Parrallels, VM, each have their supporteres. Same in the PC world. Funny how with the same product some people have great success; others find disaster... in the world of Windows too!! Your point of different releases cycle is key, as they do all work towards fixing bugs, even Apple OS.
thnx
gwd

 

[ArmenianMike]

i have a good proposal that might work nicely for you.

1. install bootcamp (using Bootcamp Assistant that comes with your Mac), then install Win7 (it will walk you through how to)
2. insert the grey Snow Leopard OS disc you have to install the Win7 drivers for the computer, etc.
3. DO NOT register win7 - you will have the usual 30 days to play around.

if, within that time, you are comfortable, register it by all means! if you want to give VMware a go (i recommend Parallels), install/buy you VM software and link the VM to your Bootcamp install. so long as you havent registered it wont worry about the hardware.

having setup both Bootcamp + your VM to boot from the same Win7 partition, you can easily choose either method to boot, open VM, or restart for better GPU support and whatnot.

hope this helps

greetings fellow maclover....how would I link a vm ware (think i like parallels too) to my already installed windows 7 on bootcamp partition

hey do you guys have like some type of a signature thing u click on to post your mac fetishes or what.... I'll do mine manually till i find out how
3GS 32GB(white) MBP late 2009 3GB ram (couldnt get other ram stik to wrk)

 

[DoFoT9]

greetings fellow maclover....how would I link a vm ware (think i like parallels too) to my already installed windows 7 on bootcamp partition

hello! all you do is open up vmware (or parallels) and add a new VM. you are then choose to add a VM that is from bootcamp, and it will find it and do the rest for you.

please beware that you WILL need to re-register the windows version.

 

[ArmenianMike]

thanx a lot DoFoT9 appreciate the help

 

[ArmenianMike]

ram upgrade issue

I had orig 2GB ram on my MBP (late 2009) and I got crucial (right ones) 2 x2 GB ram sticks to upgrade but it seems only one of them worked..... how do i figure out if the non working one is defective or the reason it didnt work.... so I have one of the crucial 2GB sticks in there now and the factory 1GB totaling to 3GB when I could really use 4GB since Im going to run win 7 via parallels 6 on snow leopard.......... thanx in advance to all the geniuses in this forum ei... DoFoT9

 

[DoFoT9]

thanx a lot DoFoT9 appreciate the help

no problems

I had orig 2GB ram on my MBP (late 2009) and I got crucial (right ones) 2 x2 GB ram sticks to upgrade but it seems only one of them worked..... how do i figure out if the non working one is defective or the reason it didnt work.... so I have one of the crucial 2GB sticks in there now and the factory 1GB totaling to 3GB when I could really use 4GB since Im going to run win 7 via parallels 6 on snow leopard.......... thanx in advance to all the geniuses in this forum ei... DoFoT9

how did you deduce that 1 of them is defective? normally the AHT (Apple Hardware Test) run off of the OSX install disc (gray disc) will indicate whether the RAM is defective or not. i would suggest running that first of all. i think you hold the "D" key on boot to get into AHT.

 

[GadgetGeek407]

2011 mba 13 air i7 here, I am coming from a 2011 pro 13 with VMWare, id rather save the space on the air IF I can. The ONLY reason I use windows is that I am a used car dealer and my dealer software ONLY runs on windows its a small 20mb application and I do docs and print off it.

That being said what are my advantages going with virtual box? any size, time, space differences? would love some details thanks guys