Just got an iMac and need to run some of my old Windows stuff. I've gathered that Parallels is the best virtual solution, but I'm confused: do you need Bootcamp in order to run Parallels, or can you just run Parallels?
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Do you need Bootcamp to run Parallels?
- Thread starter LCSterling
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No, all bootcamp does is partition your hard drive (which you don't need to do if you are using Parallels), provides installation instructions and there are drivers on the OSX disk (which you don't need to do if you are using Parallels). Oh and it automatically restarts your computer so that it boots from the Windows disk.
All you need is Parallels and a Windows disk.
All you need is Parallels and a Windows disk.
Thanks - have been doing online research and it's completely confusing. I know that with Bootcamp you need to reboot to go between the two. With Parallels you don't. But so many reviews and posts imply that you need Bootcamp...
Boot Camp allows for what the name infers: Dual-booting. When you boot into Windows, it's a Windows PC at that point. All the Mac hardware is being used for Windows.
Parallels (or VMWare Fusion) allow for a virtualized environment. The Mac OS is running the app, and the Windows environment is running under that. All the Windows drives, graphics, etc., are being run from RAM that's dedicated to it from the Mac side.
They each have their own strengths and weakness depending on what you need to do within Windows.
Well ... therein lies the conundrum. I'd rather be running a Mac, but need some apps that have been on my PC for eons, such as Outlook. I bought Office for Mac and Entourage is no replacement for Outlook.
So, JNB, are you able to venture an opinion? Impossible to decide from a place of total ignorance, and I'm not thrilled about making a HD partition (BC) if it's not necessary.
So, JNB, are you able to venture an opinion? Impossible to decide from a place of total ignorance, and I'm not thrilled about making a HD partition (BC) if it's not necessary.
Short of gaming, I have nothing that cannot be done quite well in a virtualized environment. In point of fact, I run multiple Windows Server environments, including Server 2008, in VMWare. On top of that, I need to run an instance of Oracle within that space for our propretary application, and IIS for web-based reporting. No problems, it just does what it has to without any issues. A nice side benefit is sharing of folders & files seamlessly between Windows & MacOS real time.
The only advantage (again, outside of gaming) that BC offers IMO, is that you can create a Parallels or VMWare instance directly from an existing BC one. Can't go the other way, though. That would only be important if you wanted to run both "styles" until you determined what best met your needs.
Keep in mind, in either case you will need a full copy of the Windows version you care to run. No shortcuts there.
Thank you. That's helpful. And I understand about needing the Windows software. While I've networked effectively and can see and use all the files on the PC server, e-mail is a challenge. Outlook allows for multiple addresses with distinct signatures, etc. Missing that.
Generally VMWare runs Vista a bit more sluggish than on BC. Specs in sig. It's not that bad though and I used it for school. I just switched back to BC to play some PC games. Games will not run well but Office software runs great. As stated, you can run a virtulization of the BC through VMWare if you don't feel like restarting. Restarting between OS's is not a big deal to me, it doesn't feel that long ago my computers took several minutes to boot.