For college: I'll do everything in os x EXCEPT for word, powerpoint, excel, etc...

[nihao1234]

Hey,

I've had a mac for 4 years, and love it. The one thing I hate, though, is running the Microsoft Office suite on it. I really prefer word processing/spreadsheets/powerpoints in the windows environment, don't ask me why-I just do.

I'm looking into Parallels and VMWare fusion for when I get my MacBook Pro. I'm kind of ruling out boot camp because I don't think I need to go THAT far when all I'm doing is running Microsoft Office 2007 in Windows (am I right?). They say boot camp is a pain to switch back and forth, and I don't need that power because it's not like I'm running 3D games; I'm simply using documents!

Would a virtual machine suit my needs just fine if all I wanted to use was excel, powerpoint, and word in the windows environment? If so, which one-VMWare or Parallels?

Thanks!

 

[flopticalcube]

A VM would be fine for what you do. There is also VirtualBox, which is free.

 

[Wondercow]

You could also give CrossOver a try. One thing you really should consider: have you tried Keynote for your presentations? It makes PowerPoint presentations look like rough sketches drawn by a three-year-old.

 

[uaaerospace]

Would a virtual machine suit my needs just fine if all I wanted to use was excel, powerpoint, and word in the windows environment? If so, which one-VMWare or Parallels?!

Yes, a virtual machine will suit your needs just fine. I use Parallels 5 each and every day on my iMac at work (IT at a university). Some for MS Office, some for other (more resource hungry) apps. It always works fine.

I can recommend Parallels 5, but I can't compare it to VMWare since I've never used it.

 

[dal20402]

Just make sure you have enough RAM, or you'll get a lot of swapping and bogging down. A Windows VM running nothing but Office will want 1 GB for XP and 1.5 GB for Vista or 7. Add about 100 MB to that for VM overhead and make sure the remaining RAM on your Mac is enough. I wouldn't use a VM without 4 GB.

 

[nihao1234]

Gee, thanks guys for the suggestions/advice. Anyone else have anything to contribute?

Thanks again!!

 

[Semimorphus]

Hi, I use parallels desktop for the same reason. With parallels crystal mode you can use the windows office suite while still being in a osx environment. It works great and it doesn't slow my mac down.

 

[nihao1234]

Wow, this looks great. Now that I know I can run my Windows Microsoft Office easily, what do people think of the difference between VMWare and Parallels for my needs?

Gracias, thanks, merci

 

[Jack F]

Wow, this looks great. Now that I know I can run my Windows Microsoft Office easily, what do people think of the difference between VMWare and Parallels for my needs?

Gracias, thanks, merci

If you're not bothered in running the apps in Crystal mode, I would go for VirtualBox, mainly because it's free, I found it easy to set up and have had no problems with it.

PS - you might want to check the Office 2011 Mac beta. I've had a play with it and I like it myself.

 

[pinsrw]

Hey,

I've had a mac for 4 years, and love it. The one thing I hate, though, is running the Microsoft Office suite on it.

Have you tried OpenOffice? It's got all the same features and, by the generosity of Sun Microsystems, it's free.

 

[vistadude]

Wow those graphics look really good. I thought parallels and vmware might look like remote desktop or VNC scaled down graphics. It actually looks great, and the menubar is attached to the program! I might have to try parallels.

Hi, I use parallels desktop for the same reason. With parallels crystal mode you can use the windows office suite while still being in a osx environment. It works great and it doesn't slow my mac down.

 

[M-B-P]

I was in the same type of situation as the OP. I just wanted to use the windows version of MS office on my mac. I was thinking bootcamp, but i knew that it would be a hassel. So I have been using Parallels 5, and I was completely blown away by how well it works (especially in crystal mode---Amazing!). I havent used any other virtualizing software but I don't have any reason to after using Parallels 5