Going to Snow Leopard, Parallels 4 then 5, and Win & OEM

[rcioppa]

Thanks in advance for any order to the chaos i am in! I have a MacBook, 2Gig memory, 2.18 mhz, running leopard.

My best Bible software has to be windows (Logos) Mac version is no where near its potential here, everything PC has crashed in last 8 months. I am better off! I pulled out o;d Parallels 3 and a whole bunch of old software, getting ready to get to migrate to Win 7.

I have ordered Snow Leopard.
I have ordered Parallels for Mac ver 4 (OLD VER ?)
Getting free upgrade to Parallels 5
Will probably get an OEM version of Win 7 Ultimate.

1-Can I just install the upgrade to parallels 5
2- if I have to install parallels 4, all I have is XP.
3- My Logos Bible software will 'Sing' on Win 7 need to get there
4-Do not want to reinstall XP as Win 7 has to gut it.

I would rather just not do any of this and wait for my first SS check! But I have to and do not know what to do first. It would seem Snow Leopard but I do not want to do Parallels 4 then parallels 5 if I do not have to..

ANY help would be a Blessing. I am canning all my PC stuff and love the intuitiveness of all Apple stuff including software.

I am retired and donating most of my service as free Clergy (Not a lot of cash flow for all the bells and whistles.

Probably violated a few rules folks. sorry if I did, but being desparate and needing to start is overloading my brain! Thank you all so much--GREAT Forum-- First Post so please be gentle!!

Thank you,
RickC

 

[balamw]

t I have to and do not know what to do first.

I would definitely recommend doing the SL upgrade first. Get that working and make sure it's stable.

You should not have to install Parallels 4, if it works anything like VMWare Fusion. You can even probably just get and use the 30 day free trial while you are waiting for your Parallels 5 free upgrade to arrive. http://www.parallels.com/download/desktop/

The only thing I recommend against is the OEM software. While it will most likely work just fine, Microsoft has been successful in clarifying the intent of the license and it just is not intended for end-users. It is sold with the understanding that it will only be pre-installed on a system for sale to a non-related third party.

However, given the not-for-profit use you have specified, you might actually still be able to get Windows 7 for free see here: http://www.mscommunityconnections.com/Empower.aspx

B

 

[rcioppa]

Upgrading Concerns

Say there B...

Thank you for the feedback! I will begin with SL. Will get the eval copy of parallels 5 and use my Activation code when it arrives.

I had my own misgivings about the OEM. I will purchase the full MS version of Win 7. Will check out the free copies of Win 7 with associates!

Any suggestions regarding the the 32 or 64 version of Win 7. I only have 2 gigs of ram. Not much to share with SL and VM. I was leaning toward the 32.

Thanks again,

RickC
PS Cool avatar...

 

[macjunk(ie)]

Say there B...

Thank you for the feedback! I will begin with SL. Will get the eval copy of parallels 5 and use my Activation code when it arrives.

I had my own misgivings about the OEM. I will purchase the full MS version of Win 7. Will check out the free copies of Win 7 with associates!

Any suggestions regarding the the 32 or 64 version of Win 7. I only have 2 gigs of ram. Not much to share with SL and VM. I was leaning toward the 32.

Thanks again,

RickC
PS Cool avatar...

32bit should be more than enough...given that you have only 2GB of RAM.
My advice...if you are planning to run Windows 7 on a mac...do it on bootcamp and not parallels..This way, you will enjoy the beauty of the Mac the way it was meant to be and also get to see 'Win XP in a frock'

Running an OS as demanding as Win 7 in a virtualized environment will unnecessarily strain your Mac...
So, if you are using Windows only for the odd spreadsheet...why not get install Windows XP in Parallels ? It is much lighter (takes only 4GB of space vs the 13GB of Win 7 64!) and not as demanding as Win 7.

However, if you still plan on running Win 7 in Parallels, be prepared for some sluggishness in your Mac...and also all the extra heat..and not to forget, reduced battery life (in fact, running Parallels or anything similar will result in increased CPU and memory usage and hence, reduced battery life).

I was facing a similar situation a few days ago. I tried Win 7 in Parallels..hated the sluggishness.

Tried it in bootcamp..much better. I think my Mac managed to get a score of around 5.2. But as I explored further, I realized that I am still on Windows... complex menus, way too glossy, plus I got the feeling that Apple could do more in optimizing the bootcamp drivers.

Finally..tried Win XP in Parallels 5 and I think I am gonna stick to this combo...works pretty well...it offers the best balance..

Anyways...my 2 cents!

 

[balamw]

Any suggestions regarding the the 32 or 64 version of Win 7. I only have 2 gigs of ram. Not much to share with SL and VM. I was leaning toward the 32.

One nice thing about the full retail install over the OEM version is that you get both 32 and 64 bit in the same box and you have much more flexibility in moving/transferring the license at will. So if you start out with 32 bit in Parallels and want to move to 64 bit on Boot Camp at a later time, you can with much less fuss than OEM.

32 should be fine for your needs, I would recommend it even i you had 4 GB for compatibility's sake. It will be a bit tight though since both SL and Win7 run best with at least 2 GB to themselves.

Just for reference 4 GB for most any recent MacBook is ~$100 and well worth it if you are planning on virtualizing Windows regularly.

My advice...if you are planning to run Windows 7 on a mac...do it on bootcamp and not parallels..This way, you will enjoy the beauty of the Mac the way it was meant to be and also get to see 'Win XP in a frock'

Definitely, with 2GB Windows 7 would be much more comfortable in Boot Camp, but you don't need to pick either/or. You can install in Boot Camp and then virtualize that same installation in Parallels. (At a very slight performance hit over running a dedicated Parallels install.)

B

 

[maflynn]

If you're running windows 7 in a vm, either parallels or vmware, then there's almost no reason to buy the 64bit version of win7. So if you continue down the path of purchasing the OEM version of win7, make sure you select the 32bit flavor.

Upgrade to SL first, then parallels 4 and then upgrade to version 5. I'd hold off on install win7 until you have version 5 installed. If parallels is anything like vmware, you'll be able to take advantage of better performance by creating the vm under the new version instead of the old version.

 

[rcioppa]

Going to Snow Leopard......

Hi maflynn

Thank you for the information from your experience. Each response to my post is adding knowledge which I most definitely need.

Had some real horror stories with Parallels 3 it was always bumpy at best and always wanting too much attention and time. I hate to do P4 then P5 but if I go that route I appreciate your feedback. Sounds like you had good luck.

Thanks for your '2 cents', more deals like this I need!

Thank you
RickC

 

[rcioppa]

Going to Snow Leopard......

Thank you balamw for the info on installing in Boot Camp and then virtualizing that same installation in Parallels if I choose. Was not aware of that option. Just because I bought the Parallels ($19.00) does not mean I have to use it immediately. That was a great insight, blessings for that one.

I am glad that I now have an option to "install in Boot Camp and then virtualize that same installation in Parallels". This is the path of least resistance with the least bit of innovation allowing for more variables, not what I need!!

With the full version initially at 32bit I bet I will be up and running and be quite conten there. Unfortunately, after some checking I am finding out that my MacBook has a 2 gig max. Imagine 4gig for $100 bucks what a deal!

Thanks again
RickC

 

[jtara]

A Win7 install on a machine that has XP installed does NOT "have to gut" the XP installation. However, in most cases, you wouldn't have a legal license for XP after installation of a Win7 upgrade package. There seems to be a lot of confusion about this due to a much-quoted and incorrect statement about Win7 "reformatting" the existing installation.

No. No, no, and no again. That's just plain wrong.

It only does that IF YOU TELL IT TO. You can also tell it to install into a different partition. A qualifying and activated OS has to be attached to the machine at the time of installation. That is the requirement, period. In my case (using VMWare, not Parallels) I satisfied that requirement by temporarily attaching my Windows XP virtual disk to the virtual machine I was building, then disconnecting it once installation was done.

I recommend installing the 64-bit version unless you are short on memory. (Upgrade to 4GB RAM.) The 64-bit version runs faster, for a number of reasons - faster overall instruction set, VT instructions that are unavailable for a 32-bit guest.

BTW, the latest VMWare update (3.01) significantly increased graphics performance. On my Macbook the graphics performance went from 2.9 (3.0) to 5.0 (3.01), Not sure how this compares to Parallels performance.

 

[rcioppa]

Going to SL......

Thanks jtara

Everyone is adding a good bit of info for me. I was really close to buying the VMware based on what I was reading until P5 came out. My MacBook cannot go higher than 2Gb. I plan to do the Bootcamp install with the 32 bit version of Win 7.

The info I am getting on Logos (Bible Software) is that it is real happy with Win 7. I need to run this Looks like a new Mac later this year with more firepower.

have you heard that there is a recommendation I read that says while installing Win & do not add the serial number until later activation? Is this true or not? I could never install Win OS without adding the serial number.

 

[balamw]

A qualifying and activated OS has to be attached to the machine at the time of installation.

That's just not so. It is entirely possible to clean install from retail upgrade packaging. Of course you need a previous license to qualify for the pricing.

Here's a link to a guide http://www.winsupersite.com/win7/clean_install_upgrade_media.asp

B

 

[maflynn]

A qualifying and activated OS has to be attached to the machine at the time of installation. That is the requirement, period.

That's actually not entirely true. While I own a license for both XP and Vista I do not have them installed on my computer. Yet I was able to install windows 7 easily on my MBP even though I had no qualifying and activated OS. As balamw posted there are easy work arounds. for me while time consuming, I did the good ol' "double install" method.

 

[balamw]

I did the good ol' "double install" method.

AKA, method #3 from the link I provided.

B