I Present My case...which VM software?

[ohla313]

I read the threads on the VM software out there but didn't see one that answered what I was wondering. I am new to virtualization software so am a bit cautious with this whole thing.

I am not sure either to get Fusion or Parallels for my 2010 13" C2D MacBook Pro. This is a list of what I want/need and if someone can tell me which is my best bet, I would greatly appreciate the responses.

-I want to run Windows inside OS X so I can access Mac and Windows programs simultaneously.
-I would love to install Windows on an external hard drive so I wouldn't need to partition my already small internal hard drive. So whenever I need to use Windows I just plug in the external and use it.
-Also would USB or firewire be best for the external hard drive?

Thank you!

 

[simsaladimbamba]

-I want to run Windows inside OS X so I can access Mac and Windows programs simultaneously.

That's what VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop (and VirtualBox) are meant to do.

-I would love to install Windows on an external hard drive so I wouldn't need to partition my already small internal hard drive. So whenever I need to use Windows I just plug in the external and use it.

That's what VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop are capable of.

-Also would USB or firewire be best for the external hard drive?

If you mean Firewire 800, the Firewire 800, but USB 2.0 might be totally okay for you needs, which you didn't state yet.

Using MRoogle would have answered those questions though.

 

[alust2013]

Both programs will allow you to run both OS simultaneously, although I'm not sure how to do the external part of it. If you do use an external with it, go with firewire. It's going to make an already slowish VM slower though.

I believe both will give you a 30 day free trial, so you can just try and see which you like better.

 

[ohla313]

Thank you alust2013 and simsaladimbamba for your replies!

So Fusion and Parallels can run while I run OS X? I thought that one of them was only capable of working if I reboot my laptop into the OS or is that a different sort of VM?

 

[balamw]

Thank you alust2013 and simsaladimbamba for your replies!

So Fusion and Parallels can run while I run OS X? I thought that one of them was only capable of working if I reboot my laptop into the OS or is that a different sort of VM?

You are thinking of Boot Camp which is natively running Windows on your Mac.

Virtualbox is another free VM solution generally equivalent to Parallels or VMWare Fusion.

B

 

[ohla313]

Oh I see, thank you!

So which would be better in running from an external hard drive? I really do not want to have to partition my internal drive. I don't see myself using Windows very often but only in crucial times so I don't always need the partition there.

 

[mikes63737]

Use Fusion, Parallels, or VirtualBox. They meet both of your requirements.
Bootcamp does not.

I would recommend getting a FireWire 800 HD and trying VirtualBox first because it is free. If it meets your needs, you save $100 or so.

 

[balamw]

Oh I see, thank you!

So which would be better in running from an external hard drive? I really do not want to have to partition my internal drive. I don't see myself using Windows very often but only in crucial times so I don't always need the partition there.

Any of the three VM solutions will work there. The VM itself is just a bunch of files. I keep one VM I don't need speed for on my network drive.

Whether it will work well for you from the external we'd need to know more about what you want to do while in Windows.

B

 

[ohla313]

would FW 800 be the fastest? I am on a budget so I'm hoping for a cheap hard drive and enclosure or cheap external.. If I buy a SATA drive would a Firewire external enclosure work with it?

 

[simsaladimbamba]

would FW 800 be the fastest?

Yes, if you have the 2010 MBP. But the Gigabit Ethernet port can be faster, but you need an external HDD with that port.

If I buy a SATA drive would a Firewire external enclosure work with it?

Yes, if the enclosure is made for that kind of HDD (S-ATA or P-ATA (IDE)) and the size (3.5" - desktop; 2.5" - laptop).

 

[dyn]

Oh I see, thank you!

So which would be better in running from an external hard drive? I really do not want to have to partition my internal drive. I don't see myself using Windows very often but only in crucial times so I don't always need the partition there.

You don't need to because the vm applications will create a virtual disk which is either 1 big file or several smaller ones; in Fusion you can manually set it to split it up into smaller files of x GB although it is recommended to simply use the defaults. With Fusion, Parallels and VirtualBox 4 (not previous versions!) the vm is just a folder with a bunch of files. That's why you don't need to do anything with your disk. Simply install the software, create a vm and run it.

You can use your internal disk but this will affect the overall speed of the machine. Putting the vm's on an external disk will speed things up (use fw800 if possible, it's better for things like this than usb2). Some (like me) have replaced the internal drive with an ssd. These are very fast disks that will make running several vm's possible (even without you knowing you're actually running them). Unfortunately this is also the most costly speed upgrade. Since you only want to run it sometimes you're better off by simply using the internal drive.