Also, virtualization is an issue when using audio and video. Doesn't totally access drivers or GPU (unless someone can help me with some tips to do).
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Is there any reason to run Boot Camp nowadays?
- Thread starter mossme89
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Also, virtualization is an issue when using audio and video. Doesn't totally access drivers or GPU (unless someone can help me with some tips to do).
One drawback to Boot Camp, unfortunately, is that Apple’s keyboard drivers don’t support lower case.
I have been going through this myself recently. I have an iMac with Fusion drive. The problem with that is that when the Bootcamp system partitions the hard drive to install Windows, it only uses the spinning platter part of the Fusion drive (the reason for this is that Fusion is a hybrid drive managed by MacOS, and Windows doesn't understand it).
The end result is that running Windows, especially updates, is dead slow. I gave up after it took me 90 minutes to upgrade from Win 10 1809 to 1903.
I now run Windows on my iMac on an external SSD.
For small jobs (editing files, etc) I also have an installation of Windows as a Virtual Machine.
The end result is that running Windows, especially updates, is dead slow. I gave up after it took me 90 minutes to upgrade from Win 10 1809 to 1903.
I now run Windows on my iMac on an external SSD.
For small jobs (editing files, etc) I also have an installation of Windows as a Virtual Machine.
I’m sure I sound so slow in this regard, but I’m having massive trouble getting bootcamp going. I have a Win10 VM but I can only use 1/2 my CPU cores and can’t use my GPU (can I??), it’s far too weak to run the game I want in Win10 (victim of Epic vs Apple 😔), which is the only reason I have for even messing with it. I have both VMware and Parallels but i can’t seem to get enough power to play at even basic settings while I can play on “High” on my machine’s true specs.
Windows 10 is really picky about installing on the Mac internal drive. If it has ever been partitioned then it almost certainly won't work. I find that I have to --
- Back up my current system with TimeMachine
- Boot into Recovery mode and rebuild my Fusion Drive with the command 'diskutil resetFusion' as per this page.
- Restore your system from TimeMachine. This will take some time. Go read a good book. I recommend "Humble Pi" by Matt Parker.
- Boot back into MacOS and start the Bootcamp process. It should now be able to work.
If memory serves me, you should be able select as many cores as you need, but you are correct, you have no direct access to the GPU.
Correct, its not meant to replace direct hardware and play games at a high performance. The overhead and lack of direct hardware is the major culprits.
Guess it all comes down to your needs. I had an 8-year-old dual-core i5 HP desktop computer that I wanted to replace. I only used it to run GIS software (for making maps) that isn't available on the Mac. Took a chance that it could be replaced with a new i7 six-core Mini with 64gb RAM. Didn't like the idea of using bootcamp, since then I wouldn't be able to use it as Mac during long compiles under Windows, so I installed Windows 10 under Parallels.
Works better than I ever hoped, the same software from my old Windows PC runs much, much faster and I have had zero problems in three months of heavy use (have spent more time in Windows than MacOS actually). So this has really been a perfect solution for me, although I can appreciate that it wouldn't be right for somebody that wants to play games or run software like video editors, etc.
I also have over $5000 of legacy 32-bit Mac software on a couple old Macs. But now I run it all on the new Mini in Mountain Lion and Sierra virtual machines. So, I've replaced three old computers with a single new one and everything runs much better than it did on the original machines.
Many years ago, I ran Windows 95 (?) under Virtual PC on my PowerBook G3 (the big, black curvy one). That worked, but it sure was slow and buggy. Later, I ran Windows XP in Parallels on my 2008 MacBook Pro. That was certainly better, but still pretty slow and buggy. Coming back to Parallels almost 10 years later now, I'm very impressed. Haven't had a single crash yet and I really like the integration with MacOS. So - for me - I'd say there isn't any reason to use bootcamp. But that's just me.
FWIW, the regular version of Parallels is limited to two CPU cores and 16gb of RAM, which is why I went with the pro version. I'm using two cores and 32gb RAM for Windows and don't seem to need any more than that for now.
Works better than I ever hoped, the same software from my old Windows PC runs much, much faster and I have had zero problems in three months of heavy use (have spent more time in Windows than MacOS actually). So this has really been a perfect solution for me, although I can appreciate that it wouldn't be right for somebody that wants to play games or run software like video editors, etc.
I also have over $5000 of legacy 32-bit Mac software on a couple old Macs. But now I run it all on the new Mini in Mountain Lion and Sierra virtual machines. So, I've replaced three old computers with a single new one and everything runs much better than it did on the original machines.
Many years ago, I ran Windows 95 (?) under Virtual PC on my PowerBook G3 (the big, black curvy one). That worked, but it sure was slow and buggy. Later, I ran Windows XP in Parallels on my 2008 MacBook Pro. That was certainly better, but still pretty slow and buggy. Coming back to Parallels almost 10 years later now, I'm very impressed. Haven't had a single crash yet and I really like the integration with MacOS. So - for me - I'd say there isn't any reason to use bootcamp. But that's just me.
FWIW, the regular version of Parallels is limited to two CPU cores and 16gb of RAM, which is why I went with the pro version. I'm using two cores and 32gb RAM for Windows and don't seem to need any more than that for now.