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Parallels Desktop or Bootcamp for my MB pro
- Thread starter MrRich87
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Aha, so that explains why the gaming performance on my Mac is utter crap with the demo of Parallels 6 I got 2 day's ago? I was wondering why I couldn't take advantage of these wonderful games improvements. But I thought Windows only saw the discrete card?
You might be right actually...
whatever the case is, I'm not able to utilize the full 1gb of the graphics card. I believe I'm limited to 256mb
Once I make a partition for Windows/Bootcamp, can I adjust the size of it depending on if I choose to use it more or less? What is a good size to start out with?
I built a 50 Gb partition of W7 and find that I've got 20 Gb spare. I've got some random files and bits and pieces, and some small games. I think the operating system alone demands 20 Gb (so you have some headroom), so add any storage required for the games you have in mind.
There is no stock or easy way to change partition sizes. Gaming in a VM is always rough. Parallels theoretically supports hardware acceleration now, but that's a stretch given how many resources the VM itself uses. That being said, the original version of Roller Coaster Tycoon runs well in an XP VM. You can even mount the CD as a virtual drive so you don't actually need the CD. Works great. 
If you want to play real games, use Boot Camp. However, you can boot off of your Boot Camp partition with Parallels, you just can't suspend/resume it. That way you could reboot in Boot Camp for games, and just use Parallels without the reboot for everything else. I personally don't need Boot Camp, so I don't have it.
If you want to play real games, use Boot Camp. However, you can boot off of your Boot Camp partition with Parallels, you just can't suspend/resume it. That way you could reboot in Boot Camp for games, and just use Parallels without the reboot for everything else. I personally don't need Boot Camp, so I don't have it.Once you set the partiton size, its pretty much permanent (there are a few risky ways to resize). I set 100GB for mine and have a full disk. I'd say you should figure out what games you want, determine their size, then add another 30GB for windows/free space.
You're virtualizing windows, and virtualizing a computer which doesn't exist through software, there is no way in hell you're going to be gaming in a virtual machine with good results.
Bootcamp allows you to use all of the hardware's power, virtualizatino like VMware or Parallels can't do that.
Alright guys, I'll go with a 50GB partition, is bootcamp assistant pretty straight forward at getting this setup? I'm thinking of using W7 Ultimate 64bit.
yes, just go through the assistant, and remember to put the osx install dvd in after you see the windows desktop so you can update drivers. Also, know that you're only going to have around 25-30GB free with a 50GB partition... you can turn off hibernation and paging to recover some of the lost space.
Why would I use the OSX dvd's if I'm installing windows and since I'm running lion, won't that not work?
i forgot lion would change things... it seems the new procedure is to have an ms-dos formatted hard drive or cd/dvd that bootcamp assistant will write the drivers to. You still need to connect/insert this disk once you see the windows desktop.
Did you have tO get two different product keys for that? Cuz I'd like this option that you say you have but I don't wanna pay for parallels, and two keys. That's over $300
you can do it with one key, though it may nagg you for the first few switches about windows not being activated, so keep your key handy.
What do you mean? Sorry I don't mean to sound stupid but I don't know how parallels works yet as I don't get my Mac til this weekend and haven't been able to check it out
basically you install windows as normal, then you install parallels and select your windows partition as a virtual machine