Parallels vs. Boot Camp

[Ryand123]

On my old Intel Mac I had Bootcamp installed. Almost held off on buying an M1 Mac due to lack of it, but decided to get one anyway and try Parallels. Honestly, I think I like this better. The separate boot up was always a pain because you had to hit the keyboard just right to trigger the choice between Windows and Mac HD. And it's sort of easier to have it as sort of like an app within MacOS. (Is that what it basically is? I don't understand this "virtual machine" stuff or what that even means).

Plus I almost feel like it looks better. Windows through Bootcamp never seemed to look quite right with the 5K Retina display. Parallels somehow looks a little better to me and I see it is set to a setting "best for retina display".

So maybe lack of Bootcamp is kind of irrelevant?

 

[bobcomer]

Hardly irrelevant, but it does depend on what you need to do with Windows. There are things that virtualization like Parallels doesn't do very well, like real time software, gaming, and controlling specialized hardware, but if you don't need any of that, something like Parallels can do all you need. I never used bootcamp myself, because I didn't need anything like that either.

There is a question of supported hardware for running Windows on Arm in Parallels (or fusion), but if you're not a corporate guy using it for work, it actually works pretty well. There are a few things that wont run, but that's few and far between.

 

[maflynn]

Bootcamp has its place for some people who own intel macs. I will say that if you need performance, like game playing,or apps that need a lot of performance. Bootcamp is by the best option.

I'm rather underwhelmed with Parallels on my M1. Its not parallels fault, but rather the version of windows on the ARM. Prior to buying the M1 MBP, I kept reading about how compatible windows arm is, and how great of a job parallels does with compatibility as well.

Much of the software I use, including my work's VPN does not work. This isn't apple's fault, and I'm not blaming them, but rather some of the hype that seemed to be built up about windows arm (at least early on when parallels came out).

Maybe one of these days ARM based windows will have the same level of compatibility as MacOS has with running intel based apps, but its not there yet.

 

[Boyd01]

I don't have an M1 Mac but I use Windows 10 heavily on a 2018 i7 Mini with 64gb RAM. Really impressed with how well this works. Just about all I do in Windows is run GlobalMapper, a professional GIS application for making maps. I have processed over 8tb of geodata over the summer, the end result of which was creating about 40 million map tiles for my web app (map tiles are 256x256-pixel .png or .jpg files).

I am using a 32gb/6-core VM in Parallels and it works quite well, I continue to use Mac apps while the Windows software exports files - often running 24/7. I suppose might be a little faster in Bootcamp, but being able to seamlessly switch between Windows and MacOS is worth any performance penalty.

I took a gamble when I got the Mini in 2020 that it could also replace my old Windows 7 HP desktop machine. Really wasn't sure it would work, but it has just blown me away. It's much faster than the old PC. And the great thing is, I only need to use Windows for that specific GIS software and can do everything else in MacOS. So, no need for duplicate Windows apps, no need to transfer files of the network.

I am skeptical that this would work so well for me on an M1 Mac, but hopefully things will improve there. In the meantime, I am happy with the Intel Mini and sure it will continue to meet my needs for a few more years. I used to run Windows XP in Bootcamp on my 2008 MBP at work before I retired, it would get so hot I couldn't put it on my lap, LOL. Tried Parallels back then and it was just too crash-prone. But they have come a long way since then.

An added plus is the ability to run MacOS VM's in Parallels on Intel Macs. I use a Mountain Lion and a Sierra VM often with some very expensive legacy 32-bit Mac apps. That has saved me a lot of money on upgrades and the VM's are much faster than the old Macs I used for this software in the past.

I stopped playing computer games back around 2001 and have no interest in them, but I can understand why Parallels might not be the best solution for that.

 

[Gerdi]

Much of the software I use, including my work's VPN does not work. This isn't apple's fault, and I'm not blaming them, but rather some of the hype that seemed to be built up about windows arm (at least early on when parallels came out).

Maybe one of these days ARM based windows will have the same level of compatibility as MacOS has with running intel based apps, but its not there yet.

Some VPNs have a kernel mode component. Such SW will never be emulated neither on MacOS nor on Windows. You should be preparing for a very long waiting time

 

[maflynn]

Some VPNs have a kernel mode component

Sadly, the cisco anyconnect is reported as compatible, but the latest builds of the software no longer works. I'm not hopeful that it will ever work, but at one point it did

 

[Gerdi]

Sadly, the cisco anyconnect is reported as compatible, but the latest builds of the software no longer works. I'm not hopeful that it will ever work, but at one point it did

Cisco AnyConnect VPN does have a native ARM64 build since version 4.8 - there is not even emulation involved. Did you check if you were trying to install the x64 version perhaps?

 

[maflynn]

Cisco AnyConnect VPN does have a native ARM64 build since version 4.8 - there is not even emulation involved. Did you check if you were trying to install the x64 version perhaps?

Yeah, I was unsuccessful in finding it. My company doesn't offer it and googling it presents some download locations that are questionable at best

I appreciate the suggestion

 

[Thysanoptera]

Yeah, I was unsuccessful in finding it. My company doesn't offer it and googling it presents some download locations that are questionable at best

I appreciate the suggestion

If the company allows personal machines to VPN ask them to download it from Cisco for you. Somebody in IT has Cisco login and can get it. Or look at colleges websites, pretty safe.