Parallels Vs. Fusion 2

[nic01scgt]

I know this question is played out to death but I have a specific question about the two programs. I have some classes coming up this semester where I need to use MS Office (specifically Excel and Word) and I have heard bad things about MS Office 2008 for Mac. I'm going to be learning specific things in Excel for Windows so I'd like the software on my computer to be identical for practicing at home. I'm only going to be using Windows for Excel and Word so I was wondering which program would be better for me.

Also, my Mac only has 1 GB of ram and 56GB of HD space left. Will this be a problem running either of these 2 programs? If so can anyone link to me RAM that will work in an Intel powered Mac?

Thanks!

 

[nic01scgt]

Anyone?

 

[Synaesthesia242]

I prefer VMWare Fusion. 1gb works barely - you want at least 2gb RAM. What Mac do you have?

There is a free option in Sun's Virtualbox - give that a shot first.

 

[fhall1]

Your disk space isn't a problem, but 1G of RAM will really slow them down since you have to devote some RAM to the Mac OS and some to the virtual OS....most likely 512M each....assuming you run WinXP or Win7, 512M is pretty much a bare minimum requirement (forget about Vista - it'll run, but not well).

 

[EmperorDarius]

Parallels is much better than VMware, but anyway, I think you'd be better off with Crossover:

http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/

Supported Applications

CrossOver Mac is capable of running a range of Windows software. To see if your favorite application is supported, please check our CrossOver Compatibility Center.

CodeWeavers officially supports the following applications:

Microsoft Office 2007, 2003, XP, 2000 and 97
Microsoft Word
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft PowerPoint
Microsoft Outlook
Microsoft Access *1
Microsoft Internet Explorer 6
Microsoft Project
Microsoft Visio
Quicken
and more...

 

[Detektiv-Pinky]

I know this question is played out to death but I have a specific question about the two programs. I have some classes coming up this semester where I need to use MS Office (specifically Excel and Word) and I have heard bad things about MS Office 2008 for Mac. I'm going to be learning specific things in Excel for Windows so I'd like the software on my computer to be identical for practicing at home. I'm only going to be using Windows for Excel and Word so I was wondering which program would be better for me.

Also, my Mac only has 1 GB of ram and 56GB of HD space left. Will this be a problem running either of these 2 programs? If so can anyone link to me RAM that will work in an Intel powered Mac?

Thanks!

Try Virtualbox, install Windows XP and set the RAM used by windows to 256MB, if you are only running XP and Office, 5-10GB HDD should be sufficient. This should be workable on your current machine...

 

[Tomorrow]

If you're only going to run Word and Excel, try Crossover. You won't have to buy a copy of Windows.

(BTW - Office 2008 is fine, I don't know why so many people slam it)

 

[MacDawg]

OK, my 2¢ since others are weighing in

Crossover will probably be fine for your needs and doesn't require Windows

I use VMware Fusion and have no issues
Both Parallels and Fusion have their fans, and I can't say one is clearly better

I prefer Office 2004 over 2008 on the Mac
But I would use 2003 or 2007 for Windows over either in college for compatibility, etc

Woof, Woof - Dawg

 

[nic01scgt]

Crossover sounds like a great idea, however, Excel only got rated a bronze metal in regards to compatability so I'm not sure it will run effectively for me. Thanks for the suggestions though.