I have a MacBook Pro retina 2013 (2.4ghz, 8 gb ram) using parallels desktop 9 and I was wondering if I should use the 32 bit windows 8 because I'm only going to be dedicating 3 gb of ram to windows. Should I still go with 64 bit, even when I don't have 4gb of ram to dedicate? Or should I use 32 bit.
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Should I use 32 bit or 64 bit windows 8 with parallels desktop 9
- Thread starter OLGC2977
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I guess some of the answer would relate to what software you are going to un on the Win machine side.
And, for what it is worth, I would do WIN7 - appears to be more stable from what I am aware of - which is not much by the way.
And, for what it is worth, I would do WIN7 - appears to be more stable from what I am aware of - which is not much by the way.
I agree. For a VM Win 8 is pointless. Win 8 is MUCH more useful on a touchscreen device than on a non-touchscreen. Win 7 is stable and is still supported for the foreseeable future. Unless you're developing and need to test Win 8 compatibility...
If you're positive you'll be using less than 4GB, it's better to go with 32-bit Windows - it will work better on only 3GB of RAM.
Also I think W8 has some advantages with Retina screens. And it's overall a little faster and snappier than W7.
If you already have W7, may as well see how that works, but I'd recommend W8.1 for most folks.
I'm really not a fan of W8's UI changes (though W8.1 is now almost as usable as W7), but one thing that W8 has going for it is much improved boot times... which can be quite convenient in a VM. W8.1/Parallels VM booting off an SSD, about 10 sec from start to desktop. Suspend/resume about 5 sec.
Also I think W8 has some advantages with Retina screens. And it's overall a little faster and snappier than W7.
If you already have W7, may as well see how that works, but I'd recommend W8.1 for most folks.
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