VMware performance with or without Boot Camp?

[majordude]

I just bought a top of the line iMac. I have VMware 4.1.

I need Windows to run certain software that is only available on PC. I was thinking of setting up an XP machine in VMware since it should(?) require less overhead than Windows 7.

But I have this monster with an i7 core and 16GB memory. I could set up Boot Camp with Windows 7 which could use the quad cores and run it like a bat out of hell. So I could play games if I ever wanted to.

I guessing Windows 7 on Boot Camp will work fine in VMware but i have no experience with it.

Are there any issues with running Boot Camp in VMware I should be aware of? Or Windows 7 in VMware?

 

[torid110]

I am using this setup on my MBP with no issues. I boot into bootcamp when i need to do anything graphics intensive like gaming. And i stay in vmware when i need to do anything else (work related).

 

[Don Kosak]

Here's what I'd recommend.

Setup Windows 7 in VMware first. It works great, even for many games.

When you set it up, bump the number of cores assigned to your vm. Use at least 2, but you can use more if you'd like.

Try out your Applications, and if needed, tweak things like video memory, and RAM in your vm's settings to make everything work really smooth.

I've got a 2011 iMac with the high end i7 processor, etc. I had no need to play with bootcamp or "dual boot". Virtualization works great.

Only play with Bootcamp if you can't get the performance or hardware support you need out of VMware.

Bootcamp doesn't require (or use) VMware. Mind you, it requires rebooting your iMac into Windows (making your Mac OS X stuff unavailable...) and it's not nearly as convenient as using VMware.

Really, if you have VMware already, the only reason to look at Bootcamp is if you have a really new game that runs full screen, full resolution, 60 frames a second with a lot of effects and high CPU utilization. And even then, you'll find that many of those games work surprisingly well under the latest version of Parallels or VMware.

I used Bootcamp a lot on my 2006 iMac C2D. I haven't needed to use Bootcamp once after getting my 2011 iMac i7.

You've got a very capable machine there. Enjoy.

 

[majordude]

Setup Windows 7 in VMware first.

Well, if I do it this way I'd use XP. It needs less memory to run so it should run faster than Win7 with the same memory allocated.