what is the difference between parallels and bootcamp?

[spitfyre]

Hey there,
I am planning on purchasing my first Macbook shortly, so I am new to Apple. I was wondering if anyone could explain the difference between Parallels and Bootcamp to me. I know that Bootcamp comes with Leopard, so I'm just wondering why one would want Parallels.

Also, if you save, lets say, a word processing file or an mp3 while in Windows, will it be available to you in Leopard? I'm a bit confused about that whole two operating systems thing works.

Thanks!

 

[heaven]

LINK

I'm a avid Windows-on-Mac user, and have often explained the differences between the different ways to run Windows applications on Intel-based Macs with three bullet points for each. Because I see the question asked over and over, I thought I'd post those bullets here in the hopes it provides the quick answer to the differences between them. If people find this useful, I can keep it up-to-date as new features and versions are available.

"Which is best?" is a question I'm not trying to answer below, as that depends on too many other variables. Due to their similar approaches, it's hardest to answer that question for Parallels vs. VMware Fusion, but there's a good comprehensive comparison of VMware Fusion and Parallels Desktop on Wikipedia.


Boot Camp: part of Mac OS X v10.5 Leopard ($130 if it didn't come with your Mac), but you supply Windows

• "Run Windows on your Mac." You can boot OS X normally, or boot Windows, and need to reboot when you want to switch. Almost all Windows applications, including games, work.
• Windows XP 32-bit or Vista 32-bit are limited to 2GB of RAM on a Mac under Boot Camp. Sorry.
• Driver support rocks on XP 32-bit or Vista 32-bit. The "early 2008" Mac Pros and MacBook Pros also ship with Vista 64-bit drivers (Boot Camp 2.0.1+), although no XP Professional x64 Edition support.

CrossOver Mac: $40 for standard or games versions, $60 for pro version with both and better support (+$10 for CD), no Windows needed

• Runs some 32-bit Windows applications natively under OS X, seamlessly, typically at native speed, including a few 3D games. CrossOver maps Windows API calls to OS X.
• The list of applications officially supported is short, notably most Microsoft Office-related applications, Internet Explorer 6 (not 7), some games (like Team Fortress 2, Half Life 2, Prey, etc.), Quicken, and Lotus Notes.
• Other Windows programs may work acceptably (like µTorrent) or may not (like most games, Internet Explorer 7, etc.) so it can be tough to rely on CrossOver exclusively if your Windows needs are broad.

Parallels Desktop for Mac: $80 (+$15 for CD), but you supply Windows

• Runs most 32-bit Windows applications in a virtual machine (VM) under OS X, seamlessly ("Coherence"), typically with a minor speed penalty due to virtualization, including some 3D games.
• High file integration with OS X, with files from the Windows VMs available to OS X ("Complete Shared Folders" and "Parallels Explorer"), and auto-launching Windows applications from OS X or vice-versa ("SmartSelect"). But, limited to 2GB of RAM per VM, with 4GB total across VMs and one CPU core.
• Multiple suspended snapshots of a VM supported ("Snapshot Manager").

VMware Fusion: $80 (not including $20-$30 rebate available), but you supply Windows

• Runs most 32-bit and 64-bit Windows applications in a virtual machine under OS X, seamlessly ("Unity"), typically with a minor speed penalty due to virtualization, including some 3D games.
• High access to memory and multiple CPU cores, with per VM access to 1-2 CPU cores and 8GB of RAM, and automatically shares memory that is common across VMs. But, limited to one suspended snapshot per VM.
• Compatible with VMware Virtual Appliances and Virtual Machines that are popular in Enterprise IT environments, including over 60 different operating systems.

 

[JLatte]

Hey there,
I am planning on purchasing my first Macbook shortly, so I am new to Apple. I was wondering if anyone could explain the difference between Parallels and Bootcamp to me. I know that Bootcamp comes with Leopard, so I'm just wondering why one would want Parallels.

Also, if you save, lets say, a word processing file or an mp3 while in Windows, will it be available to you in Leopard? I'm a bit confused about that whole two operating systems thing works.

Thanks!

Boot camp runs as a 2nd partition on your hard drive. Think of it as cutting your drive into two sections, one that runs Leopard, the other that runs Windows. The thing is that with bootcamp, you boot directly into the operating system. You're either starting up in Leopard, OR you're starting up in Windows. If you run as Leopard, the computer will act as though it's the only operating system on your computer, and vice versa if you start Windows.

Parallels (or VMWare Fusion) allows you to run a virtual instance of Windows (or whichever you want) within Leopard. Think of it as an application that runs as Windows, and you can run it inside Leopard at near native speeds of windows. The disadvantage is that if you want to do gaming or something that requires a lot of processor power, you're going to have some slight slowdowns running very intensive applications within Parallels (unless you're running on say, a quad core computer).

Another option is installing boot camp, and creating a parallels instance that uses your boot camp as it's window mode. This way you can boot directly into windows through boot camp, OR you can access it through Leopard without having to reboot. It's not quite as snappy on the startup, but it works.

For you since you're using a Macbook, I'd recommend Parallels if you're just going to be doing certain word processing, etc, although you can do that as well in Leopard. You can also drag and drop .mp3 files, docs, etc from Parallels straight to Leopard desktop and it will be transferred over to Leopard. Any files you open in windows while in Parallels however, will open IN windows with whatever application is set to open them.

Hope this answers your question.

 

[spitfyre]

Thanks!

Thanks so much for the prompt replies! It does sound like Parallels would make more sense for me, but the fact that it doesn't come with Leopard is a bummer. As a student I don't think I'll be able to add that to the tab

 

[SnowLeopard2008]

Boot Camp lets you boot into Windows from startup. Everything is exactly the way it is on a PC laptop. Native speeds and everything. You choose which OS you want to work with by choosing it at startup.

Parallels/Fusion lets you use Mac OS X simultaneously with Windows, Linux, etc. It's an application within the OS itself, and emulates the guest OS. The host OS is Leopard in this case. But you sacrifice speed, since it is emulation/virtualization. You can't play games (not recent games, only those ancient games like Halo 1, CoD 1, etc) or use intensive graphics even if you have the best gpu out there.

One lets you boot into Windows (and only Windows). Parallels/Fusion lets you use multiple OS under Leopard. You can choose from Solaris, Linux distros, UNIX, Leopard Server, etc. The list goes on and on.

As a side note, I've tested both Fusion and Parallels. If you decide to go with the virtualization option, Parallels is much better. No in terms of cutting edge, but it's smoother and more graceful. It dynamically adjusts itself when using the CPU. Fusion is ... just not as smooth and does not fuse together to form a single solid app. It's good, but it's very rough. Parallels has a much better UI and is much smoother. It's newer too.

 

[Tomorrow]

Thanks so much for the prompt replies! It does sound like Parallels would make more sense for me, but the fact that it doesn't come with Leopard is a bummer. As a student I don't think I'll be able to add that to the tab

You can get an academic license for VMware Fusion, and it will run your Boot Camp partition as a virtual machine.

More simply, if you install Windows on a Boot Camp partition, then install Fusion under OS X, you can simply point Fusion to your Boot Camp partition and start it up as a virtual machine under OS X. Works like a champ!

 

[mongrol]

Use www.virtualbox.org instead. Its free.

 

[Wolfpup]

From what I've heard from several co-workers, I'd go with VMWare's product over Parallels if you want to go that route. Among other things, they both think it nails the basics better (including stability), and does a better job allowing you to use your Boot Camp partition within OS X. (Handy so you don't have to install and maintain Windows twice.)