Will parallels 11 or boot camp run windows 10 better?

[Candurin]

i really lucked out and scored a brand new in box 2.9ghz/8gb/512gb 13" rMBP for $1350 on eBay (I really wanted 16gb ram but price was too good to pass up).

I need to use windows for some work applications (namely autocad2015, office and our sql based ERP platform).

Dual booting may be a pain down the line. Assuming I am not running anything that hogs up ram, would parallels typically run fine, or does it take a performance hit over boot camp?

Just gathering information before I start setting up my new MB.

Thanks in advance!

 

[alexmarchuk]

Dual booting on anything with EFI and SSD is super fast, don't even think about it.

Use Bootcamp. Parallels is running OS X and virtualizing Windows at the same time, it will obviously take a hit.

 

[Cuniac]

Parallels is emulation software that allows you to run it at the same time you are in the Mac OS.
Boot Camp is running Windows Natively on your Mac just as if it was any other Windows PC.

BootCamp will allow Windows to fully utilize your hardware to its full potential. It will be the desired from of use if your using Games or anything that is going to require speed. It is the best option to run Windows as it is native, However, you will need to boot back and fourth from Mac to Windows in order to switch.

Parallels will allow you to run Windows at the same time as your Mac and has features that make it seems as if its all just one hybrid OS. You can use all your windows apps and Mac apps at the same time and its very useful. However, things will not run full speed. Parallels is the fastest emulation software on the market but its still only going to run at 75% of what it would in BootCamp CPU wise and 50% or less of what your GPU would use in Boot Camp. This also depends on how many resources you assigned to Parallels so these number could be even lower.

If you have the Hard Drive space to spare to be able to create a Boot Camp partition I would do that 100%. Then if you want to (as I did) install Parallels and have it work off of your Boot Camp partition. This way you can have the Native full power when you need it, and they combo action of dual OS's on demand.

 

[Candurin]

If I am in the windows environment (using boot camp), can I natively access items on the Mac OS X partition? Or will I need 3rd party software such as mac drive to do so?

 

[StarShot]

If I am in the windows environment (using boot camp), can I natively access items on the Mac OS X partition? Or will I need 3rd party software such as mac drive to do so?

You have to reboot. I have Bootcamp on my iMac running Win10 and I have Parallels 10 running on my MBA, also running Win10. On the MBA, I do have a reason to quickly switch back and forth while on the iMac, I'm almost always in Windows.

While I don't have any data to back it up, I feel that both the iMac and the MBA boot and run Win 10 slower than they both did with Win 7 (never had Win 8).

If you're going to be switching back and forth, I think Parallels is the way to go. It takes my Bootcamp iMac some time to reboot, enough that I get scared it's going to fail to reboot although that hasn't happened.

 

[ApolloBoy]

If I am in the windows environment (using boot camp), can I natively access items on the Mac OS X partition? Or will I need 3rd party software such as mac drive to do so?

You can access items on your OS X partition but you can't write to it.

 

[Ambergris]

MacDrive Pro (by Mediafour) allows you to read and write to Mac disks, and can be used in Windows bootcamp to " open and edit your Mac files".

 

[Shirasaki]

If I am in the windows environment (using boot camp), can I natively access items on the Mac OS X partition? Or will I need 3rd party software such as mac drive to do so?

You have read only access as long as you have boot camp installed, which will install HFS+ driver for this purpose.

If you want to have r/w access, you will surely need third party software to do so.

 

[doynton]

If I am in the windows environment (using boot camp), can I natively access items on the Mac OS X partition? Or will I need 3rd party software such as mac drive to do so?

I use this http://www.paragon-software.com/home/hfs-windows-free/ to read/write the OSX partition. It is free and works fine on Windows 10.

I have VMware fusion but I almost never use it as bootcamp is so much faster. I don't know about Parallels but I guess it is the same. It takes about 10-15 seconds to shut down OSX and reboot to Windows desktop on my 2013 rMBP 13".

 

[jdmar2004]

I first ran windows 10 using parallels and it worked great but i only wanted windows for gaming. I then installed it with boot camp and the performance is so much better. Windows 10 is really fast but my mac runs way hotter than when i run os x. I've got a 2015 rMBP 15" 2.5 ghz with AMD Radeon graphics

 

[Gjwilly]

Any Mac with dedicated graphics is going to run hot and have greatly reduced battery life while in Bootcamp.

 

[macenied]

Any Mac with dedicated graphics is going to run hot and have greatly reduced battery life while in Bootcamp.

Yes. But please don´t stop here and also explain why: Because Apple refuses to provide graphics drivers that allow switching between the integrated and the dedicated GPU on those machines. As they do many things to make look OSX better.

Will this strategy pay off for Apple ? I doubt, because customers mature.

 

[boltjames]

I own an RMB and Windows 10 is running crazy fast and rock solid under Bootcamp, couldn't be happier.

I'm a Windows guy since 1995, have no need for OSX except for when I forget my iPhone in another room and want to send an iMessage, happens about once a month. Boot Camp is fantastic.

BJ

 

[Erastopic]

After experimenting with both Parallels 11 and the latest version of VMware, I found VMWare to somewhat improve the overall performance on my current Mac (Specs in my signature).

The lag was more or less gone but having too many things open in Windows 10 at the same time, caused my fans to start. But keep in mind that this is with every app on OS X El Capitan closed and translucency turned off in the Accessibility panel.

These are the settings I use on VMware for the performance I get.

Display - Turn off retina resolution & enabled Accelerated 3D graphics and kept it on 1024MB

Processors & Memory - Allowed RAM usage up to 3936MB & 2 cores. (I know alot of people will disagree on the RAM, but keep in mind that I do nothing on OS X once I have Windows 10 running.)

VMware allows you to install Windows 10 without doing a partition of your Mac's hard drive. You need alot of free space to do a partition, which means if you ever want that space back on your hard drive, you would need to remove Windows 10 completely.

Installing Windows 10 by using BootCamp gives you tons of more performance overall, not to mention running it off an SSD helps alot as well. If you want the full Windows 10 experience and plan to do alot of productive work, use BootCamp. If you just want to try out Windows 10 or use certain programs (not games) that is not supported on OS X, use a virtual machine software like VMware and Parallels.

 

[Candurin]

Well.. Thank you everyone for all the advice.

I'm now up and running with windows 10 (clean install, after upgrading from clean install of 8.1 - THIS cost me a few unnecessary hours).

I can boot to windows in under 15 seconds! Autocad 2016 is running just as fast as it does on my i7-4770k desktop. My RDP and VNC connections are also spot on!

Very pleased with the setup...

 

[St-knaus]

Well.. Thank you everyone for all the advice.

I'm now up and running with windows 10 (clean install, after upgrading from clean install of 8.1 - THIS cost me a few unnecessary hours).

I can boot to windows in under 15 seconds! Autocad 2016 is running just as fast as it does on my i7-4770k desktop. My RDP and VNC connections are also spot on!

Very pleased with the setup...

Hey, I didn't upgrade yet but plz let me know if you will have any trouble with installation, to check it for myself in future.
So jus post smth here or in other thread..

 

[randyrie]

i really lucked out and scored a brand new in box 2.9ghz/8gb/512gb 13" rMBP for $1350 on eBay (I really wanted 16gb ram but price was too good to pass up).

I need to use windows for some work applications (namely autocad2015, office and our sql based ERP platform).

Dual booting may be a pain down the line. Assuming I am not running anything that hogs up ram, would parallels typically run fine, or does it take a performance hit over boot camp?

Just gathering information before I start setting up my new MB.

Thanks in advance!

[doublepost=1453185577][/doublepost]I had been successfully running Windows 8 in a Bootcamp partition on my 16GB, 500GB SSD, 15" Macbook Pro Retina, first w/Yosemite then w/El Captain. After quite a number of nags from MS to upgrade to Win10, I decided to go ahead with trying 10 - - but as a virtual - - so I downloaded and installed Parallels Desktop 11 for Mac and then installed Win8 since I have a key for it.

After 8 was up and running, I downloaded the free Win10 update and installed it, with 10GB allocated for the virtual machine. Parallels and Window 10 work VERY well together on my Macbook. I am surprised how fast applications open and run in this virtual environment. I believe apps run as fast as they did under the Win8 Bootcamp partition.

So far, I am very pleased with the reliable performance and intuitive UI of Parallels Desktop and (I can't believe what I'm about to type) also with Windows 10 itself, which I believe to be Microsoft's finest OS ever. I've repartitioned my SSD to wipe out Bootcamp and am now using only the virtual.

 

[Jtammen]

Does anyone know if I install windows 10 pro using bootcamp, if it leaves my mac more susceptible for viruses?

 

[alexmarchuk]

10 works fine on Bootcamp. Viruses and what not are the same as all other versions of Windows really. Be careful.

 

[Gjwilly]

Running Windows via Bootcamp

Does anyone know if I install windows 10 pro using bootcamp, if it leaves my mac more susceptible for viruses?

If you're asking whether a virus could jump from your Windows environment to your Mac the answer is yes.
It won't hurt your Mac but it could then be passed on via email or whatever to other people you interact with.

 

[boltjames]

Does anyone know if I install windows 10 pro using bootcamp, if it leaves my mac more susceptible for viruses?

a) run AVG-Free or equivalent and b) never open an executable in an email and c) you'll never have a virus.

I've been running Windows machines since 1994 and have never gotten a virus. The only persons I know who did get a virus was my mother and father-in-law who back in the 00's both got emails spoofed as coming from friends saying "click this funny video!" Much ado about nothing. It does give OSX zealots misinformed talking points in discussion forum posts, I'll give them that.

BJ

 

[dvhoosier]

Is windows 10 more efficient than windows 7 in Parallels 11? I have older macs with SSDs. I just need to use a few windows only apps.

 

[belvdr]

Is windows 10 more efficient than windows 7 in Parallels 11? I have older macs with SSDs. I just need to use a few windows only apps.

I'm not sure which is more efficient, but for patching support, I'd suggest Windows 10 now.