Windows on a Mac book

[andyjamesnelson]

Hey - as my new mac book is the 1st Intel Mac I have ever owned I have no idea about which is the best way to put Windows on it etc.

I was wondering if you guys have any good tips...

Should I use Boot Camp or should I use Parallels?

Do I need to reformat the HD and make some partitions for windows or is it cool to run it all of the same one?

Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Andy.

 

[yoyo5280]

It really doesnt matter. All options are great i hear...Just depends on how much you want to spend AND how much you will be using windows.

Won't be using it often and want it free? Bootcamp.

 

[mosx]

Hey - as my new mac book is the 1st Intel Mac I have ever owned I have no idea about which is the best way to put Windows on it etc.

I was wondering if you guys have any good tips...

Should I use Boot Camp or should I use Parallels?

Do I need to reformat the HD and make some partitions for windows or is it cool to run it all of the same one?

Please let me know if you have any suggestions. Andy.

What are you going to be doing with Windows? If you plan on playing games (and don't expect much, the X3100 IS worse than the GMA 950) then you'll want to run Windows in Boot Camp. Boot Camp will do all of the partitioning work for you so no need to reformat or make your own partitions.

If you just want to run the occasional Windows app, then run Windows inside of VMWare Fusion. Despite what one review says (that didn't even test the most up-to-date version of Fusion at press time), VMWare is faster, uses less resources and memory, and comes from a company with more than a decade of "virtualization" experience. Plus VMWare let's you choose between 1 or 2 cores and the 2.0 update will be free to all current customers.

Essentially it breaks down to this:

If you want an occasional Windows app, VMWare Fusion.

If you want a full blown Windows PC on your Mac, use Boot Camp.

Just remember that Boot Camp obviously requires a reboot any time you want to switch OSes. VMWare will obviously let you run it inside of OS X. Plus it plays nicer with Spaces than Parallels and Unity works much better than Coherence (Parallels).

 

[marold280]

VMware

Hi i use VMware, which is just amazing. you can download the 2.0 beta for free!! and windows run very smoothly. plus, as the guy above me says, you can choose how many cores, memory and stuff like that you want windows to have.
cheers

 

[andyjamesnelson]

ok cool i think I am going to go for boot camp as I want to see if I can get anymore gaming out of this machine.

I assume I can boot windows from something like vmware at a later date as well as.

Also how big should I allow Boot Camp to make the partition on the HD?

Is it safe to let Boot Camp do this or will I loose any data?

Andy

 

[StuBeck]

You might have problems running bootcamp. My copy of leopard wouldn't let me partition the drive, even though I had 80 gigs free, because there "wasn't enough space to move files". Running VMware it was fine, just not as fast as if you used boot camp and would usually take a minute to calm down.

When I get a macbook I'm planning to run both, for when I need a lot of speed, and for when I just need a program for a few minutes. I also plan to get 4 gigs of ram too.

 

[Auzburner]

It's really like what the other guys have said. Dependent greatly on what you want to do... I've tried VMware Fusion, Boot-Camp and Parallels. Like them all...