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VFN

macrumors regular
Original poster
May 5, 2012
100
0
How well does Boot Camp or Windows virtual programs work with Macs. Does Boot Camp essentially allow you to have a windows computer on your Mac.

Thanks

VFN
 
Bootcamp Windows runs my windows software better than my Asus laptop. I swear my Ag programs I have to use crash once in a while on the Asus. For the past year I've been using bootcamp on my Mac. They've run great and have not crashed the system once. Go figure. I tried Parallels and had trouble with it crashing once in a while.
 
I've been using VMware for years with winxp and win7 pro. Both work flawlessly and crash less than my dedicated office Pc with win7. And with my retina, it runs fast! In my work world I need both and feel that this is an impressive option. You pay more for the retina, but it's two in one and damned good at it. I initially ran bootcamp which was even faster, but liked having the virtual window and ability to jump back and forth between mac os and win without a reboot. I'm not a gamer, so no need for that last bit of performance.
 
It is just like normal Windows. The hardware doesn't care what OS runs on it, and Windows doesn't care on what hardware it runs.
The only stuff you loose out on compared to notebooks that are sold with Windows are proper Touchpad drivers and very often battery life. The Apple Touchpad under Windows is bare bones with only the most essential functions and their power management drivers in Windows aren't very refined. The drivers are stable and performance only depends on the hardware and third party drivers not Apple so that is fine too.
 
How well does Boot Camp or Windows virtual programs work with Macs. Does Boot Camp essentially allow you to have a windows computer on your Mac.
Both work well in my experience and both "essentially allow you to have a Windows computer on your Mac". Boot Camp doesn't have the overhead of the virtual solutions like Parallels and Fusion. You can have both by setting up Boot Camp and then using Parallels or Fusion to run Boot Camp. Then you have the option of restarting into Boot Camp or using Parallels or Fusion based on the situation.

Don't overlook the Windows, Linux & Others on the Mac subforum.

The only stuff you loose out on compared to notebooks that are sold with Windows are proper Touchpad drivers
^ This. The touchpad is one of my favorite things about the MBP under OSX. It's one of my least favorite things under Windows.
 
Bootcamp is more convenient in regards to 'gaming.'
Parallels will allow you to use Mac OSX and Windows at the click of a Window. I use both, but mostly prefer Bootcamp.
 
One of the reasons I asked about this is because there's an online billing service my friend needs that doesn't work with Mac. It appears from all the responses that he would be able to use that service on his Mac with Boot Camp or a virtual program.

Thanks.
 
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