bootcamp, parallels and q

[psymd1]

you can run windows in your mac using any of the three: bootcamp, parallels and q. more info here: http://www.macworld.com/2006/06/secr...dows/index.php

[berniej]

Question for those who have tried Boot Camp and Parallels:

Which of the two gives better performance for *both* OS. As I may have mentioned a couple of times in this forum, I work in a Windows-centric organization and in order to do my work effectively, I need to connect to a lot of Windows servers and workstations. I was able to do this passably using OS X but nothing beats a Windows maching "talking" with a fellow Windows machine. Besides, the slowpoke consultants are sitting on the FireFox security module for our internet banking so I'm stuck to using IE to do my online banking.

I expect to get my grubby little hands on a C2D MacBook within the next few days and I want to know which path to take in doing Windows on my laptop -- Boot Camp or Parallels?

[chmod_777]

Which of the two gives better performance for *both* OS

I'd say Boot Camp, cause you're either in dedicated Windows, or dedicated OSX.

I'm not really happy with it though, cause if you've booted to Windows, you can't really enjoy all the neat things that OSX can give you. I tried it, and it wasn't for me, personally.

Parallels, on the other hand, gives me the best of both worlds. I have noticed occasional instances where there's a bit of a compromise, both from a processing standpoint, and occasionally, from a networking standpoint, but for what I use it for, it's a perfectly acceptable situation (for me!).

I'd say just give parallels a try first. It's free to try anyway, and if you're not happy with it, you can always switch to the bootcamp solution. There's really a lot to gain, and very little to lose.

Good luck!

[gaol]

Question for those who have tried Boot Camp and Parallels:

Which of the two gives better performance for *both* OS. As I may have mentioned a couple of times in this forum, I work in a Windows-centric organization and in order to do my work effectively, I need to connect to a lot of Windows servers and workstations. I was able to do this passably using OS X but nothing beats a Windows maching "talking" with a fellow Windows machine. Besides, the slowpoke consultants are sitting on the FireFox security module for our internet banking so I'm stuck to using IE to do my online banking.

I expect to get my grubby little hands on a C2D MacBook within the next few days and I want to know which path to take in doing Windows on my laptop -- Boot Camp or Parallels?

Best way to find out is try both to see what works for you. With the latest version of Parallels, you can access the BootCamp partition itself, so you don't need to allot double the hard disk space for windows.

I had both BootCamp and Parallels in the beginning, but Parallels is simply so convenient, that when I had to free up space on my hard disk I erased Bootcamp without a second thought. When I have the time and a larger hard disk, I plan to reinstall BootCamp, but only for games. The advantage of BootCamp also, among other things, is it's a purely windows environment, if that is what your job requires you to have.

[suavecito]

Parallels for me, but make sure you have ample memory like 1gb up coz parallel is resource hungry. I personally doesnt like the idea of booting everytime i want to access and work on a particular OS.

[michaelkenji]

i agree with gaol and chmod.. you should try it out first to see which works best for you.. you can get a trial license for Parallels and Boot Camp Beta is free naman so you have nothing to lose (that is, if you already have a copy of Windows)..

personally, i go for Parallels..

[hannibal]

i have both (parallels and bootcamp) in my MBP, and i use the bootcamp partition for my parallels. i must say, i like the convenience of not having to reboot just for windows. i can only appreciate bootcamp for games like C&C, NBA and Ghost Recon. it's just nice to know that i can have windows anytime i need it because of this intel mac.

but i swear, if not for work related issues that forces me to go XP, i'd rather stick with Tiger. windows is just so crappy, yucky, and oh so... basta! nakakadiri.

[rosea]

Parallels for me, but make sure you have ample memory like 1gb up coz parallel is resource hungry. I personally doesnt like the idea of booting everytime i want to access and work on a particular OS.

You're right about that. My 512MB choked up when I tried parallels, felt like I was on a 128MB RAM again (or less). I just uninstalled it, I didn't really need anything important that Mac OS couldn't run.

[bon]

i have both (parallels and bootcamp) in my MBP, and i use the bootcamp partition for my parallels. i must say, i like the convenience of not having to reboot just for windows. i can only appreciate bootcamp for games like C&C, NBA and Ghost Recon. it's just nice to know that i can have windows anytime i need it because of this intel mac.

@hannibal, question: I'm running Build 3120 of Parallels and using my Boot Camp partition as well. Every time I try to start up Parallels it asks that I enter my Administrator password, and Parallels seems to be installing something onto the XP partition. Is this normal? It seems like it takes forever to boot up Windows. Performance was so much faster when I wasn't using the Boot Camp partition for Parallels (using an earlier build). Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[berniej]

Currently running an old build of Parallels (build 1970) and I may no longer need to do that Boot Camp thingie since my current XP installation (via Parallels) allows me to do the things I need to do without too much hassle (I now do Windows SharePoint administration... among other things).