Parrallels Vs Bootcamp

setanta5

Hi,

just ordered a 15" Core2duo MBP with 2.33Ghz and 160Gig HD.

My question though is about using Parallel's as opposed to Bootcamp. I like the look of parallels and the idea of being able to switch over to windows on the go without having to reboot.

But does it run windows at a decent speed.Like could i run a game on windows in Parallels? Or should i have bootcamp to reboot into for playing games on?

I'm not really sure how each one works or the advantages/disadvantages of each.

ZENER

Bootcamp is the only option to give you pure Wintel machine complete with appropriate device drivers etc. Parallels use a virtual graphics driver rather than the proper windows ATI driver so games don't run that well.

Personally I haven't tried this but a colleague of mine has tried and the above is based on his experience with it. I use bootcamp myself as I prefer the idea of having a completely seperate machine if you get my drift.

ZEN

scrapland

I use both.

If your running parallels in your mac you need 2gb at least, otherwise your zapping all your memory from OSX (remember your still running one operating system in another)

I used parallels for checking things windows files clients send to me, and for checking websites are working in IE6 & 7

But for gaming you have to use Bootcamp.

setanta5

scrapland wrote:

I use both.

If your running parallels in your mac you need 2gb at least, otherwise your zapping all your memory from OSX (remember your still running one operating system in another)

I used parallels for checking things windows files clients send to me, and for checking websites are working in IE6 & 7

But for gaming you have to use Bootcamp.

Thanks for that.

How long does your machine take to boot windows in bootcamp.

Would you recomend Parrallels?

Another question i had. If i'm running a program in OSX, say i'm listening to Itunes, and i flick to Windows, does itunes keep running and playing music?

Cheers

Urban Weigl

Parallels is fantastic, and runs Windows at near-native speed. You'll want 1GB minimum RAM, though, as you're running two operating systems at the same time. Preferably 2GB.

Where Parallels isn't the best solution is if you want to play 3D games, in which case Boot Camp is more efficient. It will boot the same speed as a Windows PC.

meep

I would heartily recommend Parrallels.

It is not suitable for games as mentioned but to lack of video drivrs. However, for anything else (provided you have the memory) it's excellent.

As far as OSX is concerned, it's just another application so stuff continues in OSX as normal. It's great running Windows in a window. It co-exists very happily.

There can be a few issues regarding boths OSes fighting for shared resource s (eg, if I insert a CD or memory stick, Parralles mounts in in windows and I can't see it in OSX until I tell Parrallels to stop using it).

That's a minor issue though. It wakes up supoer quick, it has cool copy/paste between both environments and you can share an OSX folder to mount as a volume in Win envrionment. Very well thought out and slick.

I run an external display on my macbook pro and have configured windows on ext monitor and osx on laptop screen. Works great.

I use my windows for accounts software, office apps, video encoding (sorenson squeeze) and a few other bits & pieces. Could not be happier.

Have never tried boot camp as I really could not stand constant rebooting between environments.

Contrary to what someone else said, Parallels is in fact seperate as well. It runs on disk image files so all your win software is encapsulated. Plus, it's not restricted to a specific version on Windows - will run many operating systems!

Theres a 30 day demo to try. Suck it ad see,

setanta5

Cheers Meep,

sounds like your needs are the same as my own for windows. Accounts software and video encoding. My video camera software is not mac compatible, its a Sony Hard Drive camera, so wanted to rip in windows for use in Imovie/final cut.

Would be a pain to have to reboot every time but don't mind if i want to run a memory intensive app. booting straight to windows now and again.

Is it cheaper to buy from Parallels directly or to buy from apple?

meep

Not sure on costs, I went direct from Parallels.

You could look at Final Cut Express to see if that supports your camera. Little brother of Final Cut Pro (which I use). A world away from iMovie for editing.

Peter

setanta5

Have final cut express. The issue was with Quicktime support for Mpeg2 ripping. I can get the Mpeg 2 support for €20 but was told that it would still give me trouble with getting sound into Quicktime/Imovie/Final cut.

Unless you can give me any suggestions to get around that maybe.

440Hz

Agreed, I use both.... use Parallels for quick checks and the like but for any substantial XP needs like development I use Bootcamp

Bluefoam

can I save info in one operating system & pick it up on the other?

eg. save an image file in XP or Vista & then use the same file on OSX.

colm_c

Bluefoam wrote:

can I save info in one operating system & pick it up on the other?

eg. save an image file in XP or Vista & then use the same file on OSX.

Yeah, pretty easy to.

ChicoMendez

440Hz wrote:

Agreed, I use both.... use Parallels for quick checks and the like but for any substantial XP needs like development I use Bootcamp

hi what sort of 'substantial development' can u do on PC that you cant on mac?

colm_c

I'd imagine .NET / Visual Studio or something would require XP for development?

setanta5

OK i got parralells desktop and have windows installed. But it seems i only have an option between Full Screen Windws and running it in a portal. I had seen videos of people running windows, pressing a shortcut and the whole thing pivoting around to reveal OSXscreen. Anybody know if i'm missing something or if there is a settin in need to change.

Another thing when i do switch to windows and back, there seems to be some messing about with resolutions resetting. Is there something i can do to stop that hapening?

scrapland

colm_c wrote:

Yeah, pretty easy to.

yep you if your using parallels, you just create a shared folder, then all your operating systems will support it.

scrapland

setanta5 wrote:

OK i got parralells desktop and have windows installed. But it seems i only have an option between Full Screen Windws and running it in a portal. I had seen videos of people running windows, pressing a shortcut and the whole thing pivoting around to reveal OSXscreen. Anybody know if i'm missing something or if there is a settin in need to change.

Another thing when i do switch to windows and back, there seems to be some messing about with resolutions resetting. Is there something i can do to stop that hapening?

What you need is an application called Virtue Desktop - that what people are using in those vids..

http://virtuedesktops.info/


As for resolution settings, have you installed Parallels Tools within your Windows install ? It makes a CONSIDERABLE difference in peformance.

When running windows (not full screen) click on VM in the menu bar (of OS X) and choose Install Parallels Tools. That will install the necessary drivers which will sort out resolution switching and such.

Easy....