Windows on Mac

Onecoolcookie

Ok guys complete noob here, but i've been hearing about bootcamp, parallels etc... and I'm just wondering if it's worth getting windows on my mac and what the best way of doing so would be. I don't mind paying for software if it's worth it and the main reason i'm interested in getting windows is gaming. Could someone give me a brief guide on getting windows on mac and how would it affect the laptops performance, thanks.

Odaise Gaelach

If it's gaming that you want, Bootcamp is the way to go.

Apple.com has all the information you can need on Bootcamp.

Hobbes

As mentioned, for gaming go Bootcamp. It has no impact except that you are running in Windows vs OSX.

Parallels (the one I use) works fine and has no performance issues. But I don't use it for gaming, which would be an issue. On the MBA my windows apps via Parallels open 10 times faster then my windows laptop.

Onecoolcookie

Thanks for the replies guys I'm going to go with Bootcamp, one more question though how big should I set the windows partition to? I have a MBP with a 320GB hard drive

The Black Oil

Onecoolcookie wrote: »

Thanks for the replies guys I'm going to go with Bootcamp, one more question though how big should I set the windows partition to? I have a MBP with a 320GB hard drive

Good question. I had one for a while, but ended up starting over as I needed more space. I gave about 95GB to mine - I've a few CoD games on there, Rainbow Six, Left for Dead, Crysis, etc as well, so you might need a bit. It says I've 25GB left on the Windows partition, so I might squeeze another game or two on there. I'm not a big gamer, but the space does fill up. I've a few browsers, but no Office or other suites installed.

Tazium

Try out VirtualBox first maybe? At least you can get a feel for Windows on the hardware, and VirtualBox is free. I did that to my Air and it's fine, limited space on the air (128GB), so wanted to keep it mostly mac.

BowlingLad

Hi guys i need windows for one small program I use. I don't game on windows and can't see myself using the partition for anything else, I am actually annoyed I didn't see the small print when it said will work with Mac "via boot camp and similar programmes".

So for tiny program rarely used will I use parallels and how much space should I give

was.deevey

Parallels uses a dynamic virtual disk ...Parallels virtual disks are not "real" partitions

In essence the disk expands as required to the max limit ... but stays at the smallest possible size.

Just use the defaults .. i think thats 20gigs in parallels, if its just one program the disk image will only be probably 2 or 4 gigs anyhow, but it'll give you some space if you need any other software on there at a later stage.

BowlingLad

thanks for replies. I just remembered by laptop came with windows preloaded, so i have no disk to setup windows on the mac

Fysh

For gaming use I'd say 100GB or more (depending on how many games you're going for and how big they are - bear in mind Portal 2 is 10GB all by itself and it's by no means the fattest game going).

If you get totally stuck you can always use Winclone to either resize your Bootcamp partition (I've yet to decide I trust it enough to do that) or to make an image of your Bootcamp partition and use the Bootcamp Assistant to wipe the original partition and create a new larger one. You can then use Winclone to restore your original installation to the new, larger partition. I've done this on numerous occasions and I have yet to run into problems, although Winclone version 2.2 throws a wobbly if used on Lion - you can get around this by editing the OS version number in a system file in your OS, but obviously this is not something everyone would be happy doing...

And yes, a Bootcamp install for gaming is definitely the way to go. Parallels has a lot of under-the-hood cleverness for software optimisation which explains how Windows native apps appear to run faster in Parallels than on a bare-metal install, but most of said cleverness will struggle with any modern games.

BowlingLad

i have windows vista cd in my house, can i use bootcamp with that? Also where can a correct/official bootcamp download be found

Padgeman

BowlingLad wrote: »

i have windows vista cd in my house, can i use bootcamp with that? Also where can a correct/official bootcamp download be found

Bootcamp with Mac OS X Lion only supports Windows 7. The Bootcamp assistant application on your Mac downloads what it needs when you run it the first time.