Running Windows on a MAC

Al Hart · 3 Jun 2009, 02:32

Have any of you MAC users tried the parallel processors to run windows programs as well?

Which have you tried?

I presume you have to purchase Windows as well as the parallel processing software. What did it all set you back.

Can the Windows applications and the MAC applications share the same file space.

takesh h · 3 Jun 2009, 02:59

I use Parallels on my iMac, but other Win-Mac connecting software are pretty much the same, I heard.
I run most everything I used to use on my Windows machine on it with no problem. Yes they can share files as default.

bertb · 3 Jun 2009, 05:12

I use my Macbook with VMWare and Win XP; no problems. Autocad and some other stuff are running even better than the combination I have in my office with a Win PC- , sharing a 24" monitor and also connected with the Macbook.
Bertb

remus · 3 Jun 2009, 06:14

I dont imagine it will be much of an issue for you al, but games dont work very well on a VMware/parallels machine because they cant use the graphics card properly. Going by what others have said this doesnt seem to be the case with CAD software, though.

honoluludesktop · 3 Jun 2009, 07:12

My experience with Mac running Windows applications is that the Windows application is half as fast as as on a PC with something as mundane as quicken. The system was set up by the Apple store.

dylan · 3 Jun 2009, 07:36

I run vmware fusion on mine with xp pro. I only have autocad 2009 on windows and it runs perfectly well although I am only doing 2d work with it.
It works seamlessly with files and switching between os x and windows.

Edson · 3 Jun 2009, 11:09

i have run vmware fusion on my macbook pro for more than 2 years. it works great.

parallels 4 is supposed to allow you to take advantage of multiple processors, which vmware does not.

i have also read that the fastest of all the virtualization engines is bootcamp which is free as it is part of mac os 10.5. the only problem is that in order to run windows you must always reinicialize your mac (vmware and parallels work as a regular app: you just switch back and forth between mac and win effortlessly).

all in all, running windows on a mac is a smooth operation.

Al Hart · 3 Jun 2009, 12:14

Thanks for the responses so far. (Keep them coming)

As always seems to be the case, I ask a simple questions (which is best), and instead of an answer like "Use X , all the others are junk", the answers never seem to produce a clear choice.

But it good to know that the process (mixing MAC and Windows apps) seems to be working well.

remus · 3 Jun 2009, 12:30

@al hart said:

"Use X , all the others are junk"

that would be far too easy

troyhome · 3 Jun 2009, 12:54

I've used VMWare and Parallels and Bootcamp. By far, Bootcamp is the best. Not the most convenient, but for performance it is the best.
I have the latest and greatest MacBook Pro 17" 2.93GHz, 4 GB RAM, and no matter what I set my virtual settings to be, Autocad 2007-2010 runs sloooooow. And forget about 3d Max or Viz. So I am turning to Bootcamp once again after years of toggling between the latest versions of VMWare and Parallels.

Al Hart · 3 Jun 2009, 15:46

Do you have to purchase Windows to use with these?

What does it cost to buy Windows for use on a Mac?

Jim57 · 4 Jun 2009, 04:04

I use Bootcamp to run Quicken and SABRE. It's a pain to restart in XP, but I was worried about compatibility and speed issues. No problem with either.

Having found a free* system that works well, I haven't tried anything else.

*I run 10.5.7 and a friend gave me a spare license of XP. Yes, you do have to get your own copy, it doesn't come with anything unless you are paying for the combo.

Cheers,

JImbo

honoluludesktop · 4 Jun 2009, 06:14

I took a quick hard look at the Mac set up to run WinXP. It uses "Bootcamp" to partition the disk, then VMFusion to load WinXP as a window while the MacOS is running. With all of that overhead, the Win Applications really slow down. Someone mentioned running WinXP in BootCamp. Apple ads suggest that you can run "either", one or the other, not both, that in that circumstance, Windows will run at "native" speed. Not better or faster. WinXP Pro can be got at "buycheapsoftware.com" about $260 + shipping. Vista Ultimate for about $240 + shipping. I did not look too hard.

dylan · 4 Jun 2009, 06:53

@al hart said:

What does it cost to buy Windows for use on a Mac?

Al it is the normal price of Windows where ever you live. It's not a Mac version.

takesh h · 4 Jun 2009, 09:13

@al hart said:

Do you have to purchase Windows to use with these?

I thought it is a something everybody inevitably has for whatever the reasons... like a dehydrated clove of garlic at your kitchen corner.
I had two unused XP licenses hanging around in my office, so I just shoved it in to my iMac.

Al Hart · 5 Jun 2009, 11:52

Thanks for the comments.

We tried out Parallels and it worked much better than we thought it would.

The initial hiccup was that when installing some software which used Microsoft .NET code, the .NET stuff from Microsoft would not install because we didn't have a fully qualified version of Windows installed in the Parallels Windows emulator. (We did actually have a licensed version, but the tester hadn't registered it yet. Apparently until you register Windows you cannot install .NET. Instead of registering Windows, he found a way to copy the .NET stuff from another Windows machine, and then everything worked fairly well.)

We did not do a timing test. One reason was that with only 1 GB RAM on our MAC book, only 460MB of RAM was made available to Windows. We need to find out whether you can add more RAM to a MAC, or if you have to throw it out (or sell it on eBay) and get another one.

Edson · 5 Jun 2009, 16:54

@al hart said:

We did not do a timing test. One reason was that with only 1 GB RAM on our MAC book, only 460MB of RAM was made available to Windows. We need to find out whether you can add more RAM to a MAC, or if you have to throw it out (or sell it on eBay) and get another one.

you can find everything there is to know about any mac model on http://www.everymac.com.

Al Hart · 13 Jun 2009, 01:25

Someone mentioned that there was a version of Windows included in Boot Camp.

Is this the case?

And/or can you use the same version of Windows for boot camp as for the simultaneous window VMs?

honoluludesktop · 13 Jun 2009, 02:05

As I understand it, Boot Camp is Apple's method to "partition" a disk so that the user can install another operating system along with Mac's OS. You still need a separate license for Windows. I suppose that the Apple store would sell and install, for you, Windows along with Boot Camp. The VM is another program that runs inside the Mac OS. Not sure, but it probably gets its OS from the partition. If you run Windows in the VM, it will run alongside the Mac OS, but it runs very slow. You can run Windows inside the partition, at normal speed without the VM, but you can not run the Mac OS at the same time. Its one at a time from the partitions.

tim · 21 Jun 2009, 03:49

@honoluludesktop said:

The VM is another program that runs inside the Mac OS. Not sure, but it probably gets its OS from the partition. If you run Windows in the VM, it will run alongside the Mac OS, but it runs very slow.

Not really. I don't use parallels a lot; pretty much only to run DoubleCAD and some specialised work related software that occasionally needs to be checked. It seems to run at about the same speed you'd expect the software to run on a similar spec Windows machine, bearing in mind that you can set the amount of memory the parallels VM sees and how high a priority it has and even the number of processor cores it can use. A colleague runs Word under parallels rather than Mac:Word because there are a few feature differences that annoy him. Of course, nobody runs Word by choice on any machine.