Boot Camp, Partitioning, & Parallels

[roland.g]

I am a longtime Mac user and about to upgrade my G4 tower to a 24" iMac C2D. I don't play games and I don't have any use for Windows at this point in time. As I understand it you have to partition for Boot Camp, so this is something you need to do on a fresh machine (unless you really want to go through the trouble of getting Boot Camp to work on an external which I've read can be done), so if I want to be able to use Windows at any point I have to plan for it now, otherwise I'll be reinstalling all my apps and backing up my data first. (At any rate I will be wiping and doing a fresh install when I get it to eliminate all the extra languages and other stuff I don't need to minimize the OS.)

1. Am I right that I can't just create a partition with Boot Camp later or could I?

2. At whatever point I do use Boot Camp, is 10GB a safe bet for Windows?

3. If I really am not going to be gaming, if and when I need Windows apps, is Parallels my best bet?

 

[balamw]

1. You can partition any time, but preferably when the drive is less full. Some have reported unmovable files getting in the way.

2. 10 GB is OK for light use, maybe including one game

3. Parallels is really the best choice for light non-gaming uses, but VMWare may give it a run for its money...

B

 

[Bill Gates]

1) You can create a partition now, or at a later date. Boot Camp is capable of automatically resizing your exisiting Macintosh partition.

2) 10GB is more than acceptable for a complete Windows XP installation and a decent selection of software. It just depends on what you plan on installing. Allow up to 4+GB for Windows alone since it will grow as System Restore checkpoints are made, drivers are installed, and clutter accumulates through various actions. After a fresh install, less than 2GB should be in use, if I'm not mistaken.

3) Parallels is acceptable for everything except programs that require direct communication with the hardware, i.e. for hardware acceleration.

 

[macman2790]

i havent used bootcamp yet on my macbook, but is there a way to uninstall bootcamp after deleting the windows partition? Also can you triple boot on bootcamp?