Bootcamp or Fusion?

[Xorro]

Hi all.

I'm still waiting for the result of MacWorld before getting the iMac, however I'm using this time to learn more about Macs.

What is the best way to run Windows on the Mac - the reason I need this is for running my PC games, and a few Windows apps.

Could someone recommend either bootcamp or fusion (or other?)

When I want to run a Windows app or game, would I need to re-boot the Mac to get it into Windows (bootcamp)? I assume that Fusion would run Windows stuff in an emulator?

I'm not sure which is best? Which would give the best performance? If you do have to re-boot to use bootcamp I think that would be a pain as you can't just switch between the game and the mac desktop.

Thanks.

 

[Tomorrow]

Hi all.

I'm still waiting for the result of MacWorld before getting the iMac, however I'm using this time to learn more about Macs.

What is the best way to run Windows on the Mac - the reason I need this is for running my PC games, and a few Windows apps.

Could someone recommend either bootcamp or fusion (or other?)

When I want to run a Windows app or game, would I need to re-boot the Mac to get it into Windows (bootcamp)? I assume that Fusion would run Windows stuff in an emulator?

I'm not sure which is best? Which would give the best performance? If you do have to re-boot to use bootcamp I think that would be a pain as you can't just switch between the game and the mac desktop.

Thanks.

Consider using both.

Install Windows in Boot Camp first, get all the drivers, etc. installed and get that installation completely taken care of. Then, install Fusion and direct it to use your Boot Camp partition as a virtual machine under OS X. That way you're only maintaining a single Windows installation.

As for when to use each, you will notice an increase in performance running Windows in Boot Camp, since OS X will not be running. Use this mode to play games. Just about anything else (except maybe audio/video encoding) can be run through Fusion without any real noticable performance hit.

 

[youssefm]

Bootcamp is a better alternative for gaming because windows recognizes your graphics card completely, unlike fusion, which doesn't. If you wanna run windows and osx side by side, then fusion is the way to go. If you don't mind using one or the other, then bootcamp. But for games bootcamp is 100% the way to go.. and as the other poster suggested you can always try both, if you don't like bootcamp then try the trial of fusion and see what happens

 

[tdevers]

Consider using both.

Install Windows in Boot Camp first, get all the drivers, etc. installed and get that installation completely taken care of. Then, install Fusion and direct it to use your Boot Camp partition as a virtual machine under OS X. That way you're only maintaining a single Windows installation.

As for when to use each, you will notice an increase in performance running Windows in Boot Camp, since OS X will not be running. Use this mode to play games. Just about anything else (except maybe audio/video encoding) can be run through Fusion without any real noticable performance hit.

I also run mine this way. It's the best of both worlds.

 

[wawanarchist]

I plan on running windows in bootcamp and then using fusion or parallels in conjunction with it.... Which one is better? fusion or parallels?

 

[Tomorrow]

I plan on running windows in bootcamp and then using fusion or parallels in conjunction with it.... Which one is better? fusion or parallels?

That's a good way to start a Holy War. Fusion users will say Fusion is better, Parallels users will say Parallels. I use Fusion, but as far as I'm aware they're both quite capable.

Anyone here have experience with both programs? I'd be curious to hear how they compare.

 

[wawanarchist]

That's a good way to start a Holy War. Fusion users will say Fusion is better, Parallels users will say Parallels..

I realize this is probably a lot like the ongoing OS war, where some people swear by windows, and others by OSX, but is there any conclusive data? IE: We all like OSX, but there is factual data that proves you will get better gaming performance running Windows on a mac than OSX (even if it is menial) So are there any benchmarks that compare the two?

 

[SmartIndianKid]

That's a good way to start a Holy War. Fusion users will say Fusion is better, Parallels users will say Parallels. I use Fusion, but as far as I'm aware they're both quite capable.

Anyone here have experience with both programs? I'd be curious to hear how they compare.

I'd say run a trial of both on your system and see which works better for you.