file management in mac, how its done?

[Jzeds]

hello to all of u from around the globe.
well i got a second handed macbook with 512bg storage , its been some day that im using it and since i am coming from windows i dont understand file storage on these devices.u see in windows when i open explorer i face with partition drives (e.g. C:,D:.E:, drives ) in which i store my files, apps and downloads. however in mac i dont see such drive partitions and im feeling like there only 1 main partition as in Disk Utility shows.
so do i need new partition? if yes how its done? (or i just use documents folder as my storage)
ps. im planning to install windows (from parallel and +bootable version) and maybe use oclp (for ventura installation) in future. do these need new partition or not

 

[Gregg2]

You can work with it "out of the box" with no partitioning, or you can use Disk Utility to partition it to your liking. It's up to you.

 

[Boyd01]

That's pretty much how the Mac works - simple, with no drive letters. If you connect external disks, they will have their own icons. You can create separate partitions in Disk Utility if you want, but personally I would not do that. If you go to the View menu in Disk Utility and choose "show all devices", you will see more info about how the disk is organized - which will probably just confuse you more!

I use Paralells heavily with Windows 10. I have and Intel Mac with 64gb of memory and a 2tb internal SSD however. Parallels stores the entire virtual Windows machine in a single file, so you will need enough room on your disk for that. When you are using the VM, it will be just like a real Windows PC, with lettered drives. Your Mac partitions and disk(s) will be accessible as though they were network drives. It all works really well for me and moving between MacOS and Windows just takes one click.

If you also want Windows to be bootable, that is another matter, I'm not doing that. In that case, you would need to create a separate Bootcamp partition and install Windows there. I believe Microsoft will consider bootcamp and parallels as separate installations and nag you to register them both. I did this long ago (back in the Windows XP days) and really did not like it. Much happier with just using Parallels, since you don't need to create any partitions.

 

[davidlv]

hello to all of u from around the globe.
well i got a second handed macbook with 512bg storage , its been some day that im using it and since i am coming from windows i dont understand file storage on these devices.u see in windows when i open explorer i face with partition drives (e.g. C:,D:.E:, drives ) in which i store my files, apps and downloads. however in mac i dont see such drive partitions and im feeling like there only 1 main partition as in Disk Utility shows.
so do i need new partition? if yes how its done? (or i just use documents folder as my storage)
ps. im planning to install windows (from parallel and +bootable version) and maybe use oclp (for ventura installation) in future. do these need new partition or not
View attachment 2277932

You should read up on how the Mac system works, Apple has some tutorials, use Google to search for that.
Windows is just a little different, as computers are just computers in the end. However, the basics are different and easy on the Mac, once you understand the basics.
Refrain from tinkering with the System and main Library, if you do something in there you can really mess up the system. The user library (indicated by the ~ symbol) is a little better. You can add or copy files there if necessary, but you will have to access the home folder Users/your short name) and make the ~Library visible in the Show View options menu.
That is how the Mac works basically, you have a User folder - your short name - and an Admin password. So putting your files there is best. For example, I make a Data folder in my Home folder and put all my job and personal files there in various folders. Learn how to make and use aliases too. That is enough to get you started, I think.

 

[Jzeds]

That's pretty much how the Mac works - simple, with no drive letters. If you connect external disks, they will have their own icons. You can create separate partitions in Disk Utility if you want, but personally I would not do that. If you go to the View menu in Disk Utility and choose "show all devices", you will see more info about how the disk is organized - which will probably just confuse you more!

I use Paralells heavily with Windows 10. I have and Intel Mac with 64gb of memory and a 2tb internal SSD however. Parallels stores the entire virtual Windows machine in a single file, so you will need enough room on your disk for that. When you are using the VM, it will be just like a real Windows PC, with lettered drives. Your Mac partitions and disk(s) will be accessible as though they were network drives. It all works really well for me and moving between MacOS and Windows just takes one click.

If you also want Windows to be bootable, that is another matter, I'm not doing that. In that case, you would need to create a separate Bootcamp partition and install Windows there. I believe Microsoft will consider bootcamp and parallels as separate installations and nag you to register them both. I did this long ago (back in the Windows XP days) and really did not like it. Much happier with just using Parallels, since you don't need to create any partitions.

Great , now i can see things more clearly!, it seems you are a PRO in Mac world . so Im wondering if you think it is possible to have a smooth Windows 10 experience with parallel software in my 12 inch macbook from 2015(almost same performance of MacBook air). I want to access some of my engineering apps and maybe some retro pc games (titles like Max Payne2) to keep the old days vibe alive...
Is it possible or I will be facing overheats and slow downs?

 

[Boyd01]

Sorry, not very familiar with your 2015 12" MacBook but my impression is that the dual-core CPU is not that strong and I believe 8gb was the max memory. I believe Parallels has a free trial (although it was hard to find on their site the last time I looked) so you may have to just try and see what happens. Seems like 8gb is becoming a challenge for newer versions of MacOS by itself, let alone with a VM.

How much RAM would your VM require for those apps? I don't know how well a 4gb VM would work on an 8gb Mac, but maybe it's fine? I am running professional GIS software in a 32gb 4-core Windows 10 VM. Also run MacOS Mountain Lion and Sierra with 4gb Parallels VM's and they are fine, but 4gb was plenty of RAM when those old operating systems were introduced. All things considered, you might be better with Bootcamp so Windows could use all of your Mac's resources.

 

[NoBoMac]

A couple of other options for virtualization are:

VMware. Free for home use and top-notch. https://customerconnect.vmware.com/en/evalcenter?p=fusion-player-personal-13

VirtualBox: free but rough around the edges and can be temperamental. https://virtualbox.org

As @Boyd01 said, might consider Bootcamp as VMs get the job done but might not deliver the performance one might want.

 

[ChrisA]

so do i need new partition? if yes how its done? (or i just use documents folder as my storage)
ps. im planning to install windows (from parallel and +bootable version) and maybe use oclp (for ventura installation) in future. do these need new partition or not

Why would you even want to divide a disk into partitions? Then you'd need to remember what partition each file was in. Naming them C:, D:,... is a holdover from the days when computers only had floppy drives. The entire idea should have been dropped 30 years ago. Yes, just store documents in a folder called "documents and "pictures in a pictures folder. The neat thing is that you can move these folders to different physical devices (should you happen to have more than one disk or SSD.)