I've been reading all this stuff until my eyes have crossed, and not really sure if I have it all straight. I am trying to understand what are the different ways that you can run Windows on say an iMac. I don't really like Windows, but I may need it for a couple things. So there is a product that allows you to boot up in either Windows or OS X? There is another product that allows you to run Windows within an OS X window but it is likely to run at about half your normal processor speed? I am just having a rough time keeping it all straight.
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Help me understand Windows on an iMac.
- Thread starter KevKaos
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Basically:
1) Boot Camp - Allows you to have Windows as a completely seperate OS. Download the beta from apple, designate the space for Windows, burn a driver CD, install XP. When you switch your Mac on, hold down option/alt and select which OS to boot into. You have to reboot every time you want to switch, but it is fully Windows and supports pretty much everything any other MS box does.
2) Virtual clients - Parallels etc allow you to run Windows within a window under OSX. Doesn't fully support 3D graphics, but does allow you to switch from an OSX app to a Windows app and back in seconds. Download the trial from Parallels.com and purchase for about $79.95.
Both require a full version of Windows XP SP2, either Home or Professional editions. Media Center utilises multiple discs and so can't be used for Boot Camp option.
1) Boot Camp - Allows you to have Windows as a completely seperate OS. Download the beta from apple, designate the space for Windows, burn a driver CD, install XP. When you switch your Mac on, hold down option/alt and select which OS to boot into. You have to reboot every time you want to switch, but it is fully Windows and supports pretty much everything any other MS box does.
2) Virtual clients - Parallels etc allow you to run Windows within a window under OSX. Doesn't fully support 3D graphics, but does allow you to switch from an OSX app to a Windows app and back in seconds. Download the trial from Parallels.com and purchase for about $79.95.
Both require a full version of Windows XP SP2, either Home or Professional editions. Media Center utilises multiple discs and so can't be used for Boot Camp option.
There's also:
3) Crossover - Allows you to run Windows apps without having Windows at all. App support is very limited right now, though. Free beta available.
3) Crossover - Allows you to run Windows apps without having Windows at all. App support is very limited right now, though. Free beta available.
That isn't quite true. Parallels solution takes about any Windows you can throw at it, although it probably is recommendable that you get the aforementioned version of Windows.
Now that was MUCH more understandable. I have a full legal copy of XP Pro, so I should be good to go. thanks again to all of you for your responses.
Just a side note. If you're planning to go the Boot Camp route, make sure your install CD includes SP2 or slipstream it before you attempt to install. Most of the problems reported are from people who attempt to install XP without SP2 from the get go.
B
I have installed Windows Vista Beta 2 from a DVD through Parallels and it works fine - except for networking!
Basically, similar but
No it is not slow at all (no CPU emulation, and takes advantage of hooks in Core Duo CPUs)
No it can't use your Boot Camp install
B
Wow i just installed parallels... and this thing is fabulous...
Can you explain why anyone would use bootcamp instead of parallels...
It is super quick...
I wanted to know as well how do i utilise the full potential of my video card? Is there settings somewhere?
Thank you
Can you explain why anyone would use bootcamp instead of parallels...
It is super quick...
I wanted to know as well how do i utilise the full potential of my video card? Is there settings somewhere?
Thank you
:
Disc? USB thumb drive? External FAT32 formatted hard drive? All of these will work.
Why are you transferring them anyway? Do you really need all that stuff on the Windows side? Are you using Parallels or dual-booting Windows?
Since you're using Parallels, you have a couple of options. The easiest is to use Parallels built in shared folders (the other option is to enable Windows Sharing on your Mac and map a network drive).
You can configure shared folders from the VM console - enable shared folders and specify the location on your Mac you want to access. You can then drag and drop as if it were a folder on your windows install.
And there's more - in the shared folder set up page, although you can't browse to the /Volumes directory where external drives are mounted (since OS X hides that folder), you can enter /Volumes by hand, and this gives you full access at full Firewire or USB2 speeds to any external hard drives or thumb drives you may have, or in fact to anything that gets mounted in OS X.