Need Windows for some school apps (autoCAD, revit) - parallels or boot camp?

[fstfrwrd]

Hi there,

currently I have a 2.0ghz 1gb ram macbook.
this summer, i'm going to buy 'the best' MBP available (best configuration possible) ... on a sidenote: i'm hoping the new macbook pro's are released in time.

i study architecture and next year, we need to use apps like AutoCAD and Revit, which are windows-only.

for all the rest (multimedia, chatting, photoshopping, etc etc) i'd like to use OS X.

what do you think is the best solution in my case and why is that?
Parallels, Boot Camp or VM ware?

Please note: price is not a issue.



Some people told me to use Boot Camp, because that would use the entire machine's power for the architecture apps ... is this true?
Is there really that big a difference when running 2 OS's at the same time?


thanks in advance

 

[Siron]

Boot Camp
You will not be happy with running AutoCAD in a virtual environment as it needs a lot of horsepower especially if your doing rendering.
I run Autodesk Architecture 2008 with Vista Business 64 bit. When I received my latest upgrade from Autodesk I was pleased to see that they included both 32 bit and 64 bit disks. I don't think Parallels or Fusion supports 64 bit anyway. I would strongly recommend that you get Vista Business 64 for these reasons. XP 64 is not very good at all.
Alan

And yes the virtual machines will not use all of your memory as you have to allocate some to OSX. Running two apps will most certainly allocate some of the CPU power to OSX which means Windows will be "shorted".

This from Parallels web site:
Note: Only 32-bit Guest Operating Systems are currently supported

 

[yellow]

Agreed. You're really going to need as much GPU/CPU as you can get for AutoCAD. Parallels/Fusion just isn't going to cut it for that.

 

[fstfrwrd]

ok thanks.

i've heard some people talk about using both parallels and boot camp?
to what extent is that useful, and more importantly, is it any good in my case?

 

[yellow]

I use them both.

For me, Boot Camp for games and Blackberry junk.

Parallels for all work-related stuff, none of which is graphically intensive. Certainly Parallels is faster to use for these things because I don't have to reboot and I still have access to all my Mac OS X stuff, of which I need more than Parallels.

 

[fstfrwrd]

I use them both.

For me, Boot Camp for games and Blackberry junk.

Parallels for all work-related stuff, none of which is graphically intensive. Certainly Parallels is faster to use for these things because I don't have to reboot and I still have access to all my Mac OS X stuff, of which I need more than Parallels.

so, let me summarise and please correct me if i'm wrong.

if i use both parallels and boot camp, i can use boot camp whenever i have to do some heavy graphical work, like working in AutoCAD, so it uses the machine's full performance.
but when i'm on my mac and i want to run a normal windows app, or get some files from my windows side of the computer, i use parallels?

boot camp creates a different partition on the hard drive, right?
can you access that partition with parallels?
so, when i'm on the mac side, could i fetch some files which i made in AutoCAD on windows (with boot camp) or are they inaccessible then because they're on a differnet partition?

 

[yellow]

so, let me summarise and please correct me if i'm wrong.

if i use both parallels and boot camp, i can use boot camp whenever i have to do some heavy graphical work, like working in AutoCAD, so it uses the machine's full performance.
but when i'm on my mac and i want to run a normal windows app, or get some files from my windows side of the computer, i use parallels?

Yes & Yes.

boot camp creates a different partition on the hard drive, right?

Yes.

can you access that partition with parallels?

Yes. But it's slow to boot, at least last time I tried it (quite some time ago).

so, when i'm on the mac side, could i fetch some files which i made in AutoCAD on windows (with boot camp) or are they inaccessible then because they're on a differnet partition?

Mac OS X has limited read/write (more limited in write) to NTFS, but chances are quite likely that yes, you can access the partition no problem. It mounts on your Desktop like any other drive and you can drill down through it to grab what you want. But writing will be a problem to the Boot Camp partition. There are a couple 3rd party utils that purport to allow better writing to NTFS..

 

[fstfrwrd]

ok thanks.

so i can use boot camp and if i need parallels too, after a while, i can just install parallels, without having to uninstall the windows under boot camp?

right?

if that's the case, i'll just start off with boot camp, and if it turns out i have to reboot too often to get some stuff over at the windows side, i'll install parallels as well.

 

[yellow]

Correct.

 

[fstfrwrd]

alright, thanks a lot!


nice community by the looks of it.

 

[Neil321]

I'm sorry for what seems like butting in but to OP i think you should at least give fusion ago before you making a decision to go with parallel's,both have free trials


welcome to MR's

 

[fstfrwrd]

I'm sorry for what seems like butting in but to OP i think you should at least give fusion ago before you making a decision to go with parallel's,both have free trials


welcome to MR's

can you give me some pro's and cons of fusion in comparison to th alternatives?

 

[graystone]

Will software intalled while using Windows in Boot Camp be useable when using Windows in a VM?

 

[yellow]

Will software intalled while using Windows in Boot Camp be useable when using Windows in a VM?

Not if unless you're using your Boot Camp partition as your VM.
Otherwise, they are mutually exclusive.

 

[Neil321]

can you give me some pro's and cons of fusion in comparison to th alternatives?

I think it's best that like i said you try them both out as what works for some doesn't so well for others,the fusion vs parallel's debate has been rattling around on these forums since the year dot,my vote is always with fusion but its a personal choice in the end

 

[Siron]

First of all get a copy (preferably OEM from someone like ZipZoomFly.com) of Vista Business 64. Use Boot Camp Assistant to partition your hard drive (or if you have a MacPro install a separate drive) and install Vista.
Then download a copy of Parallels and install it. It will use the Vista OS on your Boot Camp partition that you just installed) and run it for a while.
Download and install Fusion and see which one you prefer. Buy that one.
If you remove either Parallels or Fusion it will not bother your Vista install at all. Then if you want to play games or use AutoCAD hold down the Option key at boot and choose the Windows drive to boot to.
Alan

 

[fstfrwrd]

ok so last question ...

if I buy windows vista 64 business ... i won't be able to install parallels right? because it doesn't support 64bit operating systems.

and what about vmware fusion?

 

[fstfrwrd]

anyone?

 

[ayeying]

officially, boot camp with a 64-bit OS does not work with either Parallels or VMWare Fusion. However, unoffically, it is possible to use a 64-bit OS in Boot Camp and also access it through VMWare Fusion.

 

[fstfrwrd]

but it's not very stable?


anyone know when (approximately) they will be adding official 64 bit support? (vmware or parallels)

i mean, they will be supported eventually, right?