New to this whole Bootcamp, Paralells, VMWare Fusion etc...

[Photomax]

I am retiring my 2.0 G5 system and a new 2.8 2 Quad Mac Pro with 4 Gigs of Ram is on its way. I will also be adding an internal 1TB HD plus a couple of external Firewire drives.

I create web sites and in the past have used a separate PC box to preview sites in IE 6 etc. I want to dump this PC and run Windows on the new Mac Pro. I am leaning towards getting VMWare Fusion and XP so I can bounce from Windows to the Mac. Note: I am not a gamer.

Question(s):
* Do I install VMWare Fusion on the Leopard startup drive or can I install on a separate drive?
* Should I use the Leopard Bootcamp to install VMWare Fusion?
* Any issues with Time Machine and XP and VMWare Fusion?
* Can I install multiple versions of Internet Explorer (mainly IE6 and IE7)

Thanks in advance!

 

[kuwisdelu]

1) Fusion is a regular program. As such, you have to install it on your Leopard drive, and it will appear in the applications folder, just like iTunes or Safari would. Fusion runs Windows in a virtual machine. Your Windows OS will appear in Fusion's program window, just like a movie would appear in a Quicktime window. (There are also Full Screen and Unity options.)

2) You don't use BootCamp to install Fusion; you use BootCamp to install Windows. Without Fusion, you must restart in order to enter Windows. In this way, you're running Windows natively (like a normal PC). With Fusion, you can also choose to run your BootCamp installation of Windows alongside OS X as described above.

3) I have no idea. I don't think they're would be. With Fusion, Windows is just another file on your computer which will get backed up like any other.

4) I don't know; that's up to Windows. Does Windows let you install multiple versions of IE? If not, you can also keep two installations of Windows on Fusion, and run two seperate virtual machines--one with a Windows with IE 6, another with IE 7. Installing Windows twice like this would technically be illegal....but there are ways around that, and Bill Gates won't come after you for having two copies of Windows on the same computer.

 

[kuwisdelu]

Oh, also...

Since you're not a gamer, I highly recommend VMWare Fusion over Parallels or Bootcamp. It works great side-by-side OS X, and it's great not having to reboot each time I need a Windows app. Since you won't be playing any games, there's really no reason to bother with a Bootcamp installation. I still have Tiger, so I just run Fusion and that's it. Most 3D games don't work, still, but it runs perfect for what you need. It'll surely run even better with your 4GB RAM. (I only have 2.)

 

[webgoat]

i would set time machine to ignore your windows virtual machine as any small change will make time machine back it up and this (depending on the size of your virtual machine) will fill up your time machine drive extremely quick... if you are running windows with fusion that isn't a boot camp partition then you have the ability to take snapshots which will allow you to restore to any point you snapshot

 

[Photomax]

Thank you gentlemen. That's good info.

I have been reading the stuff from the Fusion site; interesting stuff. This will be my first Intel Mac and I look forward to getting it all working. I am also looking forward to getting rid of the ugly PC that pollutes my work desk...

 

[alecsolpenda]

running windows on macbook

id luv to install bootcamp on my macbook (tiger 10.4.11) but as i tried to download it from apple.com,its not there. i heard its not available indefinitely after the release of leopard. please help anyone? i nid to run windows on my mac...pls! pls! i used parallels but only for a short period because its only demo version

 

[Neil321]

id luv to install bootcamp on my macbook (tiger 10.4.11) but as i tried to download it from apple.com,its not there. i heard its not available indefinitely after the release of leopard. please help anyone? i nid to run windows on my mac...pls! pls! i used parallels but only for a short period because its only demo version

If you havnt already got bootcamp installed on tiger i think the only option
is to upgrade to leopard

 

[riscy]

Indeed, or if you have a friend who still has the beta version lying around, but upgrading to Leopard is the easiest way.

 

[mac2maverick]

No Bootcamp

id luv to install bootcamp on my macbook (tiger 10.4.11) but as i tried to download it from apple.com,its not there. i heard its not available indefinitely after the release of leopard. please help anyone? i nid to run windows on my mac...pls! pls! i used parallels but only for a short period because its only demo version

I wanted Bootcamp on my iMac but didn't want to spend the money on Leopard just to get that one application. Then I started thinking timemachine might be useful and finally figured I might as well have the same operating system on my old (current) machine as my new one so I might as well bite the bullet and get Leopard. I also figured the sooner I started to learn the new OS the better. I just upgraded to Leopard today and I can't believe the value! Coverview and the other upgrades in Leopard are worth the cost to me even if bootcamp and timemachine weren't included. What I'm trying to say to you is buy Leopard - you will not be disappointed. In addition you'll get all the upgrades and no hassles or bad karma for having an 'illegal' version of bootcamp. Leopard makes you feel like you have a new computer. (I'm sure someone has a demo copy of BC you could p2p if financially strapped.) Best of luck.

 

[GSMiller]

Before you buy Parallels or Fusion you should try a trial of each, just to see which you prefer the most before shelling out the money for either. You'll soon find that they are very similar programs, but as with any program one may work better for you than the other. I myself prefer Parallels as when I tried running my Bootcamp partition in virtualization with Fusion, I couldn't log into Windows because the keyboard would not work so I couldn't type in my Windows XP password without installing "Fusion Tools," which had to be done under XP! Parallels did all this for me automatically, although Parallels doesn't work as nice on Leopard as it should.

 

[ayeying]

Try it and see which you like. Currently, I use both, x32 in Parallels and x64 in Fusion. So far, I noticed I need to increase the amount of ram to keep the system from crashing in Fusion (1024MB at least) yet I can still use 512MB in Parallels.

 

[gnasher729]

Try it and see which you like. Currently, I use both, x32 in Parallels and x64 in Fusion. So far, I noticed I need to increase the amount of ram to keep the system from crashing in Fusion (1024MB at least) yet I can still use 512MB in Parallels.

Just curious: When you say "keep the system from crashing", is it MacOS X that is crashing, or is it the Fusion or Parallels application, or is it Windows?

 

[foca86]

Windows XP in VMWare Fusion don't accept any type from keyboard

Hello, I recently changed to a Macbook and installed VMWare Fusion.

I installed a windows XP VM, but when Windows start I can't type anything at any application that requiere input. the keyboard don't work. I appreciate your help.

 

[mac2maverick]

So many new options for the Macs now; it's an exciting time. It's going to take a while before people have the options understood and figured out. There's also going to be a steep learning curve for Mac users who aren't familiar with virus fighting methods. The Mac stores are going to have lots of extra work in the next year - dealing with all the crashed Windows partitions. I'm looking forward to learning this stuff and it's great to have a knowledgeable group here to ask questions. Thanks ya'all.

 

[ayeying]

Just curious: When you say "keep the system from crashing", is it MacOS X that is crashing, or is it the Fusion or Parallels application, or is it Windows?

Windows.