Virtualization on Air

[Chilulu]

I am currently using a mid-2010 MBP 13" which has a C2D 2.4GHz CPU. I upgraded the memory to 8GB and storage to SSD (160GB Intel X25-M). I mainly use this machine for virtualization with Fusion, often running several VMs for studying/lab purposes (but not really for production use).

I've always wanted an Air, but the 4GB cap on memory (and lack of confidence in the CPU) prevented me from getting one. What really appeals to me is the extreme portability--the ability to fire up my VMs anywhere, anytime. Though my MBP has served me well in this regard, I've often found myself thinking "if I had an Air..."

So the question is, assuming I could get 128-256GB storage and 8GB of memory with the new 11" model, would it perform on par with my current MBP? Would it perform better? I realize we can only speculate right now...

Or, do any owners of the current 11" model who run Fusion have any experiences to share for reference?

 

[clyde2801]

Eh, there are no current owners of 2011 models. We're waiting for them to be released (and fighting over the specs we THINK may be in them in the meanwhile!).

You'll have to wait for them to be released, see what's in them, and let the reviewers and other geeks benchtest them to see how their innards compare to your MBP.

Or, you can hotly debate over when you think they will be released in the interim.

Your choice.

 

[clyde2801]

review about virtualization on 2010 MBA's

http://www.cultofmac.com/virtual-machines-work-great-on-the-new-macbook-air/66857

"I recently reviewed the 13-inch MacBook Air and I noted that many of you were curious to know how well the new MacBook Air would work emulating other operating systems running Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac or VMWare Fusion.

I’m happy to report to you that I spent some time with both of these applications and I have some good news — they not only work, but in my opinion they work pretty damn good if you ask me."

 

[Chilulu]

Eh, there are no current owners of 2011 models. We're waiting for them to be released (and fighting over the specs we THINK may be in them in the meanwhile!).

I didn't say "current 2011 model" - I said "current 11" model. " The inch, as a unit of length, in some cases is denoted by a double prime, which is often approximated by double quotes. But thanks for playing!

 

[Chilulu]

http://www.cultofmac.com/virtual-machines-work-great-on-the-new-macbook-air/66857

"I recently reviewed the 13-inch MacBook Air and I noted that many of you were curious to know how well the new MacBook Air would work emulating other operating systems running Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac or VMWare Fusion.

I’m happy to report to you that I spent some time with both of these applications and I have some good news — they not only work, but in my opinion they work pretty damn good if you ask me."

Thanks for the link. So you say Fusion runs great on the current 13" MBA upgraded to the 2.13GHz CPU and 4GB RAM. (Let's disregard storage for the moment since capacity won't affect VM performance, and the underlying SSD tech can only get better.) Let's assume the upcoming 11" will have at least 4GB RAM stock. Let's also assume it gets the lowest-end i5 CPU (2557M). The current 2.13GHz SL9600 CPU has a PassMark score of 1,527, and the i5-2557M has 2,187. So basically, even the new 11" MBA should run those XP/7 VMs quite well... and even better if the RAM is upgradeable to 8GB and/or the CPU to i7...?

Aside from the numerous assumptions, anyone think my logic is flawed?

 

[JHUFrank]

Being that I have a current 13" MBA, 1.86 proc with 4 gigs of ram and 128 gigs of drive space, and it runs vmware fusion (Win7 VM and XP Vm) without any problems at all, I don't think it would be too much of an assumption that vmware will run as well or better on the new models coming out.

 

[FX4568]

It runs fine for me, Im running parallels 6 with windows XP pro x64. It lagged when it first installed but so far no hiccups

 

[clyde2801]

Thanks for the link. So you say Fusion runs great on the current 13" MBA upgraded to the 2.13GHz CPU and 4GB RAM. (Let's disregard storage for the moment since capacity won't affect VM performance, and the underlying SSD tech can only get better.) Let's assume the upcoming 11" will have at least 4GB RAM stock. Let's also assume it gets the lowest-end i5 CPU (2557M). The current 2.13GHz SL9600 CPU has a PassMark score of 1,527, and the i5-2557M has 2,187. So basically, even the new 11" MBA should run those XP/7 VMs quite well... and even better if the RAM is upgradeable to 8GB and/or the CPU to i7...?

Aside from the numerous assumptions, anyone think my logic is flawed?

Nope.

 

[Neil McRae]

I run paralells on a 11" apI have 4GB and I allocate 2 to windows and on OC aeon it really struggles.

I'm hoping for a 8GB 256 i7 11" top end model. I'll be buying it right away if they do release it.

 

[theSeb]

http://www.cultofmac.com/virtual-machines-work-great-on-the-new-macbook-air/66857

"I recently reviewed the 13-inch MacBook Air and I noted that many of you were curious to know how well the new MacBook Air would work emulating other operating systems running Parallels Desktop 6 for Mac or VMWare Fusion.

I’m happy to report to you that I spent some time with both of these applications and I have some good news — they not only work, but in my opinion they work pretty damn good if you ask me."

"Pretty damn good" is a subjective statement and one person's "pretty darn good" may not meet the criteria of another's. I found that Vmware Fusion runs very poorly with 4 GBs of RAM and was so annoying that I couldn't use it. The difference between running it like that and via Boot Camp was like night and day.

When I upgraded to 8 though it ran fine.

 

[JasonR]

Seems like 4 GB isn't enough on my Macbook Pro 15" (brand new quad i7). It's useable, but very annoying.

I'll probably give it a shot on the air but Boot Camp is the way to go. And Macbook Air boots in what, 9 seconds? lol

 

[clyde2801]

"Pretty damn good" is a subjective statement and one person's "pretty darn good" may not meet the criteria of another's. I found that Vmware Fusion runs very poorly with 4 GBs of RAM and was so annoying that I couldn't use it. The difference between running it like that and via Boot Camp was like night and day.

When I upgraded to 8 though it ran fine.

Ditto from going to 3 gigs to 8. But...
1. per the reviewer, it is possible, even with the '10 models

2. we don't know the specs of the 11's, but it's presumably going to have the same ram options or better, and

3. no one is saying is going to run like a mac pro