Re: Installing Windows on my Mac....
- From: dempson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx (David Empson)
- Date: Fri, 27 Jul 2007 00:30:43 +1200
<funvegas7@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jul 26, 4:29 am, stephen <m0604...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Jul 26, 11:16 am, The Natural Philosopher <a...@xxx> wrote:
funveg...@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
I would like to install something on my MAC computer so that I can
run some programs that are only compatible with Windows... Is it
possible to do this? I have a Mac OS X. Thanks...
There is a program that Microsoft sell called virtualPC, that makes this
possible on non-Intel based Macs.
I cannot recall, but I think there are a couple of other options for
Intel processor equipped macs.
Parallels. AIUI it runs in virtualization mode and has direct access
to the hardware.
Not quite. It has virtual hardware. Everything is controlled by Mac OS
X, but Windows runing inside the virtual machine can take control of
some things like USB peripherals. Windows doesn't get direct access to
the CPU, RAM, hard drive, video card, optical drive, etc., but works
with emulated hardware that is mapped onto the real hardware by the
virtualisation software (using facilities provided by Mac OS X).
It is also worth mentioning VMware Fusion, which is a new product
(currently available as a "release candidate" public test version, due
for final release in August, and available for half price if you buy it
before it is released). It is very similar to Parallels in operation.
Virtual PC is an emulator and is probably slower.
There is no "probably" about it. Virtual PC (on a PowerPC Mac) is
significantly slower than virtualisation software like Parallels or
VMware Fusion running on an Intel Mac. This is because of the added
overhead of having to emulate the processor.
If you are trying to run any "modern" version of Windows, Virtual PC is
almost unusable on most Macs (short of a high end G5). It is reasonably
OK if you run an older version of Windows on a fast PowerPC Mac with
plenty of RAM.
Even on a fast PowerPC Mac, Virtual PC bogs down if you run anything
which expects to use a fast CPU or has heavy usage of sound and video
(e.g. games).
If you have a PowerPC Mac and want to run Windows, don't waste your time
with Virtual PC. Get an Intel Mac and use Boot Camp, Parallels or VMware
Fusion.
There's also Bootcamp which gives you the ability to boot into OS X or
Windows.
To clarify: Boot Camp requires an Intel Mac.
I do have a Intel Processor equipped Mac... Do I have to purchase and
install the actual "Windows" program before I use one of these, or
will one of these work alone?
For any of the solutions mentioned here, you need to buy an appropriate
version of Windows. You need a "full install" version of Windows, not an
"upgrade", and you generally can't use a copy of Windows which was
supplied with another computer - you need a new OEM or full retail
version of Windows.
In addition to Windows, you may need to pay for the software which
allows you to run it.
Boot Camp is free (supplied by Apple) and allows you to install Windows
XP (with service pack 2) or any version of Windows Vista. (It will
probably also work with some Linux variants.) Using Boot Camp requires
restarting the computer each time you want to switch between Windows and
Mac OS X.
Parallels and VMware Fusion cost about US$80 and support a much wider
range of Windows versions (right back to MS-DOS). One restriction to
note is that Microsoft's licence doesn't allow you to use any of the
cheaper variants of Vista in a virtual machine - you have to buy one of
the most expensive variants, or use an older operating system (such as
XP).
Note that if you want to play high-end Windows games, you might have to
use Boot Camp. Virtual machines tend to have too much overhead to allow
decent performance on games which make heavy use of 3D graphics and
fancy sound.
I think it's "Parallels", which gives you the ability to switch back and
forth between Windows and Mac without re-booting
Correct.
but first you need to invest about $200. for the windows program, and if
this is the case, which version would I use...
Probably about $280 in total. Get Windows XP Home (unless you have a
compelling need for the extra features in XP Professional; if you aren't
sure, you probably don't), and either Parallels or VMware Fusion.
There is at least one other product worth mentioning: Crossover lets you
run a limited set of Windows applications on Mac OS X without having to
buy or install Windows at all. It does this by tricking the application
into thinking it is running on Windows, intercepting all requests made
by the application which would normally be handled by Windows and
transforming them into the equivalent Mac OS X request.
Crossover is aimed mostly at people needing to run specific business
applications like the Windows version of Microsoft Office (e.g. because
they have to use Microsoft Access or Outlook), but they are gradually
adding support for more Windows applications.
--
David Empson
dempson@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
.
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