Windows On Mac :: Bootcamp Vs Parallels / VMWare - How It Works
Apr 13, 2009
I have an iMac 24" 2.8ghz, 4gb ram, mid 2008. I have a couple of programs that only work under Windows, plus my wife doesn't want to learn Mac (sigh). I've been reading the threads (via mroogle) and looking at the documentation available from both Parallels and VM Ware and I'd like to know if I my understanding of how it works is correct. For Bootcamp, you partition your HD to create a bootcamp partition and OSx puts in drivers that allows you to install/boot windows in that partition and then you simply boot from that partition. This seems to be the closest to a genuine Windows environment. Right?
For Parallels/VM Ware, you install the application and then it runs in an OSx window and you create a virtual machine which installs windows and then it runs under OSx. Then you don't need windows drivers since Parallels/VM supplies the drivers as part of its own code. The virtual machine (64 gb or so) becomes your "hard disk" (I think) and OSx doesn't see the file system from other applications. Parallels/VM emulates the PC bios more or less? So I would need an OEM copy of Windows XP plus the service pack and also VM Ware or Parallels if I choose that route.
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Dec 27, 2009
I'm gonna give my mom my 13" Unibody Aluminum MacBook 2.0GHz with 2GB RAM and a 160GB HDD. She needs to run the Windows version of Quickbooks and I'm wondering whether to set her up in BootCamp, Parallels, or VMWare. She doesn't necessarily need to virtual machine and she probably won't use more than 20 GB, but what are your thoughts?
1) BootCamp?
2) Parallels?
3) VMWare?
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Jul 2, 2010
Im thinking about getting Vmware or Parallels using it as a virtual PC to access my Bootcamp partition.
I'm just wondering if this is even possible (im new to virtual pcs).
If it does work, will i be able to access bootcamp directly from booting it natively?
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Nov 11, 2010
I am considering getting my first mac (MBA) but I have an external hdd with NTFS format. I've read that OSX can read files from NTFS but cannot write to it. What if I run Parallels/VMware using the bootcamp partition? Can I then write files to the external hdd?
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Nov 5, 2009
I have windows 7 installed in bootcamp.
I made it a VM for Fusion 3. Installed VMWare Tools.
If I wanted to transition to Parallels 5...
Would I (most likely), uninstalled VMWare Tools, reboot.
Then tells Paralells to make Bootcamp a VM.. then install the Parallels Tools.
My basic wonder, is can I do this. or will I have to fully reinstall the entire bootcamp partition to make the switch.
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Dec 26, 2009
I am an architect and I will be mostly using my new imac to work on Autocad 2010 along with a couple of other windows based applications. I understand the concept of the three methods of using windows but I do not know which would provide the best performance whilst working on Autocad, without it becoming a laborious task to load it up everyday.
I will be rocking dual monitors so I quite like the idea of Parallels or VMWare so that I can have Windows open on one monitor and Leopard on the other. But will this have a negative effect on the performance of Autocad? Also, which of these two is the better?
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Sep 25, 2010
I'm trying to install Splinter Cell:Conviction on my 27" i7 iMac using Bootcamp and Windows 7 Ulitmate, but I keep getting this error message when I try to open the "setup" button:
>SetupNewsetup.cpp (138)
PAPP:
PVENDOR:
PGUID:
$14.0.0.162
@Windows XP Service Pack 2 (2600) IE 8.0.7600.16385
What doesn't make any sense is that when I try to install the same thing in parallels it works perfectly (but can't utilize all my system, hense using Boot Camp) I've been searching for days to find an answer but can't figure this problem out.
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Sep 6, 2007
With all the new software partitions available for the mac for users to be able to utilize any Windows OS on their Mac, many ask what about all the viruses that comes from windows? Will the Mac still be protected even though Windows is running on it? does the Mac saying "114,000 viruses, not for a Mac," still stand? Give me your input.
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Mar 23, 2008
Which is better to use? I understand you don't need to reboot to use Parallels or Vmware but is it fully functional? And do either of these kill the performance of the system?
And what's the difference between Parallels and Vmware?
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Jan 26, 2008
I just bought a Mac Pro, my 2nd Mac to compliment my MacBook Pro. The different is this Mac Pro is replacing my Windows Desktop. Since I'm going to be using one of the internal drives as a server drive for my home network I don't want to use Boot Camp since I don't want to have to reboot. My question, which of the virtualization products should I go with? For Windows I don't use it heavily. I don't do much gaming and just use a few programs such as QuickBooks, a couple other accounting programs, and I also burn some DVD's and CD's on it. I assume this won't require heavy use and with 6GB of memory memory shouldn't be an issue. For now I plan to use just Windows XP but if Vista ever gets more stable I will switch to it. At the office they also have some Linux machines and my husband wants to set up a Ubuntu Linux machine so someday we could even have Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Linux machines. I have read so much both ways of which to go with and it seems it all depends on when the last one was updated but I also don't want to go with one just to switch soon so am wondering if one is more safe and future proof.
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Aug 27, 2007
I am currently using Parallels and I've been fairly satisfied with it.
I have read a lot of good things about VMware and I'm thinking about changing.
My question is this - would I be able to simply 'point' VMware to my existing windows installation (the one that parallels is using)? Or would I have to do a fresh install and lose everything on the Windows side?
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Sep 22, 2009
Is there an obvious winner between VMWare 2 and Parallels 4 in SL, or does it still come down to a preference issue?
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Jun 20, 2010
I'm looking to create a virtual machine on my i5 MBP because I need to run some specific Windows software (Tacx Training Software, I'm into cycling). Which one of the 3 virtual machine programs is better from a performance/stability perspective? Has anybody seen a comparison test yet? I understand that VirtualBox is free for personal use, is it really worth paying for the other two?
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May 7, 2009
I'm having pretty bad difficulties with Windows 7 and Parallels Desktop. I know it's not supported yet, but some folk have it working. I can boot up, but I can't install Parallels Tools. I changed the Configuration to "Windows 2008 Server" like someone suggested in another forum, but fails to boot up.
Seems like VMWare are offering a better helping hand than Parallels Desktop - and while it is not supported yet by them, they say that if you use Windows 2008 Server Config everything works apart from sound.
So am I best giving it a bash with VMWare's Fusion? 30-day trial for free. But I'd rather try get Parallels working since I paid for it.
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Aug 1, 2007
I'd really like to use Captivate's functionality on my Mac, and figure that it might work through virtualization. Has anyone tried Adobe (used to be Macromedia) Captivate on a Mac through Parallels? Does it even work?
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Aug 4, 2009
What is the Best way to play PC only games on a mac. From what I have read I assume Boot Camp is the best, but am not quite sure. If I wanted to go the virtualization route, which would be better for gaming, VMware Fusion or Parallels?
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Aug 26, 2009
I know the issue of what virtualization package is best on the mac has been debated endlessly, but the only thing I have been able to conclude is that some people have great experiences with each package and some people have horrible experiences with each package. I'm interested in some numbers and figure this place is a better forum for collecting this data than, say, the apple store.
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Jan 13, 2010
I am having a very hard time installing doss 6.22 on my Mac. Why would I want too? Well cause of work, we have some a lot of old data at work that was collected over the years using dos programs and I need to go threw it and pull out what I need, when I need it. So having it on my laptop would be great. I have tried both Parallels & VMware with no luck. I can't get them to realize that I have a floppy drive, it's a usb floppy drive. I have 6gig of memory running snow lepoard. I have been thinking of trying the Sun Microsystem software but thought I would ask here first.
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Jun 15, 2010
I wanted to to know and make a post comparing VMware Fusion 3 and Parallels Desktop 5 with the new updates. Which one is better in running multiple OSs at the same time. Do they support hypervisor. Cause i want to create a virtual environment to learn Server 2008 and Mac Os Server. Which one would be better to use VMware Fusion 3 or Parallels Desktop 5. As I said before I want this thread to be used to compare the two programs so if anybody else has question post them more question the better, of coarse if we get answers.
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Dec 1, 2009
I am currently using the trial of both programs to find out which I like best. There's two issues though:
- VMWare seems to have a drag lag in unity mode, whenever I drag a window, I can see the background from the windows desktop behind it, it doesn't seem to refresh fast enough. Is there a setting for this? This is on the newest 27 inch i7 imac, so that certainly should be fast enough not to have this kind of annoying problem. Resizing a window also goes somewhat slower than I would expect.
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Apr 29, 2010
I'm ready to upgrade my MacBook 13" late 2006 model to a new 15 inch pro, and realize that, especially in the college environment where many professors demand windows, I should run it somehow. I've been doing extensive research for the last hour on the best way to run it, however I'm in a complete deadlock. Some people say just do boot camp, but I don't mind paying up to $100 extra if it will really be much smoother. Even when I try to compare the differences between VMware and Parallels (the latest versions of both), I don't see anything hugely significant. Plus, I see just as many complaints about both of them (I'm reading 1-star HORROR STORIES on amazon of each one), and really, really just want a smooth experience. So, my dear MacRumors friends, I come to you for advice. Which of the three programs do you recommend?
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Oct 13, 2008
I'm currently running Parallels 3.0 (XP Pro) off of a Boot Camp partition on my Macbook Pro. I'd like to give VMWare Fusion an audition, and am wondering if I can run it off that same BC partition that Parallels uses -- or if that will create some kind of conflict that might damage the partition. I'm not talking about having Parallels and VMWare running _simultaenously_ -- only installing them both to use the same partition.
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Mar 29, 2009
I have the latest build of Parallels 3.0 (build 5636). I use Windows Vista Basic through the Boot Camp partition. Parallels launches Windows with no problems. However, when I try to boot Windows Vista Basic through Boot Camp, the black screen with the green bar and the Microsoft Corporation copyright appears, and then before it switches to the next screen, I get a split second blue screen of death and then the computer reboots itself. I video taped the incident, but since the blue screen of death scrolls the message onto the screen, the computer rebooted before it could tell me what specific file may be corrupted.
I've already tried the following:
1. Booted the computer with the Windows installation DVD to do a "start up" repair attempt.
2. Created a new virtual machine.
3. Done a system restore to before the new version of Parallels was installed.
There was a time when Parallels froze and I had to "force quit" it. That could have corrupted something with the Boot Camp partition. Could that be the case?
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Sep 4, 2009
So I am trying to open up my bootcamp partition (running windows 7) in VMWare and I get this error message: Cannot open the disk '/Users/brandonquirarte/Library/Application Support/VMware Fusion/Virtual Machines/Boot Camp/%2Fdev%2Fdisk0/Boot Camp partition.vmwarevm/Boot Camp partition.vmdk' or one of the snapshot disks it depends on. It was working just fine before the upgrade to Snow Leopard but I am not sure if that has anything to do with it. I had to reinstall Windows 7 after I tried installing the Bootcamp 3.0 drivers so that may be more of the issue. I didn't test to see if would work still when I upgraded to Snow Leopard.
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May 29, 2010
I'm a new MAC user and I am getting swamped with info. My question is, what is the best way to install Bootcamp? Should I install MAC OSX Snow Leopard first? Or should I install Bootcamp then Windows first? Then MAC OS X? I'm really new to this and I've tried reading the sticky but there's no "Best way to install BootCamp" even if I google it.
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Aug 21, 2009
I have some problems with starting Windows 7 RC 64bit with WMWare.
I got Windows 7 RC 64bit installed on my Bootcamp Partition.
Windows 7 works fine and everything.
I want get it working with VMware.
I have VMWare 2.0 installed.
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Sep 25, 2009
Is there a way to set it so that when I enter XP (bootcamp partition) from VMware that instead of having to restart windows every time I can just suspend it like you can with just VMware and windows without the partition?
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Feb 15, 2010
I installed Windows 7 through VMWare Fusion's easy setup. Can I use this existing Windows installation to make a BootCamp partition? I know Windows can be used vice versa (BootCamp first, then VMWare), but I already installed Windows 7 with VMware first.
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Jun 17, 2010
if im running on OSX and is connected to the internet and I run my win 7 boot camp partition via VMware fusion...
1. will windows on fusion be automatically connected to the internet using the OSx's connection? or is it a separate connection?
2. if yes, what if i disable windows from connecting to the internet, will it still be connected if ran it via fusion?
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Nov 20, 2009
I am purchasing my first Mac this week (iMac 27" i7 8gb ram 1 TB ). I am new to the whole Mac experience. I have a few questions I hope someone can give me the correct answers.
I purchased VMware 3.0, but I would also like to use bootcamp (for when I am gaming). Would Windows need a separate installation copy for each? I was concerned about the Windows activation issue. I am not sure if need to activate twice or if Windows 7 will allow it, once for bootcamp and then once for Vmware?
I purchased Windows 7 64 bit upgrade. I am currently running on my PC Windows Vista 64 bit and I have a new OEM copy of XP home 32 bit (unused). I plan on using the already registered copy of Vista to install on my MAC then use the Windows 7 upgrade. Will that work? Will I need to activate Vista before I can use the upgrade?
Can I use an external drive to run windows from VMware (either firewire or USB) or should I invest in the 2 TB upgrade?
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