I am confused! I have just received a new MacBook with Leopard and I need to run only one little program which only is designed for Windows. I see there is a Boot Camp installation on my machine but do I need to install my complete Windows XP only to run one program which operates in its own shell (it's a banking prog) ? I don't know the difference between Parallels and Boot Camp and whether I need both or just one in order to do this?
Any thoughts please? Thanks.
If you use CrossOver, you can run some Windows programs without having to install Windows.
All other products [VMware, Parallels, BootCamp] require you to install Windows.
Mac Specs: iMac Core Duo 20", iBook G4, iPhone 8GB :)
Most probably you wont need to run Windows via bootcamp if it's just one proggy.
Bootcamp: Need to reboot to get into Windows. Full speed however.
Parallels or Fusion: No need to reboot, windows runs within OS X. Still need to install Windows though. Doesn't run full speed, but it is acceptable for most purposes.
Crossover: No need for Windows. Runs the program as if a mac app. Doesn't run full speed, and doesn't work with many complicated programs.
Thanks that's really useful information. I did look at the Boot Camp set up on the notebook and see that it partitions to a min of 5Gbs to run Windows which seems unnecessary just to run one small prog so will look at the Crossover prog. Also when I tried to install my Win XP (registered) disk it asked for the installation/set up disk which i don't seem to have or never have had because the drivers were always on my PC.
Can I delete the 5Gb partition that was set aside for Windows?
Ta.
What is the name of the one little program?
Maybe there is a mac version?
Unfortunately there's not! It's called Money Manager from www.moneysoft.co.uk Since I've built up a data base of my accounts from 1991 on my PC.
I didn't want to start a new finance prog like Quicken (for which I read bad reports of the Mac version) because I could refer to to my history if the Tax Authorities asked for info!
Such is the dilemma when you dump Windows PC#s for Mac!
Mac Specs: Mac Pro 2 x 2 GHz Dual-Core Intel Xeon, Mac OS 10.5.2
I tried installing the demo of Money Manager under Crossover, and unfortunately it simply crashes just trying to install. Crossover is simply not gonna cut it as a solution.
Unfortunately one of the problems you and others are facing with a platform change is support for your "legacy" software where there is no Mac version. Does one "simply" continue using Windows in some limited form for a limited number of apps, or do you suck it up and switch to a new app? If you are a switcher for the long-term, then personally I think the best approach is the latter. I would export your data to whatever format may be at your disposal that can be read on OS X and switch wholesale to a new native app that meets your needs. If you can't outright export to a Quicken-compatible format, then maybe you can "print to pdf" your entire history, for example.
As for a new app.. there are quite a few money managers for OS X. Quicken did have a pretty serious issue with one version. I was recently trying out the newer version myself, but after reading of the issues I requested a refund within my trial period because I felt that bug was simply inexcusable, not to mention the software was just way overpriced for my needs. You may want to look into iBank. They have version 3 in beta and from what I read, it is going to be one incredibly nice app.
Thanks for all that information and especially for trying it out in Crossover. I suppose I could install Windows in Parallels and run the prog but seems a lot of effort and use of space just for one prog! I think the answer is to go with your suggestion and start off 2008 with a new Money prog but the thought of not being able to refer to the back data is a major problem! So am still thinking!
It seems I wasted my money on buying Crossover (should have gone for the trail version!) and am sure they will not give a refund!
