Possibly switching to Mac soon and need some more info on Parallels/VMWare Fusion

Joined
Nov 15, 2007
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Hi everybody,
I'm a long time PC user and have never used a Mac. Since Macs now support multiple OS like XP and Vista, I think it's a good time for me to make the switch. I'm looking at getting a MBP in January 08.

I will need to use MS XP or Vista because I'm using a few programs that come only in PC versions -MS Access (for work) and some VST plugins (music related).

I have a couple of questions regarding running Windows Vista through Fusion. I know you can run Vista virtually in Fusion if Vista is already installed on a separate partition using Bootcamp. But what if I only installed Vista virtually in Fusion, would I be able to run that same copy thru Bootcamp without having to reinstall it separately on the Bootcamp partition?

The reason I ask this is because Fusion will allow you to resize the HD space being used for XP/Vista. But from what I've read is that you need to have a predetermined HD space for the Bootcamp partition and that space can't be resized later on if should want to increase or decrease it. Is this all true?

Also to those of you that have used both Parallels and Fusion - which one do you prefer and why?

Thanks in advance for any feedback.

Summer2000
 
Joined
Sep 24, 2006
Messages
2,766
Reaction score
232
Points
63
Location
Brooklyn, New York
Your Mac's Specs
15" 2014 MacBook Pro, i7 2.5Ghz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD; iPad 3, iPhone 6
The most telling part of your post is in regard to VST plugins. If you want to use your machine for music production, and have to use Windows, then you should absolutely use BootCamp, not a virtual machine of any kind, particularly if you're doing anything semi-professional or better. As you're probably well aware, latency is a big issue on any hardware not dedicated to music making, and a virtual machine will make this a lot worse.

I am sure sometime down the road you'll explore the Mac offering around music production, but so long as you're tied to Windows, use bootcamp for this.

I use Parallels for light Windows work, and love it. VM fusion has some advantages, especially around DX graphics, but I think Parallels is a slightly more mature product.
 
OP
S
Joined
Nov 15, 2007
Messages
15
Reaction score
0
Points
1
Thanks Zoolook.

Do you have any answers regarding using Vista thru Bootcamp if I only installed Vista virtually in Fusion?

Summer2000
 
Joined
Sep 24, 2006
Messages
2,766
Reaction score
232
Points
63
Location
Brooklyn, New York
Your Mac's Specs
15" 2014 MacBook Pro, i7 2.5Ghz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD; iPad 3, iPhone 6
I am not an expert on Fusion, many members here could give you far better advice, but what I do know is that Vista does have some issues, particularly in 64-bit mode, on some Macs.
 
Joined
Jul 3, 2007
Messages
849
Reaction score
14
Points
18
Your Mac's Specs
iMac Core i5(3.6 GHz) 8 GB RAM, MBP C2Duo(2.4 GHz) 4 GB RAM, MB C2Duo(2.4 GHz) 2 GB RAM
bootcamp does allow you to choose the size of the windows partition
 
Joined
Sep 24, 2006
Messages
2,766
Reaction score
232
Points
63
Location
Brooklyn, New York
Your Mac's Specs
15" 2014 MacBook Pro, i7 2.5Ghz, 16GB RAM, 512GB SSD; iPad 3, iPhone 6
I'm aware of that. What I don't know is it allows you to resize the partition after the initial install of the OS?

Summer2000

No, at least not without using 3rd party software that you'd need to pay for. In theory though, there is nothing to stop you backing up the entire partition, deleting it and creating a new larger one. Or simply adding a new partition and allowing Windows to use the extra space as a different volume.
 

Shop Amazon


Shop for your Apple, Mac, iPhone and other computer products on Amazon.
We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon and affiliated sites.
Top