iMac with 1gig - Will Parallels Run OK

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Hi

Had my iMac now for 8 months and I really love it.
I installed bootcamp a few months ago as there is one programme (Magix Studio 10 Pro Video Editor) that I just can't do without. My question is, would I see any difference if I ran this application through Parallels rather than bootcamp. I have read through some of the posts and have noticed that 1 gig may not be sufficient to run some programmes and may even slow some software down. Not wanting at this stage to invest in more memory, I just wondered if I would be safe using 1 gig.

I have no problems really using bootcamp, but occasionally while using the Magix editor, I find that some of the pictures/songs etc. that I want to use in a project are on OSX, which means shutting down, opening OSX, copying items to my flash drive, shutting down again and opening in XP, and copying from the flash to my project.........this can be a bit of a bind!

Any help appreciated.

Philip
 
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I used Parallels on a 1 gig machine for 6 months. It's 'ok' as long as you don't have OS X apps running at the same time as having parallels up.

You'll have to limit your parallels VM to having 512MB of RAM, which will mean both XP and OS X will under perform. The extra gig can be gotten for about $120 and is really worth it.
 
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I would rather suggest using 2GB of Ram if you are planning on using a virtualization software like parallels.
And if you still have the choice I'd suggest using VMware's Fusion since it is a whole lot snappier and faster than Parallels.
I wrote a little post on my blog with some useful links if you are interested.

kuchiki
 
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Many thanks ZooLook (is that a JMJ reference?) & Kuchiki for your advice.
It would seem that a memory upgrade would be best if I am to go down the VM road.
I did view your blog Kuchiki, and found the comparison useful. By all accounts it seems that Fusion would be the quicker option, so I will give it a try - when I have purchased more memory....Is Crucial still the best place to shop?


Thanks

Philip
 
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I think everyone should just upgrade to 2GB of RAM since it is so cheap nowadays (it costs around $35 here). The performance difference, especially when using virtualisation software is amazing.
 
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I personally have only read good things about crucial Ram.
And if something were to go wrong customer service is supposed to be excellent too. I guess you can't go wrong with Crucial RAM.

kuchiki
 
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As you are using a Video Editing app I would suggest sticking with running Windows through Bootcamp rather the Parallels. Whie Parallels is a very good product you are still running two Operating Systems at once and therefore sharing resources. Video Editing is very resource hungary, every processor cycle and byte of memory counts for best performance. Running Windows through Bootcamp gives dedicated access to all avalible resources.
 

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