window& for mac???

i have parallel desktop 7 for mac and i would like to buy a window 7 home , can anyone tell me how can i know which window 7 is better for me??? i am installing window for the first time so please help me choose a perfect window 7 for my mac…Here is my macbook pro configuration...

MacBook Pro
15-inch, Early 2011
Processor : 2,3 GHz Intel Core i7
Memory : 8 GB 1333 MHz DDR3
Graphics : AMD Radeon HD 6750M 1024 MB
Software : Mac OS X Lion 10.7.3 (11D50b)

i would be using it mainly to play window games....


Here are some of the stuff i would like to know:

1: Can i install a window 7 OEM version or do i need a Full Version???
2: which service pack is perfect for my macbook pro???
3: which bit should i have 32bit or 64 bit???
4: is there any known compatability or installation issue i should be aware of????

1: An OEM version would be fine.

They're meant for "Original Equipment Manufacturers", but technically you are "originating" the hardware as you have bought a computer without Windows on it. Microsoft don't like individuals using OEM versions on Macs or self-built PCs, but the only time you'd actually be violating the licence would be if you'd say bought a PC with WinXP installed & then used an OEM disk to do a clean upgrade to Win7 (to do that legally you'd need either an upgrade disk, or a retail intall disk).

2: Service packs are like the point releases of OS X (10.7.1 10.7.2, etc.) and are downloaded for free from Windows Update.

If you meant what edition Home Premium (which, confusingly enough, is the standard version installed on most PCs, the Starter & Basic editions being stripped-down versions of that) would be sufficient for your needs.

3: I'm pretty sure all copies of Windows you buy come with both a 32-bit and 64-bit install disk, so you may as well install the 64-bit version (that way you can assign more than ~3GB of your RAM to the VM for better gaming).

4: Only that graphics response (particularly 3D) will be lower in a VM than if you installed Windows natively via Boot Camp, otherwise it should be fine

An OEM System Builder's version will work OK. Those versions are all Full versions which is what you need. And do not buy the 32 bit version, instead buy and install the 64 bit version. The 32 bit version of Windows 7 will limit the amount of memory that can be used to 3.6 GB. Check with Amazon.com as they have a very good price for the 64 bit System Builder's version of Windows 7. Last time I looked, it was $99.99.

thanks for help, it helped me alot,,,,
is there anything i should be aware of any known error???? someone mentioned about having error with .iso files???? is better to have physical disc or image file???

The mistake someone made was that they right-clicked on the ISO that they'd downloaded from the Microsoft website and just selected "Burn this file to Disk", which simply put the ISO file onto a DVD.

To actually re-constitute a Windows installation DVD from the image within the ISO you need to burn it via Disk Utility in the same way you would a DMG file. The other possibility is if you have a USB memory stick large enough you can "Restore" the ISO to it via Disk Utility.

Either should work fine

Ctrl-Opt-Del
yeah my dumb cousin tried to install the .iso image file directly via parallel..... i forwarded ur comment to him...thanks....

Boot camp

I'd recommend installing Windows via BootCamp. This will create a physical partition on your disk and install it there. Once installed there, boot back to OSX, the run Parallels and select the BootCamp partition. I think it runs better like this (I've tried running just the VM in OSX). This assumes you can afford to give up the space for the partition. 100 GB is plenty for me. YMMV.

Very good suggestion, a VM running from a physical partition will run a lot better than one running from a virtual disk; and it leaves the option to boot into Windows natively if one needs all the power of the GPU for a really fancy game.

Ctrl-Opt-Del said:

The mistake someone made was that they right-clicked on the ISO that they'd downloaded from the Microsoft website and just selected "Burn this file to Disk", which simply put the ISO file onto a DVD.

To actually re-constitute a Windows installation DVD from the image within the ISO you need to burn it via Disk Utility in the same way you would a DMG file. The other possibility is if you have a USB memory stick large enough you can "Restore" the ISO to it via Disk Utility.

Either should work fine

Click to expand...

how can i "restore" .iso image file to memory stick via disk utility???

elthewa said:

how can i "restore" .iso image file to memory stick via disk utility???

Click to expand...

Double-click the file to automatically mount it in the Finder, close that Finder window as you'll not need it, right-click the file and select Disk Utility under "Open With", select the partition listed underneath the ISO file in the left pane, select "Restore" from the grey tabs at the top of the right pane, and then follow the instructions shown.