Best Virtual Machine Configuration for MacBook Pro

[CaptHope]

Hi dear friends,

This is my first time starting a thread as a newbie both to the forum and to the Apple computers. So, please forgive me if I talk nonsense.

And here is my question comes:

I ordered a new MacBook Pro 16 inch as my first Apple computer ever. It did not arrived yet. But I am trying to get other needed hardware/software before my mac arrives to be enable to use it as soon as it arrives.

I am planning to use my mac for software development and photo/video editing purposes. So I got one with i9 and 32 Gb ram. But I could not afford for more storage but 1 Tb only.

Since I am planning to use my mac with Windows and/or Linux besides MacOS, I am not sure if this 1Tb will be enough for me or I need to buy some high speed portable SSD with thunderbolt 3 driver like Samsung X5.

And also I am not sure about how to setup other operating systems to my mac, should I setup win or linux using bootcamp or via using a virtual machine software like Paralells or others. Will it be as effective as booting the machine with the other OS using bootcamp if I use a virtual machine for my other OS when MacOS is running at the same time especially for coding or editing work?

And one other thing that I wonder is which is more suitable: To setup the second OS into the internall SSD drive of mac or into the high speed portable SSD like Samsung x5. I read a few reviews which said that the x5 was as fast as internal ssd drives but I am not sure if it can run windows or linux without any problems continously for at least 2 to 3 hours.

That's all for now. As a summary, should I buy a Samsung x5, should I use bootcamp or virtual machine software to use other operating system, should I install my second OS into the internal ssd or the high speed portable ssd?

It would be very helpfull if you share your opinions about configuring my first MacBook for the purposes I mentioned above.

Thank you all...

 

[Raz0rEdge]

It all depends on what you intend to do with Windows and Linux. If it's pure development only, then the VMs are the best route. Get an external drive and put the VMs on there. That's what I do. I have a couple of VMs through VMWare Fusion for Windows used primarily for development and I have a Linux VM just for the fun of it.

The downside of boot camp is that you constantly have to keep rebooting the machine to get the OS you want, whereas with the VM you can suspend and resume instantly without any issues.

Additionally, with Windows, you can use the VM to snapshot a good build and that way you can ensure that you don't get infected and all that bad stuff.

I have a Sandisk external 1TB SSD that is working really well for me.

 

[MacInWin]

I use Parallels to do basically what Ashwin described. I have a Win10 virtual machine, also one for Linux and just for giggles, I have a Mojave VM just to see if I could do it. They are all on external drives, and not as fast as your Thunderbolt 3, just TB 1. Works reasonably well.