What software do you use to run Windows on your Mac?
 

I need some advices about software that runs Windows on Mac. I have some uncertainty about which piece of software to purchase.
What are advantages and disadvantages of each of this piece of software? :confused:

Maybe this will help.

http://www.mactech.com/articles/mact...tionBenchmark/

I use Parallels with XP, myself. And am going to try Crossover.

It kind of depends on the vintage of your Mac.

Mine being a G4 PowerPC Mac, I use Connectix VirtualPC 6.

People with a G5 PowerPC Mac have no choice but to use Microsoft's VirtualPC 7 (they bought out Connectix). People with a G4 like mine can also use that version but can run older versions (like I do) if they happen to have them.

People with Intel Macs have a wider range of choices, most prominently Boot Camp and Parallels but there's also VMWare. The various versions of VirtualPC cited above will not run on an Intel Mac. Boot Camp is a loader + drivers kit to let you install and run Windows as the native OS (or one of the native OS's) on an Intel Mac. The others run a virtual machine within which Windows boots while the MacOS remains the primary OS which the machine itself boots from.

I use a combo or parallels and bootcamp. I use bootcamp for all my gaming needs and parallels for just quick windows only tasks

VMWare Fusion
 

I use VMWare's Fusion for running Windows on my iMac. I only have a limited need to use it (checking work webmail and using a couple of "Windows only" programs for both work and for school). I haven't used anything else so I cannot offer a comparison between Fusion and anything else (Parallels?). I did use Bootcamp for a while, but for as little as I require Windows, a VM is definitely the way to go. ;) I've also loaded two Linux OS' into VM's (Fedora and Ubuntu) and it's nice to have anything I want available at the click of a mouse vice having to reboot.

Having only just recently switched to OSX from WindowsXP, I decided to use VMware due to a couple of reasons:

1) I was familiar with how VMware worked from my Server experience in the Windows environment so I knew what I was getting myself into.
2) I had tried the 'Free' converter to convert my existing Windows PC into a VMware VM and put it across to my new Mac and it worked FLAWLESSLY. I was then able to run my old PC on my iMac to commence getting email and data out of my apps. This meant I could ditch my old hardware completely.
3) I enjoy the odd game or 2 and decided that Bootcamp would be best suited to this situation. The thing I liked about VMware was that I could access my Bootcamp machine (the one that I converted) from either Bootcamp directly, or from VMware within OSX.....I had the best of both worlds.

Just my 2c worth.

I use Parallels for Windows. I've used VMWare and also have it installed, but I Dont like it. Parallels is cleaner and allows for a better intergration between the two, i think.

So different opinions about this software (now I am choosing between Parallels and Fusion).. And I must say that I am inclined to Parallels.. The have rather attractive offers (http://www.parallels.com/en/products...emium/compare/) as I learned from their web-site..
By the way, how much do I have to pay for VMWare Fusion?

I have tested both VMWare and parallels. I found VMWare to take more system resources, but it seems more stable. I use it primarily for MS Access and some proprietary software for work. I also use it to run Linux server testing which did not work well in parallels at all. I think VMWare was about $70.

My 2 cents!
Joe

According to the last publication where they test Parallels Desktop, Fusion and Boot Camp on how they fast VM Ware Fusion is the fastest one as it shown on diagrams.. But nevertheless they say that Parallels is the best virtualization machine. So I guess if I have fast machine (about 2 Ghz, with 2 Gb RAM) I would get the best from virtualization using Parallels!
On the other hand we should not fully trust this article as most of such publications are invited papers and advertising.

i think your spending too much time thinking about this. go to both sites, download their trials. the time it would take you to set up a real windows box, both VM & Parallels XP machines will be up and running so you can test it out for your self.

Also, what are the specs of your mac, your gonna need at least 1gb of ram to be setaside for parallels, im not sure about the needs of VM

I determined to purchase Parallels' decision. Now I'm choosing one of the Parallels' special offers. The have a plenty of rather attractive ones!
I'm going to cope with Parallels Desktop on my holidays. Surely will post my report on it as soon as possible!

why not do as some poster said above and try both for FREE before you buy anything?

take advantage of the Demo versions!

Do they really have free demos?? :confused: Surfing through their web-site I could only find Parallels online-shop...

http://www.parallels.com/en/download/
I believe that after you've downloaded Parallels you can get the 15 day trial activation key.

As other have mentioned... There is bootcamp which requires booting and comes with OSX, two Solutions that run in a window via vitalization and then Crossover which runs some windows apps and games without windows.

All the products offer free demos and have strengths and weakness. Parallels is newer to virtualization but has been in the mac market longer. Vmware has been doing virtualization longer and supposedly has better customer service. Boot Camp is semi-perfect but requires a partition of your drive and a reboot. The other products let you run windows side by side with OSX which for many is worth the costs.

Neither product is perfect or a slam duck, every-ones needs are different. Last I checked most thought Fusion was edging out Parallels, its a cat and mouse through with both doing frequent updates. If you had asked this question many months ago there answer was simpler because Fusion was not ready yet, now you have more choices and will have test what works for you. Crossover is good option depending on the Apps you need to run and does not require windows.

http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/

http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/

http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/

Semi-perfect? PC Magazine rates Boot Camp as running Vista better than any other hardware!

Vista. ekk:)

I say semi because there were and may still be some drivers that were not available for Apple's own hardware and perhaps third party add on hardware. I have not kept close track but earlier on there was a short list of problems at one point.

Are we at 100 percent in that regard. Here is the FAQ about Bootcamp.

http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=306823

Well, I've missed the opportunity to run free trial Parallels Desktop but I'm not sorry about it.

On the holidays I've purchased Parallels Desktop Premium Edition for $100 taking advantage of their Christmas special offer. I got free Acronis software and Kaspersky Internet Security. I guess just one Kaspersky costs about $80...
I couldn't resist this nice offer!

So I use Parallels Desktop for about couple of weeks and I really like it. I have no problems with it and it runs rather fast. It fully satisfies my needs for the moment. Easy to install, easy to use. Excellent usability! So, "keep it, hold it, love it!" :)

I'm glad that you like Parallels. The app is truly great. I like it very much - it helps me a lot. Instead of having a PC I have both worlds in my Mac.

"Semi-perfect? PC Magazine rates Boot Camp as running Vista better than any other hardware!"
Actually, it is a small wonder. Parallels: 2 OSes=2 times less RAM; Boot Camp: 1 OS, full RAM - it will work fine anyway. Unless you have 2 Gigs of RAM with Paralells.

The offer is pretty good. I upgraded in the last days of December. ATIH is a good app, really good. I don't regret a single penny spent for this upgrade

Does anybody know for how long I can use Kaspersky Internet Security on my new Parallels Desktop 3.0 Premium Edition?

Theres a license for one year for the three apps included in Premium. You'll have to buy a new license after a year of use for Kaspersky.

Other might disagree but I like Corporate version of Symantec NAV best. It works well, is not a resoruce hog like the consumer versions of many antiviral products, and At least from my expereince the defention updates are free for the length you can stand the version of your client/server. We often kept a version for many years before switching to the next.

Don't forget about Windows Defender which MS bought and lets you download for free, its one of the best Adware blockers. Popups off. Firewall on. Shields up. Ekk.

I haven't tried Symantec, and actually this is the first time I use antivirus (Kaspersky) since it was included into Parallels Premium. When virus monitor is on it works rather fine, Windows works only a little bit slower. I never needed an antivirus before I started running Windows in Parallels. Now my motto is: better safe, than sorry=)
Maybe I'll consider my options of using Symantec in a year when Kaspersky license is over

Well, you bought it now, but FWIW & >IME, Parallels has appalling USB issues and their "support" is somewhere between garbage and non-existent.:mad:

I used to run Kaspersky a few years ago but I've decided to get rid of it in some time because it was seriously dragging my system. I haven't installed Kaspersky yet from my Parallels Desktop Premium package as I think it might be the same problem I had earlier. Does Kaspersky make any problem to your system?
I like Nod32. I used it before and had no problems with it.

For Windows, I use Avast! 4. It's less intrusive than most, updated regularly and free. The later is just a bonus. It would be worth a price.

For Mac OS X, I don't… :)

I bought it a long time ago, it was just an upgrade.
Maybe there are really some problems with Parallels support, I agree. But they have a decent forum, where almost all of my major questions were answered, or at least taken into consideration.
Currently I haven't got any issues with USB. There have been some problems with printers in Parallels I admit, but all of my other USB devices work well. Mostly used of them are:

WD My book Essential Edition (320 gigs removable hard drive)
http://www.wdmybook.com/images/drive/1u/th/4.jpg

iRiver T10 MP3 player (1 Gig - works just fine!)
http://www.iriverrussia.com/images/p...0/t10_main.jpg

Canon Powershot S3IS (can be easily synchronized with Windows via USB)
http://ukrfoto.dp.ua/template/new_mo..._canons3is.jpg

No problems encountered here so far

Does anybody know if I qualify to receive product updates as a Parallels Desktop customer? Is it for free or I need to pay for these updates?

If you purchased Parallels or it came with your Mac, you qualify for free updates until the next major release.

You get free updates until they release Parallels 4.X - speaking more simply. You'll have to pay for this upgrade paying only a part of Parallels Desktop cost, if I'm not mistaken

To add:
Upgrade to newer version of Parallels Desktop will be 50$ - http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/upgrade/