[ibook_steve]

I've happily been the only Mac at work running 32-bit XP in a Parallels VM. However, it looks like I'm going to need to start using Win 7. I purchased Win 7 Professional (full edition) and I'm not sure whether to install the 32 or 64-bit version in Parallels. The main software my company makes that I would need to work on most of the time has a 64-bit version, but that's probably the only 64-bit software I'd be using. Besides the additional memory that can be accessed, which version would be better for my VM?

By the way, I have last year's 15" MBP (2.66 GHz i7) maxed with a total of 8 GB of RAM. Right now, I devote 2 GB to XP.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Steve

[ghporter]

One reason to use the 64bit version of Win7 is to be able to take advantage of more than 4GB of RAM. Since the 64 bit version is supported by current versions of Parallels, I think it's a good choice to go that way, for the flexibility if nothing else.

[Cold Warrior]

I have an older MBP than you steve and run Win 7 x64 in VMware Fusion just fine. Runs very well actually. I run mine at 3 GB for the vm. If your company has a 64-bit app though, it probably needs it for high-end work, so you may need more than 3 GB to the vm to accommodate both the OS and the app.