[tripletaker]

My parents decided to buy a Mac but they want to use Windows only because of certain applications they need. Is Boot Camp useable now so that all their printers and other hardware will work? What incompatibilities are there?

What about with VMware or Parallels?

[64stang06]

Depending on the application, you could always give VMWare Fusion a try or even Parallels. Both offer trial versions of non-crippled software so you can try each one and see if it will fit the bill. Plus, no need to reboot the computer

[0157988944]

Unless they are doing anything like gaming, or video editing... I don't see why they would need Boot Camp. Get them to use VMWare if possible. Then they'll fall in love with Mac OS X, too

[mduell]

BootCamp is just partitioning software/firmware upgrade/driver package so you can run Windows on your Mac as if it was any other PC.

[tripletaker]

When Boot Camp first came out I heard people had hardware that wasn't fully supported or drivers that needed updating, but I haven't been keeping track. Good to know that everything should work perfectly fine.

I've actually been using Parallels with my new MacBook for my computer science class that uses a program only with Windows and Parallels, while everything works fine, just doesn't feel comfortable, plus I wasn't sure if they were compatible with all the peripherals. I finally convinced my parents to switch to a Mac after three years and they just bought a Mac Mini.

Thanks for the input everyone.

[turtle777]

Bootcamp: fully usable

VMware: great for most stuff, expect some games.

-t

[Cold Warrior]

Boot Camp is indeed fully usable. If they want to run only Windows, then don't stand in their way (too much. ) BC gives you full-speed Windows as if it were running on any other PC beige box.

Some people take it a step further and wipe their OS X partition when done. I recommend you keep a decent OS X partition for troubleshooting and secondary booting, because at some point you'll need it.

[ghporter]

To my knowledge there hasn't been a time when Boot Camp, even the early beta, wasn't "usable." There have been issues with the Windows drivers for the Mac hardware, but Windows drivers is an ongoing battle in the PC world anyway. The biggest improvements I've seen in Boot Camp have been in ease of use and simplicity of use, along with step-wise improvements in the drivers.

If you want to play PC games that have high video system demands, you'll be somewhat disappointed with booting your Mac in Windows unless you seek out non-Apple drivers and tinker a bit. Otherwise, as mduell says, Boot Camp is JUST a partitioning tool that facilitates installing Windows on you Mac, along with a set of Apple-provided drivers for your hardware. If your Mac is not fully up to date in its firmware, BC will fix that too. If you want to boot from Windows, you do not "need" Boot Camp; you can partition your drive with a number of tools, including Disk Utility. But Boot Camp makes it simpler to do, holds your hand a bit as the process goes, and gives you those drivers (which you DO need).

[bender]

Windows under Boot Camp is also surprisingly fast. I haven't found any issues so far...printers and peripherals all work.

Like another poster commented, your parents should try using Parallels or VMWare before resorting to Windows full time. Windows applications work pretty seamlessly within virtual machines, although you do experience a performance hit when compared to running them with Boot Camp.

[peeb]

What applications do they use exactly?

[tripletaker]

They use Hangul, which is a Korean word processor only for Windows. I tried to get them to use Word, but they won't have it. They also use a strange software that downloads new updates of a song database from Korea into a specialized hardware. It seems to only work with Windows as well.

edit: After googling, I found out that Hangul is now available for Mac, but runs through Rosetta.

[peeb]

Sounds like these are good candidates for Parallels or VM. As you are probably aware, most mainstream word processors these days deal fluently in korean and other languages. Parents can be reluctant to explore this though...
A quick look indicates that there might even be an OS X version of Hangul.

[k squared]

Originally Posted by bender 

Windows under Boot Camp is also surprisingly fast. I haven't found any issues so far...printers and peripherals all work.

Sure, why wouldn't it be fast? All Boot Camp does is provide translation from EIFS to BIOS, right? After that, you're running Windows just like any other PC. It just happens to have an Apple logo on it..and probably better hardware inside.

[peeb]

Yep - bookcamp just runs windows on the x86 hardware. Parallels and VM are software environments that support windows, but are also surprisingly fast.

[chabig]

Right. Just to piggyback...Windows doesn't run "under" Boot Camp. All Boot Camp does is allow Windows to boot on the Mac hardware.

[naphtali]

Could they use the built-in Hangul keyboard layout to type in other native applications?

[tripletaker]

They could, but they don't want to. They are used to Hangul (HWP) and want to keep on using it because all the text including the menus display in Korean.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by tripletaker 

They could, but they don't want to. They are used to Hangul (HWP) and want to keep on using it because all the text including the menus display in Korean.

What's wrong with running OS X and Word or Pages in Korean?

If that's all they're using it for, you're better off getting them a $300 PC.

[naphtali]

I think it's possible to get most of the interface displayed in Korean:

System Preferences > International
- Drag Korean to the top of the list
- Logout

Some applications might not be appropriately localised in Korean (especially those from smaller developers I guess), but Apple's should appear right

That said, I know how tough it is to shift (my) parents to a new way of things. I only hope this helps somewhat!

[tripletaker]

I've run into a major problem right now. I need a NTFS external hard drive to show up in Parallels but it won't! I've tried everything. Even regular USB sticks won't show up. In Parallels, I go to the Menu Bar -> Devices -> USB -> and check the hard drive but it won't show up in My Computer. Has this happened to anyone else?

[ghporter]

I ran into this too, it's definitely frustrating, but it should be fixable.

Parallels has a setting that will allow USB devices to be seen-but you have to set that up OUTSIDE the VM. Unfortunately, I can't point you to the exact wording and location of this setting because I haven't reinstalled Parallels since I moved up to Leopard...

[tripletaker]

I read the guide and it said in the Virtual Machine settings to set the USB Controller to be enabled and the connection options to "Ask me what to do." The hard drive shows up when on the list of USB controllers, but doesn't show up in My Computer.

Does using Windows XP Pro without the service pack cause this problem? I will try to update Windows.

[ghporter]

The way XP connects with USB devices was changed in SP2-that may indeed be the issue. I don't know how Parallels handles the upgrade process though. Hopefully it will work for you.

[ibook_steve]

This is going off-topic from the OP, but does the disk mount OK in OS X? If so, and it still doesn't mount in Parallels when you select the option from the Devices menu, you really should update Windows to the latest service pack if it's not already.

Steve

[tripletaker]

I eventually figured it out. I was using Windows XP Pro that my school provides which doesn't come with a service pack. All is well with XP + SP2.

Thanks everyone.