Welcome to the MacNN Forums.

jonnyz1245 · Oct 20, 2008, 01:19 AM

I need to run Windows on my MBP for some work related stuff. I have heard from someone in my ofc that Parellels is the one to get

any suggestions?

Tomchu · Oct 20, 2008, 01:40 AM

I prefer VMware Fusion, mostly because I have to deal with VMware images at work.

The last benchmarks I saw showed VMware being more CPU efficient, whereas Parallels was faster for disk access (IIRC).

jonnyz1245 · Oct 20, 2008, 12:39 PM

thanks. I will take a look at that program

ciparis · Oct 20, 2008, 06:02 PM

I second the vote for Fusion. I own licenses to both, and after extensive experience with both, Fusion is the only one I use.

ibook_steve · Oct 20, 2008, 07:10 PM

Your title of this thread is deceiving. Dual booting refers to completely booting into either Windows or Mac OS X does. Your question refers to "virtualizing" another OS withing Mac OS X, not dual booting. I can change the thread title if you like.

With that out of the way, I will recommend Parallels over Fusion (you can find many threads about this including my own).

Steve

misterdna · Nov 18, 2008, 12:19 PM

I'm going to piggy back my own question to this thread. I'm a Mac user who has no clue about the Windows world, but I would like to add Windows to my Mac. Aside from VMWare vs. Parallels (I had thought VMWare was the favored program, but I guess it's not so clear), is there a recommended version of Windows? I don't have a specialized need.

I see Yahoo offers VWWare + "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition FULL VERSION with SP2" for $233, how do you feel about that package?

Finally, will I be able to install both products (assuming I were to buy the above) on my desktop and laptop, or will I be limited to one install?

Thanks!!!

cgc · Nov 18, 2008, 12:47 PM

Originally Posted by misterdna

I'm going to piggy back my own question to this thread. I'm a Mac user who has no clue about the Windows world, but I would like to add Windows to my Mac. Aside from VMWare vs. Parallels (I had thought VMWare was the favored program, but I guess it's not so clear), is there a recommended version of Windows? I don't have a specialized need.

I see Yahoo offers VWWare + "Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition FULL VERSION with SP2" for $233, how do you feel about that package?

Finally, will I be able to install both products (assuming I were to buy the above) on my desktop and laptop, or will I be limited to one install?

Thanks!!!

Since you can buy VMWare Fusion from their site for $79.99 and XP SP3 (home) for $89.99 from TigerDirect (total price $169.98), I'd say that Yahoo! bundle isn't so hot. Without looking into it, I think you can only legally install on one computer - read EULAs to be sure. But Windows XP is not dual CPU aware. It is dual-core aware, but if you have a MacPro and have programs that can use multiple CPUs you may want to get XP Pro.

misterdna · Nov 18, 2008, 01:10 PM

Okay, thanks for the tips on XP Pro and TigerDirect. So it's definitely one of these versions of XP you recommend, not some version of Vista, or something else?

cgc · Nov 18, 2008, 03:47 PM

Originally Posted by misterdna

Okay, thanks for the tips on XP Pro and TigerDirect. So it's definitely one of these versions of XP you recommend, not some version of Vista, or something else?

I just reinstalled XP SP3, but Microsoft said they will stop supporting it in 2009 (article: http://www.computerworld.com/action/...icleId=9070119). I dislike Vista, but it's a personal decision. Go to a computer store and try it out and deciede for yourself, then shop for Vista or XP on a discount site (or a college if you're a student/teacher).