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You are here: MacNN Forums > Software - Troubleshooting and Discussion > Alternative Operating Systems > Parallels? Boot Camp?

Parallels? Boot Camp?
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upscalator
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Feb 19, 2007, 04:21 PM
 
excuse me for my ignorance, but i'm looking to install windows vista on my macbook pro.

what's the difference between Parallels and Boot Camp? which product runs and gets the job better?
     
wyatt
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Feb 19, 2007, 06:12 PM
 
Depends on what you want to do.

Boot Camp runs natively, which means you are running a Windows machine when in Vista, it's performance is comparable to any dedicated Wintel system. However, to go from OS X to Vista and back again, you always have to reboot. So, jumping back and forth takes forever. Other than that, there are only nick-picks for me on my Mac Pro tower, like that the clocks on each XP go out of sync everything I switch and that the soundcard is a bit wonky in XP.

Parallels runs in a OSX window, so you can work in both OS's at once. Speed takes a minor hit, but is OK, but Parallels doesn't support 3D graphics yet, so must contemporary games aren't playable.

Both Parallels and the boot Camp drivers need more development.
     
mac128k-1984
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Feb 19, 2007, 08:57 PM
 
Parallels uses virtualization technology that's built into the intel cpus. It's also an OSX applications which has benefits but also has issues because of that. First parallels does not have direct access to the hardware and at the moment does not support direct-x (kiss your games goodbye), it also does not use both cpus in the environemnt and because windows is running within another environment speed does take a hit. For most apps this matters little but a performance hit is there.

Bootcamp uses software at boot up time to get around the issue of Macs using EFI to boot up and windows is only compatible with BIOS. Once the computer is booted for intents purposes its works just like anyother PC. Apple has provided drivers for its own hardware but because bootcamp is still in beta some of these drivers are not yet finalized.

I find myself using bootcamp for Vista which is extremely resource intensive and parallels for XP. Both environments are used for work and/or my hobbies. There are some software that is only available on the pc.

There is no right or wrong answer here both approaches work well and have their own set of advantages dis-advantages.

Mike
Michael
     
upscalator  (op)
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Feb 21, 2007, 01:15 PM
 
are you prone to viruses by using either parallels or boot camp?
     
bradbissell
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Feb 21, 2007, 02:42 PM
 
Windows is Windows. Installing either way will enable you to infect the windows install with viruses, malware, etc. You have to treat the windows side as you would with any windows install, protect it with anti-virus software. The good thing is that the Mac side will remain virus free even if you do get infected in windows.
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ghporter
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Feb 21, 2007, 06:21 PM
 
ANY Windows installation needs an antivirus program, no matter whether you're running a Dell or a Mac, or a virtual machine on a Mac through Parallels. ANY installation. There are free ones around, but they are all over the place in capabilities, limitations and reliability; shop around and go with what you feel comfortable with. Know that there are some Windows viruses that CAN damage your Mac partition, so you REALLY want to have your self protected.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
Veritas
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Feb 22, 2007, 02:01 AM
 
So it is possible to install both Parallels and bootcamp on the same machine?

If that be the case, I may do that to be able to play my games.

I just don't want them to conflict each other.
     
ghporter
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Feb 22, 2007, 07:26 PM
 
Originally Posted by Veritas View Post
So it is possible to install both Parallels and bootcamp on the same machine?

If that be the case, I may do that to be able to play my games.

I just don't want them to conflict each other.
Absolutely possible, and they should not conflict in the least.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
mac128k-1984
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Feb 22, 2007, 10:06 PM
 
Originally Posted by Veritas View Post
So it is possible to install both Parallels and bootcamp on the same machine?

If that be the case, I may do that to be able to play my games.

I just don't want them to conflict each other.
Yes and with the latest release of parallels (its in release candidate stage) you can use your bootcamp windows partition within parallels. That means only one install of windows, I have not tried this yet as I have a license of XP running in parallels and I have vista on bootcamp.
Michael
     
workerbee
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Feb 23, 2007, 07:40 AM
 
Originally Posted by ghporter View Post
Know that there are some Windows viruses that CAN damage your Mac partition, so you REALLY want to have your self protected.
Is that also true of a PC running in Parallels? AFAIK it does not see nor know about any Mac partition or disk drive; it only knows about it's own disk -- which is a drive image file. Unless folder sharing is set up, I don't see how it possibly could infect anything on my Mac side?
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mac128k-1984
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Feb 23, 2007, 10:23 AM
 
Originally Posted by workerbee View Post
Is that also true of a PC running in Parallels? AFAIK it does not see nor know about any Mac partition
You're right a virus living in windows within parallels is within an virtual environment and so it has no access to the boot sector.

As long as you have anti-virus software for windows you should be all set. Its not all that doom and gloom in the windows world.
Michael
     
ghporter
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Feb 23, 2007, 11:47 AM
 
Originally Posted by workerbee View Post
Is that also true of a PC running in Parallels? AFAIK it does not see nor know about any Mac partition or disk drive; it only knows about it's own disk -- which is a drive image file. Unless folder sharing is set up, I don't see how it possibly could infect anything on my Mac side?
It's true that normally anything running in the Parallels VM is isolated, but Parallels likes to set up shared folders automatically (it did for me), so that sounds suspiciously like a "leak" out of the VM to me. And I am a professional paranoid when it comes to computer security, so I feel that any possible way that a virus could cause you a problem should be guarded against.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
workerbee
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Feb 24, 2007, 04:59 AM
 
Originally Posted by ghporter View Post
It's true that normally anything running in the Parallels VM is isolated (...)
In that case I'll continue my little experiment here: use Windows under Parallels with no Virus protection whatsoever, and see what happens.

I only use IE to check our clients' websites, and a secret mail address to check html mail rendering in Outlook. Some friends told me that their Windows install got infected after a few minutes online on a DLS even when doing nothing, and I'm highly sceptical of this. My guess is that the truth is more like: they went surfing for smut and don't want to tell. At least with one client, who had a totally infected XP box, I can guess pretty well what happened: he had a long and varied history list in IE (lots of "teens").

From what I can see, Parallels has not turned shared folders on in any of my windows environments, so I feel not too threatened. And wouldn't a virus have to be pretty specifically written for being able to use Windows to go and try to infect an OS X environment over a shared folder anyway?
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ghporter
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Feb 24, 2007, 08:22 AM
 
Originally Posted by workerbee View Post
Some friends told me that their Windows install got infected after a few minutes online on a DLS even when doing nothing, and I'm highly sceptical of this. My guess is that the truth is more like: they went surfing for smut and don't want to tell.
It actually does happen. An unprotected, and unaltered Windows installation can be found by the bad guys and impacted (maybe not virus infected, but definitely impacted) within 15 minutes of exposure to the Internet. Poorly disciplined users can accelerate this, of course, and ANY "free" porn on the web is likely to be crammed full of "free" malware too. Yuck!
Originally Posted by workerbee View Post
From what I can see, Parallels has not turned shared folders on in any of my windows environments, so I feel not too threatened. And wouldn't a virus have to be pretty specifically written for being able to use Windows to go and try to infect an OS X environment over a shared folder anyway?
A virus that can get to OS X from a shared folder is theoretically very bad, but also (as far as I know) only a theory itself. Suffice to say that I'd NEVER run a Windows installation for long without virus protection, "just in case." And as I said, I'm a professional paranoid in this sort of thing. Plus I get a very good AV package from my school for free, so price isn't an issue.

Glenn -----OTR/L, MOT, Tx
     
   
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