Reply to: How do you run Windows on your Mac?

[rob s]

I went with fusion because at the time, the BYOD policy needed disk level encryption and Fusion offered VM-level encryption (which was acceptable to the policy) and Parrallells didn't. My OH has just got a brand new imac and is a SQL/.net dev and thinks Parallells works better for graphics and dev builds*


*I don't know the exact details of this, it's all pretty much voodoo to me but I can get specific info if necessary

[Sysman]

I can certainly see Parallels being worth the cash if I need to do this more frequently, though I'll make a note to try the open-source VirtualBox when I have more time.

I have found the Mac implementation of VirtualBox not as solid as it is in Windows and Linux flavours - difficulty with copy and paste between client and host, for example.

Unfortunately my copy of the Parallels trial expired before I got Win 8 but I have more or less decided to go for it anyway.

[d000hg]

Thanks very much to all who replied, this has been really helpful. For now I went with the Parallels 8 trial as the built-in W8 trial seemed the quickest way to get up and running. I'm really very impressed with it, my 3D app is running as fluidly as it did when I had BootCamp installed years ago. And the "Like a Mac" option to run Windows apps directly on the Mac desktop is remarkable - is this something the other options provide too?

I can certainly see Parallels being worth the cash if I need to do this more frequently, though I'll make a note to try the open-source VirtualBox when I have more time.

Thanks again!

[sm02fly]

This sounds like an obvious 'no' but are VM images cross-compatible at all between any of these tools... if I want to test several it would be lovely not to have to re-install Windows every time!

On another topic, my laptop has no optical drive, and all my copies of W7 are on CD/DVD. Is there an easy way using my Windows desktop to get an electronic copy I can stick on the Mac via network/USB?

You can install via USB, you just need a optical drive on another machine to read it and then stick it on the USB as an ISO. You could do it across the network, but I always prefer having it physically connected if possible.

If you use bootcamp to setup Windows then VM Fusion will allow you to import it and create a VM from it. I'd be amazed if Parallel could not do the same. This should allow you to experiment and decide if you need to be able to boot up Windows as a VM.

As far as I am aware, it is very difficult (or impossible) to create a bootcamp OS from a VM.

I run 2 Macs, one with W7 and one with W8. Created them both as bootcamps then imported into VM Fusion. Unless you use it regularly it is quite expensive to just avoid rebooting into the bootcamp.

[NickFitz]

Just to make sure I understood that last part... I can install BootCamp and create a W7 partition, and then I can have the choice of booting natively into Windows at system startup, OR loading that partition as a VM from within OSX? That sounds pretty neat.

Yes

You can also import your BootCamp partition as a standalone VM, though of course then changes in one won't be reflected in the other.

Here's the docs (seems to be v7, but I'm not sure it's changed at all in v8): Use Boot Camp with Parallels Desktop

[d000hg]

Just to make sure I understood that last part... I can install BootCamp and create a W7 partition, and then I can have the choice of booting natively into Windows at system startup, OR loading that partition as a VM from within OSX? That sounds pretty neat.

[NickFitz]

This sounds like an obvious 'no' but are VM images cross-compatible at all between any of these tools... if I want to test several it would be lovely not to have to re-install Windows every time!

On another topic, my laptop has no optical drive, and all my copies of W7 are on CD/DVD. Is there an easy way using my Windows desktop to get an electronic copy I can stick on the Mac via network/USB?

From Parallel's docs: "Parallels Desktop supports virtual machines created in Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion, Microsoft Virtual PC, and VirtualBox."

I've imported a Virtual PC VM to Parallels a few times; it can take a little while (not a huge while though) but worked perfectly. EDIT: that was on an older version; it's possible the latest version doesn't need to run the conversion process and can use the other formats directly, but I haven't upgraded yet so I don't know.

The latest version of Parallels (well, next-to-latest version 7, and possibly earlier ones, not sure) has the option to "Migrate Windows from a PC" by installing a bit of software (free to download) on the PC and hooking them up over the network, but I've never tried that.

It can also run a BootCamp partition as a VM, if it's on the same Mac. A BootCamp partition on a different Mac can only be imported as a new VM.

[Sysman]

This sounds like an obvious 'no' but are VM images cross-compatible at all between any of these tools... if I want to test several it would be lovely not to have to re-install Windows every time!

VirtualBox can access other VM image formats but I am not sure it copes with the latest variations of Parallels or Fusion formats. I have certainly migrated from both VirtualBox (via an OVA export) and Parallels into Fusion. I am pretty sure I managed an import from VirtualBox into Parallels as well.

Beware that OVA export from VirtualBox can be painfully slow. The one I set off last night started out with an estimate of 5 hours, though when I got back from the pub 45 minutes later it had finished.

On another topic, my laptop has no optical drive, and all my copies of W7 are on CD/DVD. Is there an easy way using my Windows desktop to get an electronic copy I can stick on the Mac via network/USB?

ImgBurn is the way to go. Installations from disc images can be significantly faster if you put them on a separate drive from the VM target drive.

[stek]

How do you run Windows on your Mac?

I think there is the ova format for cross compatibility not sure if they can be easily converted from the proprietary ones tho.

U can install via cd, DVD, mem stick or even iso...

[d000hg]

This sounds like an obvious 'no' but are VM images cross-compatible at all between any of these tools... if I want to test several it would be lovely not to have to re-install Windows every time!

On another topic, my laptop has no optical drive, and all my copies of W7 are on CD/DVD. Is there an easy way using my Windows desktop to get an electronic copy I can stick on the Mac via network/USB?

[craig1]

I use VMWare Fusion. As mentioned above, not much in with VMWare and Parallels. I also have a Win7 Bootcamp for more modern games that don't work smoothly in a VM.

My main two uses for the VMWare now are:
- as a published app service for MS Project and Visio. Works fairly flawlessly in the Unity mode meaning I don't have to interact with the main Win7 UI too much
- as a downloading sandbox for torrents. If it gets trashed by a nasty then I just delete the VM and copy back in the backup vanilla hardened VM image (well... as hardened as you can get Win7 with only barebones stuff on it).

[NickFitz]

I've used Parallels since my first Intel Mac in 2006. I had VMWare on a ClientCo MBP running Leopard back in 2008 and wasn't very happy with its performance compared to Parallels on my lesser MacBook, although I also didn't think much of Leopard (brand new at that time) and waited for Snow Leopard to upgrade.

I assume VMWare is fine now, but as an existing user I get discounts on Parallels upgrades, and as I've always been happy with it I've stuck with it.

However I don't really use Windows for much, seldom having a VM running longer than about twenty minutes for debugging/testing on IE; maybe VMWare has advantages I'm not aware of for intensive use.

[Sysman]

Optional or forced? I don't have much interest in W8, I just need to demo some Windows software!

Optional.

[chef]

Parallels for me, no cause for complaints so far.

[d000hg]

To answer the OP's question, Parallels 8 will download the the Windows 8 Preview and install it for you.

Optional or forced? I don't have much interest in W8, I just need to demo some Windows software!