Emulating a PC
Sat, 05/03/2008 - 13:30
Emulating a PC has always been around since the old days for Mac users and it isn't really something new, however with the switch to Intel processors the speed of emulation increased.
Windows is impossible to avoid using because of the large amount of software written for it, especially in cases of the financial world, where they have stubbornly kept to Windows or even the use of Internet Explorer for certain banking sites.
Because it's completely virtual, you can run multiple operating systems such as Linux or even DOS and various other systems without having to restart as in BootCamp. The downside to this is that each system installed will have the effect of simultaneously running two (or more) computers in one, and is a hit on your processing power. It is recommended that the amount of RAM be increased and that you start out with a fast processor to begin with.
These are some of the virtualization software that can be used on your Intel Mac to have the best of both worlds, be it installing financial software or having to revert to IE for just that online banking transaction.
Parellels ( http://www.parallels.com/ )
VMWare Fusion ( http://www.vmware.com/download/fusion/ )
Thu, 05/08/2008 - 16:55
#2
believe most Windows games
believe most Windows games will work better on Parellels as it offers more features like OpenGL support, but VMWare supports up to 16GB of ram compared to Parallels' 2GB.
However, putting it under BootCamp would've been even better for gaming - or use a separate hard disk drive boot from FireWire or USB that has Windows installed. You'd have to restart your Mac everytime you need to switch, an idea that most seasoned Mac users are not used to.
I prefer VMWare. This is because it doesn't change some of the winxp files and thus more stable. I used parallels before but after a windows update, the windows totally didn't work because it clashes with parallel's modification to the windows files.