Going to College- can parallels cut it?

Discussion in 'General Questions' started by MacNewb, Aug 1, 2006.

  1. MacNewb

    MacNewb Bit poster

    Messages:
    3
    With college fast approaching, I'm gearing up to buy a new MacBook. I will be majoring in computer science and have been told that Windows is pretty necessary for this, which is ashame because I love OSX so much (I currently am using an iBook G4). I'd really like to use Parallels for mac to run all the windows programs I'll need, and although I don't know which exactly are necessary, do you think Parallels can handle it, or is Boot Camp a better option?

    Thanks all.
     
  2. constant

    constant Forum Maven

    Messages:
    1,010
    .
    Just make sure you have 2Gb of memory, and it should be fine.
    .
     
  3. MacNewb

    MacNewb Bit poster

    Messages:
    3
    Thanks for the reply- I plan on getting two gigs of RAM anyway so all is good!
     
  4. rcomeau

    rcomeau Member

    Messages:
    42
    If you have enough HD space, I'd probably hedge my bets and partition the drive at the start for OS X and bootcamp. Others have had no problem using the same Windows for both botcamp and Parallels (MS allowed them to register it both times as it was on the same machine). That way, if Parallels (which I think is more convenient than bootcamp) does not work (i.e. you have USB problems, or need to run software with accelerated 3D graphics) then you can use bootcamp to bail you out.

    Enjoy,

    rcomeau
     
  5. constant

    constant Forum Maven

    Messages:
    1,010
    .
    Having options is always good. And speaking of disk space, if you do have plenty, then go with a static virtual disk as this provides the best performance. Better than dynamic with compression. Just make sure that you again hedge your bet, and allocate more than enough for your VM.
    .
     
  6. amaz

    amaz Bit poster

    Messages:
    3
    I'm in grad school for photojournalism so I'm dealing with the same issue. I'm considering running both Boot Camp and parallels on my macbook pro. Since you have to install Windows twice to use both programs, do you also have to install other programs that you plan to run in Windows twice ( like Photoshop, Flash, etc)? Any clue how that works? This is all new to me. Thanks!
     
  7. JohnHerman

    JohnHerman Bit poster

    Messages:
    1
    I think that if you have few options, that makes it easier to choose from. The most important to choose with what it will be the best to work with and most convenient. Also another thing is that if you really love to work with OSX, I think you should choose it, as not always the best quality things are comfortable to work with, and write my essay can approve it.
     

Share This Page