Windows via Bootcamp on a Mac

[Kirk Gittings]

I am considering going fully Mac finally but have two programs that I really need that only run on a PC. My last attempt with Parallels a couple of years ago was a flop. It was very unstable and I ditched it.

Any experience recently with Bootcamp? Any stability issues? Any issues at all?

[zachary12]

I have had no dramas on my 2011 MBP, driver support is much better than previously.

I find VMWare Fusion much better than Parrallels, if you're running Windows 7 in a VM.

[Kirk Gittings]

Thanks. I am not familiar with that program. Any more users out there? Because the PC programs I need will be used sporadically I won't mind rebooting.

[manet]

With Bootcamp It is necessary to reboot. With an emulator program, no and it is lots more easy.
I use Parallels for to run XP or Seven for to work with Autocad very easily on an iMac without any problem.
It's a pleasure to change OSX to Xp or Seven without to reboot.

jp

[Lenny Eiger]

Thanks. I am not familiar with that program. Any more users out there? Because the PC programs I need will be used sporadically I won't mind rebooting.

Fusion is the way to go... IMO

My daughter uses it on her laptop...

Lenny

[Joanna Carter]

Boot Camp is definitely a total waste of time; you can't do anything to interact between the Windows and Mac environments.

I am primarily a software developer and have been using Parallels for over four years now. It has always been extremely stable and allows me to run Windows at the same time as OS X. The "Coherence" mode means I can have Mac windows appear right next to Windows windows and can copy/paste stuff from one program to another and even files from the Windows disks to the Mac disks.

I also have a licence for VMWare Fusion and, personally, found it to be "clunky" in appearance and not as smooth running as Parallels.

[Bob McCarthy]

Boot camp works great, if your need don't require multiple programs sharing process or data. There are some workarounds on data that are simple to implement.

I boot over to PC for games primarily w/o and issues at all.

Bob

[David Swinnard]

I have a new MBP and also have to run several old Windows/DOS programs. I am using Parallels 7 without any issues. I'm running XP via Parallels and am completely satisfied with the experience. The program I run - Adobe FrameMaker (older version) runs well. I did get Parallels a while back when they were having a promotion (and I was "trying" an old, borrowed, first Intel white MacBook).

The ability to move data easily between the XP and OS X environments has been useful to me a number of times.

As an aside...I also run a very old DOS-based CAD program, Generic CADD, using a program called DOSBox not in XP but it Lion. After a bit of fussing to deal with some changes in the Lion OS, I can run this program from the '80s better now than I could back then, even making use of the the full screen of this high-res Mac. Apparently I have to thank the old DOS game users for this one...Thanks Guys!

Dave

[SamReeves]

The nice thing about rebooting into Windows is that everything runs natively, and will take full advantage of your hardware. Parallels or other emulators can't take advantage of the video hardware, and won't run games, video editing, etc. as well.

[Brian K]

I'm using Parallels 7 on both an iMac and a MacPro, it works like a charm with Windows XP. I use Studio Print 14 which requires a dongle and I have no issues.

I used to use bootcamp, but I hate having to reboot the computer, and given how reliably Parallels has been I don't find any need to do Bootcamp.