Installing Windows

[Mac Curious]

I want to run some Windows based programs on my MacBook; I know I'll need either Parallels or VMWare Fusion. What I don't know is whether or not I need Boot Camp. If it is optional, what are the pros and cons? Thanks for the help.

Mac Curious

 

[squeeks]

we just so happen to have a wonderful, Windows on a Mac forum right here

https://forums.macrumors.com/forums/86/

 

[JNB]

I want to run some Windows based programs on my MacBook; I know I'll need either Parallels or VMWare Fusion. What I don't know is whether or not I need Boot Camp. If it is optional, what are the pros and cons? Thanks for the help.

Mac Curious

With Parallels or VMWare, you won't need to BootCamp. BC is only for dual-booting, whereas the others launch a virtual machine, sharing resources, while the native OS is still running.

Me? I do both BC and Parallels (using the BC partition) interchangeably, depending on the task at hand.

 

[Mac Curious]

Squeeks:
Thanks for the link to the other forum.

 

[meagain]

How does one decide if they should run Windows natively via say - Fusion, or thru Bootcamp? Which way is best for the computer, speed, etc? I have Fusion and didn't even realize it didn't need a partition/bootcamp.

 

[JNB]

How does one decide if they should run Windows natively via say - Fusion, or thru Bootcamp? Which way is best for the computer, speed, etc? I have Fusion and didn't even realize it didn't need a partition/bootcamp.

Fusion is a virtualization, like Parallels. The Mac OS is still running. With BC you boot into Windows directly--it is, in fact, now a Windows machine.

The method used depends on the needs of the app being run. Most typical productivity apps run just fine in virtual machines, RAM being the limiting factor. CPU or GPU-intensive apps may call for full hardware use through BC.