Boot Camp vs. Parallels?

I just got a new diabetes monitor, and the software to interpret the data only runs on Windows. I only want to run this software, and I would prefer to not use other Windows-based applications.
Which is best: Parallels or Boot Camp? I would much prefer to not have to purchase Windows, if possible, and it looks as if Parallels will run Windows-based software without requiring me to purchase Windows, where Boot Camp enables you to run Windows but requires a separate purchase of the Windows operating system.
Does anybody know which option would be best? Thank you!

AnnaMS wrote:
I just got a new diabetes monitor, and the software to interpret the data only runs on Windows. I only want to run this software, and I would prefer to not use other Windows-based applications.
Which is best: Parallels or Boot Camp? I would much prefer to not have to purchase Windows, if possible, and it looks as if Parallels will run Windows-based software without requiring me to purchase Windows, where Boot Camp enables you to run Windows but requires a separate purchase of the Windows operating system.
Does anybody know which option would be best? Thank you!
You need to purchase Windows whether you run it from a Bootcamp partition or in Parallels. Windows installation and access to Windows programs is quicker (no reboot required to run Windows programs) with Parallels.

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Installing Windows 7 RC1 with Boot Camp AND Parallels?

I have a 24" iMac (2009 model) and have successfully installing Windows 7 RC1 using Boot Camp. No problems at all and everything is working fine. But now I'm contemplating purchasing Parallels and using Windows 7 in a window.
I just need to know the steps involved and how this works. First I purchase and install Parallels. Then I run it and somehow tell it to use my Boot Camp partition for the VM, right? In this way, I'm assuming I don't actually have to install Windows 7 again or make another partition, right? Once I get the VM installed, then I can either boot to Windows 7 from startup OR boot from within Mac OS using Parallels and it would be the same?
If I can do it this way, can anyone point me to step-by-step instructions on how to choose the right settings in Parallels? I have found instructions for installing Windows 7 using Boot Camp and Parallels separately, but not how to use the Boot Camp install for the VM in Parallels.

Wow, it was much easier than I thought it would be! Downloaded the trial of Parallels. Installed it and pointed it to my Boot Camp partition with Windows 7 installed on it. And minutes later, I'm up and running with Windows 7 in Parallels. Sound didn't work at first, but after I did a Windows Update, it installed the correct driver and now everything is working great. I can't believe how smooth this thing runs within Leopard. I allocated 1GB of RAM for WIndows 7 and it's seems fine so far, but I really haven't run any resource-intensive apps yet.

Installing Snow Leopard but also Boot Camp or Parallels

I have a 2006 MacBook (Intel, core duo) and have a 320 gb HD, 2 gb RAM, running 10.5.8.
I'd like to install Snow Leopard but also would like to partition my HD and install Boot Camp (or Parallels 4.x - I have that version, fully paid etc. but not version 5 of Parallels. Or should I move to Parallels 5 if I move to Snow Leopard?)
I have a full bootable backup (2) on FW400 LaCie External HD's. I have the SL Original DVD.
What is the best way to do this? At present I have 60 gb free space (about 20% of the 297 gb formatted total space available).
Thanks for any comments! Oh, yes - I'm anticipating a new MacBook Pro 13" any time now (Thought the new ones would be out by now!) - Well it will come with SL installed; and I will order one with a 500 gb HD (or larger if available then). Can I migrate my current MB data and files to the new MacBook using migration assistant? But what if I want a partition for BootCamp and Windows (XP likely as I have that)--? Should I partition the new MBP HD first (can I partition it without erasing everything?
Best regards,
Steve Schulte
Sunday 14 March 2010

Frankly, were you to run Parallels 5 you should have more RAM installed, but your model cannot support more than the 2 GBs you have installed now. You would be better off running Windows via Boot Camp on that machine. However, the new computer will have 4 GBs of RAM installed so it is better suited to running Windows via Parallels. And, yes, if you run Snow Leopard you need Parallels 5.x both for compatibility and performance reasons.
Open Boot Camp Assistant and click on the wide button on the left to print out the documentation. Read it carefully before using Boot Camp Assistant. Yes, you partition the drive without erasing it, but you can only have one Windows and one OS X partition on the same drive. Otherwise it makes no difference when you use Boot Camp.
Your XP must be a retail installer with SP2 and only the 32-bit version. You cannot use an OEM installer that came with another computer.

Should I Use Boot Camp or Parallels for use of a Windows Desktop?

I am migrating from a PC to a Mac; I want to take advantage of having a Windows desktop to run some apps until i buy Mac equivalent software;
I have Tiger, but am installing Leopard this weekend;
Should I Use Boot Camp or Parallels for use of a Windows Desktop?
I am tempted by not having to reboot, but i don't want my mac to slow down?
I am a photographer and use Photoshop and other graphics intensive programs.

Hi,
to achieve full computing power while in Windows you have to use BootCamp and for Photoshop and other apps of that caliber in Windows its the best.
For apps less demanding using Parallels (VMWare Fusion) is sufficient enough and the slight downgrade in speed is negligible.
You should however (if not already done) max out the RAM of your Mac.
Regards
Stefan

I want to use microsoft office on my mac. I need it to run on windows platform. Which is better: boot camp or parallels 7 ?

I want to use microsoft office on my mac. I need it to run on windows platform. Which is better: boot camp or parallels 7 ?

Welcome to Apple Communities
You can install Office for Mac. If you don't want it, Boot Camp uses all the hardware, so it has the best performance for Windows, and Parallels allows you to run Windows in Mac without reboot and without Boot Camp. To use only this, download Parallels

Boot Camp or Parallels?

I'm a new iMac user. I think I might need to run some Windows applications on occasion.
What do you folks suggest: Boot Camp (that came with the OS) or Parallels? Is Parallels worth the $80?
Thanks,
Jeff
Message was edited by: jla930

You have to buy Windows separately. This is the case for both Boot Camp and Parallels. However, you can use the same Windows license and run both Boot Camp and Parallels if you choose.
Parallels is great for convenient casual use. I use it for Quicken, occasional Internet Explorer use, and to run the capture software for my Polar Heart Rate Monitor/Watch. You will probably find that the performance is better than the last Windows machine you used.
If you want to do graphics intensive gaming, where you want every possible processor cycle available for the game, use Boot Camp. I don't do this, so Parallels has been sufficient for me.
Message was edited by: AppleMan1958

About Boot Camp and Parallels

Can I use the Windows Xp that I installed by Boot Camp for Parallels?
In the other hand, Do I need a Windows installation for Boot Camp and other for Parallels?
Thanks in advance.

But note that you will need to reactivate Windows when you run it under Parallels for the first time. For this reactivation you will probably need to call Microsoft.

For my purposes, should I install Boot Camp or Parallels?

I have a three year old iMac running Mavericks with 8 gigs of RAM. I want to take a class that teaches 3D design using 3ds Max. If I do I'm going to need to use a Windows platform to run the software. Never having used either one, would I be better off using Boot Camp or Parallels? Also, I haven't used Windows since I had Vista installed on a Dell laptop, which was a major proponent for my switch over to a large Mac. But I hated Vista!!! Now I believe they're up to Windows 8. Is Windows 8 better than 7?

Windows 7 is better than windows 8 for many reasons but either are workable. I prefer parallels when I need windows (in fact I don't have a bootcamp partition) because I like to have access to my mail, calendar, iTunes, ... If your application will work with parallels then I would go parallels+win7. It won't be as fast as bootcamp but since it is a class, maybe speed isn't your top concern.
win7 cost money
parallels cost money
bootcamp is free
good luck.

Want bigger hard drive and replace boot camp with parallels

Bought the 15" MBP on day one now more than two years ago. The 80 gig hard drive is nowhere near enough now and having to essentially shut down to run boot camp no longer works (I'm an accountant and need to be able to flip back and forth quickly).
Two questions:
1) Can I add a much bigger hard drive to my original version MBP?
2) If so, can I expand my pitiful 5 gig boot camp windows partition to, say, 20 gig and have parallels run it without having to reinstall all the windows programs?
That would be my perfect world, is it possible?

Are you under warranty? If so, you would probably want to get an Apple authorized repair shop to replace the hard drive so you don't risk voiding your warranty. But you can replace it with a much larger one, like the 320 GB Western Digital or the 500 GB Samsung if you can find one. There is another thread on this forum concerning the 500 GB drives. Not all 500 GB drives will fit in a 15" MBP--some are too tall.
Not familiar with either boot camp or parallels, but with the bigger drive, you should be able to easily have a bigger partition for windows. As to whether you would need to reinstall the windows programs, someone more familiar with windows would have to address that part of your question.
Good luck!

Migrate from Boot Camp to Parallels

I've followed the threads about using the Boot Camp partition as a VM in Parallels, but I want to know if there is an advantage to keeping the Boot Camp partition if I doubt I'll ever need to re-boot into Boot Camp. I'm thinking I want to migrate my WinXP installation from Boot Camp into Parallels, and then delete the Boot Camp partition alltogether. How would I do this, and am I just making extra work for myself?

wadelaw wrote:
I may not have been clear before. I want to know the best way to migrate an existing Boot Camp WinXP installation into a Parallels VM. I would rather NOT simply use the Boot Camp partition as a VM.
Hi,
Parallels Transporter http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/features/transporter/ should do the trick.
Regards
Stefan

Can I use Boot Camp and Parallels 5???

I have a windows 7 partition w/ boot camp. I was wondering if I can also have parallels 5 too. Here is a example, Can I use boot camp for my games and use parallels for little stuff and internet? I want both! Can I do this? I am thinking about getting parallels 5.

Hi,
with earlier Windows versions (XP or Vista) this was definitely possible to do.
I am not that sure if there are problems with Windows 7 doing this.
Have a look at the Parallels Support Forum here http://forum.parallels.com/
Regards
Stefan

Installing windows xp on boot camp and parallels??

Hi all,
I am using a Macbook with a 2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo with 4GB of memory on Mac OS X 10.5.8. I currently have Parallels 5 installed running Windows XP. I need to run Windows off of Boot camp according to the support from the program I am trying to run "Chief Architect X3" as I need to utilize the video card "natively" I believe the word was. Parallels is unable to recognize and use the card properly for this program. So my question is two fold does anyone know if there is a patch that allows Parallels do this? Or can I install Boot Camp on my machine as well with Windows XP so that I can utilize the video card for this program. Do I need to uninstall my Parallels virtual machine? Also programs that are installed via Windows, if I install Boot Camp/Windows and delete my virtual machine/Windows do I need to reinstall those programs? Any and all information is GREATLY appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
Laura

Upgrade to Parallels 6, new build just out. And ask on their forum.
You have to install XP natively first and then enable under a VM to activate properly.
Everything will need to be installed. there are few ways to get a VM to a "native" hard drive partition. And Windows activation is another issue.

Which is better (Boot Camp) or (Parallel / VMware Fusion)???

Hi guys,
I want to install Windows along OS X...
now what is better?
to install Windows via Boot Camp or via Parallel / VMware fusion??
and if through one of the virtual machine softwares, which is BETTER?? the Parallel for Desktop or the VMware fusion one???
Thank you

Guitarcal wrote:
I use both boot camp and vmware fusion. A neat feature of vmware fusion is you can access your boot camp partition as a virtual machine from vmware. This way, you can have both. I believe parallels might also let you do that but I have never used it. This has been helpful to me if I need to access a file from the boot camp partition quickly and easily without rebooting my computer.
I agree with dwb that xp is probably going to be the best os to run through a virtualization software.
I honestly don't think you can go wrong with either parallels or vmware fusion. There is also a FREE software package created by sun called VirtualBox.
Here is the link to there home page: http://www.virtualbox.org/
I hear and read that it is excellent as well.
Hope this helps.
I just installed parallels and you can use your bootcamp partition for the vm with parallels as well. Its pretty slick. Use it for light applications with parallel, reboot to bootcamp for graphics intensive ones.
Cheers.

Installing Boot Camp after Parallels

I have installed Parallels 4.0 but I need to install Boot Camp (to be able to watch iPlayer via my XBox). Is it safe to just install Boot Camp using my Windows XP disc (I have plenty of hard disc space) or do I have to uninstall Parallels and reinstall it later ?

blueinsmoke wrote:
Thanks for the re-assurance Fortuny ! One follow-on question if I may (and apologies for my total ignorance). Will installing XP again on the same machine really cause the automatic loss of XP on the Parallels partition ?
Hi,
yes it will.
Due to the fact that you run the same XP license twice on 'different hardware components' (once native with BootCamp and once virtualized with Parallels), XP thinks that you are running it on two different computers.
The link I gave is meant to compensate that, but I myself haven't tried it.
Regards
Stefan

Using windows from boot camp on parallels

i would like to switch from bootcamp to parallels. is there some way that i could use the windows that came with boot camp windows after i switch or do i have to buy a new one?

One other thing that may not be obvious in Parallels is the update process. I don't know if mine was just weird or what but I got it April 2010 & whenever I checked for updates it said i was up to date. I was a little suspicious that there were no updates in that period. When I began to have trouble I went to Parallels forums & found stickies at the top of general forum giving the lastest builds (updates) for Parallels 4, 5, 6. So since they listed them there I'm guessing it may not always update by checking for them. So the lastest ones are listed there. I think it is supposed to ask when you install if you want to check for the lastest 1. Can't remember if it did for me or not, but I did discover that there were several builds (updates) newer than the 1 I had.
It was nice being able to run both OS's at the same time. I'm missing it now & looking forward to getting resolution of whatever is causing the problems & getting back to using Parallels.

Boot camp or Parallels Desktop?

Hi,
I'm planing on getting an iMac and need win7 for ONLY the sole purpose of playing games that are not OS X supported.
Now correct me if I'm worng but Boot Camp installs Win on a partition of its own on the HDD right and Parallels is just a virtual machine I can access from the Dock?
Which would work better for me considering I only need it for games and nothing else?
Thanks!

i don't know much about games, but windows runs faster natively, so you probably want to boot camp it as long as you have the disc space to spare. you can always configure parallels to access the same partition if you just want to quickly go back and forth, and you can test it that way. i'm not 100% sure about parallels accessing the partition, it works for me in VMware fusion.
however, you should scour this forum and check out all the problems that windows 7 has on mac hardware due to driver problems. you may have sound and/or graphics issues to deal with.
i have XP sp2 personally on my partition and i hardly ever boot into it natively since all i use it for is watching sports thru bit torrent since i live overseas, and it works fine through VMware accessing the bootcamp partition, but i can boot natively if i need to for some odd reason.

Boot Camp vs. Parallels?

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