Windows on a Mac in the real world?

September 7, 2010 7:13 AM

I can't choose between Mac and Windows so I guess I should use both... Are you happy using windows on your Mac machine?

I've been a windows user since forever. There are a couple of applications which I need to use regularly (MYOB - an accounting package, and Inventor - a 3D CAD design package) which are Windows only.

I've spent the last six months using a 13" Macbook Pro, and while there are facets about it I love (screen, trackpad, gestures, build quality, editing music in Logic) there are also things I dislike (using Excel and Word in particular is truly awful on a Mac).

So, now that I need to set up a new home office (and give the Macbook back to its rightful owner, my Mum!) I need to decide what to buy. If I bought a machine just to run my business it would be a PC, but I don't want to lose the good things that I like about the Mac (especially running Logic).

So, if I buy a Mac, will I be happy running windows alongside it with either Boot Camp or Parallels (or both)?

It seems fine in theory, but what's your experience in practice?

posted by autocol to computers & internet (17 answers total)

Very happy running Windows 7 on my iMac i7, mostly in BootCamp (the work I do is graphically intense, and I find that virtualisation is a little too slow for my purposes). If you decide to go this route, I would recommend installing MacDrive on the PC side, to have equal access to your Mac partition and any external drives from the PC side. It's also worthy to note that if you're a game player, Steam is issuing more and more of its games cross-platform... and if you bought a game on Steam for PC, it is free for the Mac using the same Steam ID.
posted by Bora Horza Gobuchul at 7:22 AM on September 7, 2010 [2 favorites]

We use Parallels in my labs and it works great. The only reason we dual boot computers is for users who get confused by the idea of a virtual machine operating inside the Mac OS.

If you use the coherence mode in Parallels, you can run the Windows apps you need just like they were apps on your Mac, even launching them from the dock. I think you'll be happy with that. If you're setting up an office, I recommend you get a Mac Pro, it will last you years longer than an iMac and you'll be able to add hard drives, RAM and graphics cards as needed to keep it as powerful as you need it.

There are a few apps that don't run well in Parallels, mostly high powered statistical software and such. So, just check the software FAQs for details on whether it runs OK in Parallels if you need to use anything like that.
posted by jardinier at 7:27 AM on September 7, 2010

Although I have Parallels installed, I generally use Bootcamp because I mostly use Windows for GIS, which is processor and graphic intensive. My MacBook running XP is the best Windows machine I've ever owned. Part of that is the quality of the hardware compared to the crappy Windows machines I've owned, but I think part of it is also that I don't surf the web on my Windows machine so it's not loaded down with the spyware, etc which slowly destroy function on Windows machines.
posted by hydropsyche at 7:39 AM on September 7, 2010

Are you happy using windows on your Mac

As happy as I was using Windows on anything else - that's why I switched to a Mac!
Like you, I have a few indispensable but Windows-only apps. I run them in XP under VirtualBox. It has an integrated-into-OSX operating mode like what jardinier described above in Parallels - the Windows-app's window appears on your Mac desktop alongside your OSX apps. Plus, it's free.
posted by TruncatedTiller at 7:45 AM on September 7, 2010

Both Boot Camp and Parallels work great. Boot Camp is much less convenient, however, since you need to restart the computer to go to Windows mode, and once in Windows, you're isolated from the Mac side of the computer, and vice-versa.

Parallels works fantastically, and offers tight integration with folders so that you can easily open documents in Windows applications seamlessly. They offer a variety of viewing modes which would allow you to run a Windows application and have it appear on the Mac desktop alongside Mac applications. This is really a smooth way achieve the goal of running the Windows applications without forcing people to understand the virtual machine environment too much.

Their e-mail support is very good, as well, in case you run into technical problems.
posted by odinsdream at 7:48 AM on September 7, 2010

I also forgot to mention my favorite Parallels function: Snapshots.

These let you capture a moment in time in the virtual machine and roll back to that moment no matter what changes you make to the environment afterwards. It's fantastic for testing out software installations, examining potentially virus-infected files, and in general keeping a clean slate for the virtual machine.

If you install everything and get it just how you like it, take a snapshot of that point in time. In the future no matter what problems you have with the Windows installation, simply restore the snapshot and you're back to the good state you started with. As long as you store all your document files in the Mac filesystem you won't lose any work with this technique.
posted by odinsdream at 7:52 AM on September 7, 2010

My dad has used parallels on our Mac for his business and it seems to work well for him. Plus I've had some experience in using it and have found it to be very quick and responsive, so I don't think you should have too much trouble.

On a side note if you hate using Word and Excel on a Mac you could always trone of the free open-source alternatives for word processing. In particular I use NeoOffice which I really like, or you can check out OpenOffice
posted by Spamfactor at 8:10 AM on September 7, 2010

sorry, "trone" should read "try one"
posted by Spamfactor at 8:10 AM on September 7, 2010

I installed a windows partition under bootcamp for games; I do everything else in osx. My biggest gripe is the fact that I have to reboot into each OS. It honestly annoys me to the point that I play windows games far less than I might otherwise, and really only buy them if there are no mac alternatives - including getting things running under crossover, but for most people I'm sure it's not a big deal. At the same time Word/Excel work great for me on my mac.
posted by lilnublet at 8:14 AM on September 7, 2010

I have a 13'' MacBook pro and have run Win XP as both a virtual machine (using VMWare Fusion) and via bootcamp. I got tired of using bootcamp and now just use Win 7 with Fusion. I'm happy with my experience (I use it primarily for Excel and ArcGIS). I did upgrade the memory to 8gb, as I noticed Windows being a bit slow at times, as I was doing CPU intensive stuff.

I was a windows user all my life until about a year ago and I'm very glad I made the switch. IMHO Mac's are a lot more enjoyable to use.
posted by a womble is an active kind of sloth at 8:47 AM on September 7, 2010

Are you happy using Windows on your Mac

Yes.
posted by Biru at 9:04 AM on September 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

I use VMWare fusion with XP on a two year old macbook pro. It is very, very, slow. It was fine when I first got it, but now I can't stand to use it.
posted by SandiBeech at 9:12 AM on September 7, 2010

Yes. I use it primarily for Excel too. I use VMWare Fusion and Windows 7 too. Very happy.
posted by shazzam! at 9:16 AM on September 7, 2010

I use Parallels to run AutoCad and ArcGIS on my MacBook, and it's fine. I prefer all things Mac, so being able to have Windows in a window and still access all my other applications is important.
posted by oneirodynia at 9:17 AM on September 7, 2010

I actually prefer using Pages and Numbers to Windows, but whatever floats your particular boat!
posted by SpecialK at 12:58 PM on September 7, 2010

Here is what I had to say last month to another Mefite who was asking about Windows on a Mac. Overall, Windows 7 works very well in both BootCamp and VMWare Fusion on my Early 2008 MacBookPro:



Yes, you can have VMWare Fusion run the Windows OS you have installed via Boot Camp.

I use it so if I want to run a Windows app (like MS Money) and dont want to reboot out of OSX, I just fire up Fusion, it boots the Windows 7 that is installed on the Boot Camp partition, I can do my thing in Money and shut down.

If I want to play a game (like Half Life 2, say) I will reboot into Windows 7 on Boot Camp and have better performance than under VMWare. When I'm done playing, I just reboot into OSX.

The key is to install Windows via Boot Camp FIRST, get it all set up and patched and everything, THEN install VMWare. Ive done it a few times and VMWare has always auto-detected the Windows installed via Boot Camp and configured itself.

Memail me if you want more details.
posted by Fiat124 at 12:26 AM on September 8, 2010

I'm very happy with it and in fact, it seems like I boot into Windows very rarely now. Usually it's just to install Windows patches and let Microsoft Security Essentials update itself.

The upcoming version of Mac Office looks really nice, too. You might have better luck with it.
posted by drstein at 10:01 AM on September 9, 2010