While Parallels , Fusion , and CrossOver are good for flow Windows apps from within OS X , if you want the ended Windows experience , you require Apple’sBoot Camp .
In complimentary public beta at the time of this writing , and slat for inclusion body in Mac OS X 10.5 , Boot Camp is unlike the other three plan : it does n’t allow you persist Windows apps alongside your OS XTC apps . Instead , it convert your Mac into a full - blown Windows computer .
Installation
When installing Boot Camp , the first affair you do is let the Boot Camp Assistant partition your grueling drive into two patch — one for OS X and another for Windows ( see “ Partitioning for Windows ” ) . The partition size of it you specify will depend largely on what you plan to do with Windows ; if you ’re installing big apps or you ’ll be using big data data file , you size the partition consequently . None of your existing datum is lost in this process and , if you exchange your head after , the Boot Camp Assistant will also merge your split saucer back into one , delete the Windows data while keeping your OS hug drug files entire .
The next step is to burn a compact disc with Mac driver . This CD is the key to Boot Camp ’s great Windows bread and butter : it adds specific drivers for your Mac ’s hardware to Windows .
Boot Camp Assistant then asks you to insert your Windows CD ( XP Service Pack 2 , Home or Pro only ) , and the installer start . I expect that Boot Camp will also support Vista by the metre Apple release OS cristal 10.5 .
Once Windows is set up and you reboot , you choose which OS you need to use by holding down the alternative key . You break up your unexampled Windows partition and then practice the Mac number one wood CD you burned earlier to set up the Windows drivers for all your Mac - specific computer hardware . Once you ’ve done that , you ’ve got a actual , honest - to - good Windows XP computer .
Software support
passably much anything that runs on Windows will now run on your Mac . Nothing is being emulate , nothing is being simulated .
The independent downside is that you have to reboot your simple machine to run your Windows software . So if you ’re involved in a task in OS X and want to quickly fly the coop a Windows software that Parallels or Fusion ca n’t handle , you ’ll have to store your employment , close down your Mac , reboot , do whatever it is you desire to do in Windows , and then iterate the whole process to get back to OS X. Unfortunately , until Fusion , Parallels , or CrossOver support your program , Boot Camp is your only option .
The other bummer is that it ’s trickier to portion out file between Windows and OS X in Boot Camp than in the virtualization apps . You ’ll need a FAT32 - formatted drive , or access to a file server that both Windows and OS X can connect to . The other alternative is to purchaseMacDrive for Windows , which will get Windows learn from and write to your Mac partition . MacDrive works quite well but will place you back $ 50 .
Hardware support
Thanks to the Windows number one wood CD , all your Mac - specific hardware — Bluetooth , AirPort , and even the build up - in iSight camera — will work dead in Windows .
Boot Camp is particularly great for gamers , because it fully sup - larboard accelerate 3 - D graphics . So stop record hop - ing that all those windowpane - only game will get ported to the Mac and begin play ; they ’ll work well on any Mac that hold up advanced 3 - D acceleration ( which means pretty much any Mac except for the Mac miniskirt and the MacBook ) .
Who It’s Good For
If you require to play 3 - D games on your Mac , or if you use ironware that ’s not yet supported in Parallels or Fusion , then Boot Camp is for you . It ’s also your adept stake if you need full entree to all your Mac ’s ironware .
Boot Camp 1.1.2 beta
Pros : Runs Windows natively with full hardware support ; 3 - D graphics acceleration . Cons : Requires rebooting ; hard to share files between OS X and Windows ; support only two version of Windows . monetary value : freeCompany : Apple
