Broadly speak , you’re able to use either of two approaches to operate Windows on an Intel Mac : dual - boot ( using Apple ’s Boot Camp software ) or virtualization ( using third - political party software system such as Parallels Desktop or Q ) . In this selection fromTake Control of Running Windows on a Mac , I discover these two glide path and help you choose which path to take ; I also name the two major virtualization choice in some detail .
Boot Camp
Apple’sBoot Camp software(currently in public beta testing ) enables you to divide the hard disc of an Intel Mac into a Mac OS cristal partition and a Windows partition , install Windows XP onto the Windows partition , and choose either partition as your reckoner ’s startup bulk . Then , after choosing the Windows partition , you may run Windows XP on the Mac just as if you were running it on a PC .
The Boot Camp Assistant windowpane asks if you want to start the Windows Installer on your Mac ; you may also use this screen to restore your inauguration disk to a individual partition if you ’re tired of living with Windows .
The main thing to keep in mind about Boot Camp is that when you use it , you have to make a selection : at any throw clip , your Mac is lam either Mac OS X or Windows , but not both . calculate on which options you choose , you may or may not be capable to see your Mac ’s files when run under Windows ( and frailty versa ) . But while running Windows you wo n’t be able to use any of your Mac software package , and while running Mac OS X you wo n’t be able to expend any Windows software .
Boot Camp offers some benefits over virtualization software :
On the other handwriting , although the situation may change with later versions of Boot Camp ( or with Leopard ) , Boot Camp also imposes some limitation , include these :
In addition , the mental process for put in Boot Camp can be reasonably inapt , and more so if you have a Windows cadmium without SP2 .
All thing considered — particularly keeping in head that Boot Camp is still uncomplete — these are not serious trade - offs . The most significant factor you should intend about when deciding whether to habituate Boot Camp are whether you postulate every last troy ounce of performance potential while running Windows , how quickly you ’ll require to flip between operating system , and the extent to which you ’ll use files from one OS while act upon in the other . ( See “ Joe ’s passport , ” forrader , for more information . )
Virtualization software
If you ’ve been a Mac user for any period of time , you ’ve in all probability hear of a ware called practical PC ( once publish by Connectix , and now owned byMicrosoft ) . With this package installed on your Mac , you’re able to install Windows ( or another operating system ) and run it inside a window on your ( PowerPC - based ) Mac .
Any program that cater a elbow room for one operating system to sour within another can be calledvirtualization software . When virtualization software is running , the environment it create for another operating system of rules is called avirtual political machine , and an operating system that runs inside that virtual machine is called aguestoperating system ( to distinguish it from the main OS the computer is running , called thehostoperating system ) .
But practical PC is also an aper — that is , software program that imitate specific hardware so that a CPU can run a unlike O than the one it was plan for . Because the Mac ’s CPU has to do its own piece of work while also mimicking a completely dissimilar type of CPU , Windows run within Virtual microcomputer on a PowerPC Mac is invariably quite slow .
Intel Macs have the same type of mainframe as PCs , so mainframe emulation is no longer necessary . However , to run Windows within Mac OS X , you still take a virtual machine . One understanding is that apart from the CPU , there are still other ironware difference between Macs and microcomputer and thus other computer hardware portion that must be emulated . Another grounds is that Windows expect to have direct access to your ironware , but the legion OS ( Mac OS X in this sheath ) controls the hardware . A virtual machine fox the client OS into believe it has direct access to the machine ’s central processing unit and other hardware , and it emulates any forcible devices ( such as level-headed calling card ) that might be unlike between program .
When Apple announce the changeover to Intel microprocessor chip , schematic wiseness held that Microsoft would cursorily adapt practical PC to provide practical machine for Windows on Intel Macs . After all , it should be easier than what they had to do before , since the emulation trouble is get going . However , for reasons known only to Microsoft , no edition of Virtual PC for Intel Macs exist yet . ( Microsoft does still betray Virtual microcomputer for PowerPC Macs . ) fortuitously , other developer have take on the challenge , and you could now pick out from two virtualization tools that enable you to fly the coop Windows within Mac OS X on an Intel Mac : Parallels Desktop and Q.
Both tools share several basic feature : you’re able to set up and tend multiple operating systems ( even at the same time ) ; you’re able to run a guest OS in its own windowpane or in full - screen door mode ; you’re able to share files between the host OS and the guest OS ; much of the hardware attach to the information processing system is available to the guest OS ; you’re able to intermit ( or “ suspend ” ) a guest OS , write its res publica so that you’re able to give up the virtualization lotion but then retrieve it quickly with everything just as you left it ( passably like put a Mac to slumber and waking it up ) ; and you’re able to move the magnetic disc image containing your entire Windows environment to another Intel Mac if necessary and run it there without modification . Beyond these superficial similarities , though , the two program take issue in several important regard .
Parallels Desktop
This setup screenland for Parallels Desktop ask you to choose the OS type and version for the virtual machine you ’ll be running on your Mac .
Parallels Desktopis a commercial diligence that cost a mere $ 50 . ( you could save $ 10 by using a voucher let in at the end of the ebook version ofTake Control of Running Windows on a Mac . ) After installing it , you’re able to place up a virtual machine for Windows ( or the osmium of your choice ) in a topic of minutes . you’re able to then install Windows within the virtual simple machine just as though you were instal it on a PC . Parallels Desktop offers a variety of setting that enable you to tailor its performance and options to your liking . Even though the Mac version of this intersection is novel , Parallels Desktop has a polished feel and is generally racy . Better yet , it ’s fast . run Windows XP within a Parallels Desktop virtual political machine is almost as fast as booting directly into Windows XP using Boot Camp , and the carrying into action is certainly zippy enough to make it well-situated to use for most mean solar day - to - day undertaking . I have yet to encounter any Windows software that would not run acceptably in a Parallels virtual machine .
Nevertheless , the software system is still uncomplete as I pen this ; it has some bug , and some feature film are not yet available . For example , Parallels Desktop does not yet hold burning cd or DVDs ; FireWire equipment do not work ; and some USB equipment do not mold ( or do not work at full pep pill ) . In addition , the software does not presently emulate a 3D graphics menu , so if you want to run a game or other art - intensive program that requires hardware 3 - D support , Parallels is out for the time being . But given the speedy development progress I ’ve see , I expect most or all of those difficulties to vaporise shortly .
Q
Unlike Parallels Desktop , Qis a free , clear - source program , base on an emulation programme called QEMU . One interesting vista of Q is that it also work on PowerPC - based Macs ( thoughveryslowly ) . And , of course , the price is correct . introductory facility , setup , and usage are well-nigh as soft with Q as with Parallels Desktop .
When you go to make a new virtual machine in Q , the Q Control window come out , listing all the ones you ’ve create so far . ( It ’s empty when you found Q for the first time . )
Like Parallels , Q has n’t yet reached its final sack level — in fact , it ’s further behind in developing ( currently in the “ alpha ” stagecoach ) and has greater limitations . For exemplar , Q presently offers no way to shift the content of a Clipboard between Edgar Guest and emcee operating systems , networking options are more modified , and few USB twist work correctly . Worse , in my examination , I establish that Windows XP under Q runs some half as fast as it does under Parallels ; I ’d call it usable for basic tasks , but scarce so . Q ’s user interface , certification , and functioning show many rough edges .
On the other manus , Q does offer several different choices of video and level-headed card emulation , and it has two other particularly intriguing features : it can import Virtual PC disk persona , potentially saving a great deal of frame-up fourth dimension , and it can download and instal prebuilt disc images for numerous other opened - source operating systems ( mostly Linux variant ) .
Joe’s recommendations
Having used both Boot Camp and virtualization software , my intuitive feeling is that there ’s no competition at all : virtualization is the way to go , and between Parallels Desktop and Q , the former is significantly superscript in almost every way — well deserving the $ 50 it costs . Bear in mind that I say this as a non - gamer , and as someone who needs to swop rapidly and seamlessly between Mac OS X and Windows . But I discover the operation of Windows under Parallels Desktop to be enough tight for all my pauperism ( and shut down enough to its performance under Boot Camp that I could n’t enjoin the difference , at least for non - graphics - intensive applications , without running benchmarking package ) . The convenience of being able to switch into Windows in a matter of minute , easily transfer file between system in real time , and use all my standard peripherals make the experience of running Windows as pleasant as possible .
Still , you might choose Boot Camp if you ladder Windows primarily for games ( and I do n’t mean Solitaire ! ) , if you mean to practice Windows for discrete task or project that require no interaction with Mac OS X or your Mac files , if you need features not yet usable in Parallels Desktop ( such as CD / videodisc burning ) , if you need to apply hardware for which only Windows drivers are available , or if you have some significant understanding to keep your Windows and Mac environments strictly segregate from each other . One obvious rationality to keep them separate is to protect your Mac file from Windows malware .
As free software , Q obviously has the sharpness in pricing over Parallels Desktop . And , since Q is open - source software system , it ’s somewhat less susceptible to the vicissitudes of the food market that can affect commercial-grade applications . I would not be at all surprised to see Q ’s performance and feature set meliorate dramatically in the coming months , in which fount it may become the ideal choice . But for now , I find it heavy to make a good case for choosing Q over Parallels Desktop .
Note : In an ideal world , you could hunt both Boot Camp and virtualization software using a single Windows installation , switching to whichever environment is just at any given clip . presently , however , this is not possible , and though Parallels claims to be investigating a way to do this in the hereafter , using one written matter of Windows in two dissimilar surround — even though they ’re part of the same physical auto — may violate Microsoft ’s End User License Agreement . However , nothing prevents you from installing two disjoined , separately certify versions of Windows on a information processing system : one using Boot Camp and the other using virtualization software .
[ Joe Kissell is a frequent contributor toMacworldand has write legion Book and ebooks about the Macintosh ; his latest isTake Control of Running Windows on a Mac(TidBits Electronic Publishing , 2006 ) . ]
