If you don't mind having to restart between using Windows and Mac OS, bootcamp is the easiest (and cheapest option). Parallels runs Windows within a Mac OS window. It seemed a bit complex for me when I needed it, so I just used Bootcamp. I found it reasonably easy to set up Apple's support documents.

I've had some success with CrossOver by Codeweavers.

http://www.codeweavers.com/

No having to reboot, and a 30 day trial to see if it will do what you need it to. I do web design on my Mac, but I can monitor how things are working out (or not) in IE by running it through crossover on a secondary monitor. Works very well for me.

Welcome to Mac Land. There must be more specialized forums out there that should be of more help with this sort of question than Typophile.
That said, in my understanding it mostly depends how you intend to use the 2 systems. I'd say Parallels is more flexible if your workflow involves some Windows programs – being able to run Windows and OSX «side by side», and copy-paste between them etc. is pretty nice. If OTOH the stuff you do on Windows stuff is not so «interlocked» with a Mac-based workflow, so rebooting is not a PITA, Bootcamp should work out fine.

Glad to hear you finally decided to get yourself a real computer!!
: )

You should register at the Apple Discussions Forum. You will get excellent help there. We MacMen/Women help eachother.

There's an old veteran there named Cornelius who has helped me a lot.

AFAIK, if you're using some sort of VM solution like Parallels, you can only access half of your RAM, and half your CPU in each OS. If you boot to Windows through Boot Camp, this isn't a problem. Don't know what software you plan on running, but I run AutoCAD and SolidWorks on my Mac/Windows machine, so having only half the RAM is not an option. I'm still running Tiger and Boot Camp Beta however (I couldn't tell you the last time I booted into OS X), so this restriction may no longer exist -- however I can't imagine that.

You might also look at Sun's Virtual Box for a VM solution. Hard to beat price-wise.

My condolences for your loss...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

...from the Fontry

Bootcamp requires a reboot, which is kind of annoying. Parallels lets you run windows inside of OSX so is much more convenient. Unless you're spending more of your day in Windows only, I'd go the Parallels route.

If you'd prefer to go the open source route, VirtualBox works as well:

http://www.virtualbox.org/

Russell,

I would suggest VMware Fusion

I'm using it to run XP pro on my Mac Pro and it is the best PC I have ever used. Better than the Alienware box I used for the last three years

...you can only access half of your RAM, and half your CPU in each OS.

I'm pretty sure it doesn't work that way.

Mac OS X uses dynamically allocated virtual memory. Each app (including virtual machines) can take as much memory as they need. The hard disk will be used if there isn't enough physical RAM available, mainly for inactive apps, but even for the active ones if necessary. You can't allocate more RAM on your virtual Windows machine than is installed on your Mac, and you will definitely run into performance problems if you allocate the maximum (a couple hundred MB less than the installed physical RAM), but short of that, it's no different than using any other app.

Also, unless you are using some other app that is hogging the CPU, Windows will get all the CPU it asks for, again, just like any other app.

Windows uses dynamically allocated virtual memory, but I had to allocate memory statically to Windows and Linux when I installed andLinux on my computer. (andLinux uses coLinux and Xming to run Linux applications, unmodified, in a copy of Ubuntu on the Windows desktop.)

So the clash between different operating systems may make memory handling more restrictive than what individual applications can do.

Okay, I should have said "not much different". You're definitely not limited to half of anything.

Perhaps new versions of Parallels are different, but I'm fairly certain that older versions did split your CPU in half. One core for OS X, the other core for Windows. Though I haven't looked into running Windows as a VM under OS X in 2 years or so. No doubt other VM solutions don't impose this restriction, and I wouldn't be surprised if newer versions of Parallels didn't either. Nor would I be surprised if I was totally misinformed about older versions of Parallels.

In retrospect, the 'half your RAM' crap I was told was probably just a rule-of-thumb for standard 2GB RAM MBPs. 1GB for each OS to avoid going into the harddrive swap that Mark mentioned. At any rate, doing 3D modeling on a VM doesn't make much sense to me -- nor does re-licensing all my software for OS X -- so it's been Bootcamp all the way.

And I will say that the only bad experience I've had with Bootcamp is related to the battery driver. Again, no doubt fixed in newer releases. But if you decide to go with Bootcamp, and your CPU usage in Windows jumps to 100% and everything goes to pot -- before you're tempted to throw your computer against the wall, disable the ACPI-Compliant battery driver. If that 'fixes' things, re-enable the driver, reboot into OS X, reboot into Windows, and everything should be coming-up-roses.

Hi!

Firstly I would recommend you Parallels as a solution for not too resource demanding tasks. It runs fast and smooth and file-exchange between the systems are easily done. Bootcamp I use sooo rarely, like once every 4 months when I play a game for an hour or two. That is the only reason I can imagine one could need Bootcamp for, if you don't use things like CAD or other heavy programs.

Secondly, I like macs, I own one, but: Give it back now! And buy a new MacBook Pro in a month from now, a new CPU generation from Intel is arriving, Codename arrandale, and it will increase performance very noticeable, especially tasks which can't make use of a multi-core processor, the performance of a single core is boosted up quite a bit. Plus maybe apple drops price, or adds a bigger hard drive, more memory, or does some other make-over... more value for the same money. But this is just a personal opinion ;) Do as you please. ;) With SuperDuper! (free for basic function) You could make a bootable backup of your harddrive and copy it back with the migration assistant (OS X onboard application) once you have your new mac.

Best,
Flo

>>Give it back now! And buy a new MacBook Pro in a month from now

Don’t go there. You cannot use a computer NOW that you are going to buy in a couple of months’ time.
Plus: There is really no mileage in staying on top of the curve. New models have new problems.
And waiting for newer and better is more of a Zen-exercise than necessity.

. . .
Bert Vanderveen BNO

New models have new problems.

Not necessarily. New software would have new problems, but generally new hardware provides better performance and capabilities.

I strongly recommend VMware Fusion 3.0 for Mac (which is the latest version).

I run Windows on a daily basis on my MacBookPro (as some apps are
available only on Win). Often I run Windows-XP and Windows-7
simultaneously without any hassle (plus InDesign).
As easy as a right-click to start either Wins.
I can thus copy (by dragging) files from one Windows to
another (or to MacOS). No need to reboot etc.
Also, I now have moved completely to
Windows-7. Very solid product so far.

Thanks a lot, every one.

…
-=®=-

And waiting for newer and better is more of a Zen-exercise than necessity.

Just that this time a few weeks of ZEN brings 20 percent better performance:

AnandTech on Intel Arrandale and performance overview.

plus possible upgrades in memory, HDD, graphics, etc... for the same price.

Just my opinion… Once in a couple of years shortly before the release of a new generation of CPU waiting does make sense…

One always loves to hear that the very precious and expensive thing you bought retail could have been bought for wholesale from your cousin Bernie…

I already have the machine. I am happy with it and, well… so there.

:o)

(fist year models can be prone to bugs a-plenty, so i will stick with what I have, thanks all the same)
---

I'm running Windoze 7, via Virtual Machine (demo version) at the moment. but am dithering as to whether to go with VM or Parallels. I noticed that Parallels is what they sell in the Apple store.

Windows is still Windows though. (locks up every now and then) I'll migrate to Mac versions of software as I can afford it, but the one thing I won't be able to do that with is CorelDraw. :o( . Corel stopped supporting Mac several versions ago, which means I may just have to regress back to a version when they did suport Macs.

-=®=-

just a reminder for those who have a PC in their mac just so they can check IE:
https://browserlab.adobe.com/

--

"Good taste is almost as hard to come by as good design."

Those screen shot machines are kind of useless for testing web sites. You really need to be using the actual browser to test all the interaction. VMware/Parallels/VirtualBox make it so easy to run Windows on a Mac.

I wouldn't say useless, just limited. They sure help for quickly checking static layout / CSS issues. Depending how static a site is, that might already be most of what you need. I agree that the major browsers/systems should be tested live, but those screenshot sites also cover obscure browsers/OSes that you cannot reasonably all run yourself (or have friends that do); for those I think a quick static layout check is already quite handy.