Running Windows on a Mac: Boot Camp, Parallels Desktop & VMware Fusion

This sticky last updated on November 04, 2009 by Budding

By Sammy L.



The announcement of Apple's transition to Intel processors back in June of 2005 has allowed Macs to run Windows natively. Apple announced Boot Camp Beta on April 5, 2006, and the final version is found in Apple's latest operating system, Mac OS X Leopard (10.5), released on October 26th, 2007. Meanwhile, two third-party developers have also released applications that allow Mac users to run Windows virtually. Both methods have their advantages and disadvantages, and this thread will detail what each method is, their advantages/disadvantages, why one should choose one over another and little notes of interest.

Boot Camp

Apple's Boot Camp allows an Intel Mac user to run Windows like any other PC. It was available as a free beta download on Apple's website, and the final version of Boot Camp is featured in Mac OS X Leopard, released on October 26th, 2007. With Boot Camp, a user chooses which operating system to boot upon start-up. If the user boots into Windows, Mac OS X is not in operation, thus not consuming any system resources, and vice versa. To run the other operating system (not currently in use), the user has to restart the computer.
To use Boot Camp with Mac OS X 10.5 you need the following:

System Requirements for Boot Camp 2.1

• An Intel-based Mac
  
  
• A Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard installation disc. This can be either a Mac OS X Leopard disc included with a purchased copy of Leopard, or a Mac OS X Install Disc 1 from a Mac that had Leopard preinstalled
  
  
• A USB keyboard and mouse, or a built-in keyboard and trackpad
  
  
• At least 10 GB of free space on the disk you’re installing on (for Microsoft Windows and Windows-based applications)
  
  
• 2 GB or more of memory (RAM) if using Windows Vista on a Mac Pro computer
  
  
• Boot Camp Assistant, which is installed by Leopard in (/Applications/Utilities/).
  
  
• An authentic, 32-bit Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition or Professional with Service Pack 2 (or later) disc or
  
  
• An authentic, 32-bit Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business, or Ultimate disc or
  
  
• An authentic, 64-bit Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic, Home Premium, Business or Ultimate disc if you are using an early 2008 or later Macbook Pro or Mac Pro (more info here)

For a Windows XP installation, your Microsoft Windows XP installation disc must include Service Pack 2 (SP2) or later.

And of course, the Windows operating systems must be full versions, and not Upgrade discs.


Important: Users who participated in the Boot Camp Beta program can update their Boot Camp in Leopard by following these instructions. Very easy.


Boot Camp running on a MacBook Pro. Image courtesy of crazyguy.

To learn more on how Boot Camp works and what you need to do, please read this PDF: Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide as well as this <noparse>FAQ</noparse>: Boot Camp 2.0 FAQ

Parallels Desktop for Mac/VMware Fusion

Parallels Desktop for Mac and VMware Fusion offer an alternative to Boot Camp. Instead of having to restart every time you want to switch to the other operating system, Parallels/VMware allows you to run Windows virtually inside Mac OS X. With Parallels/VMware Fusion, Windows is run in a window on the Mac desktop, therefore both OSes run simultaneously. This allows the user to run Windows applications side-by-side with Mac applications.

Resources
Note that Parallels and VMWare Fusion will give you options when it comes to sharing resources between Windows and OS X. You will be able to assign the number of CPU cores to be shared with your Virtual Machine, as well as the amount of RAM and Video RAM to be taken away from OS X and used by your Virtual Machine. You also have the option to create a stand alone Virtual Machine with the ability to dynamically change the amount of HD storage it uses up, or one of fixed size.

Features
Parallels offers a feature known as Coherence which allows Windows applications to graphically integrate into the Mac desktop. VMware Fusion has a similar feature known as Unity. In Coherence and Unity, Windows applications running virtually are rid of the Mac window around them, so the Windows applications are running separate of another Windows applications. Both latest versions of Parallels 5 and VMWare Fusion 3 offer Expose support, in which Windows applications are displayed independent of each other in Expose mode.

Using the Boot Camp partition
Both Parallels and VMWare give you the option to use your existing Boot Camp partition as your Virtual Machine. The advantages of this are of course that all the changes you make to the Operating System in the Virtual Machine will be reflected in Boot Camp and vice versa. However, you do lose features such as mirrored folders in VMWare Fusion and dynamically changing disk size. Please be aware that a number of users have had their Windows OS deactivated whenever they switched between using Boot Camp and the Virtual Machine due to changes in hardware, resulting in them having to call the free Microsoft Windows activation hotline and spend five minutes on average re-activating their copy of Microsoft Windows.

Pricing
Both Parallels Desktop for Mac 5 as well as VMWare Fusion 3 are sold for $79.99 US.
Owners of previous versions of VMWare Fusion can upgrade to VMWare Fusion 3 for $39.99, as well as purchase Parallels 5 at the discounted price of $49.99. Owners of previous versions of Parallels can upgrade to Parallels 5 for $49.99.

Both Parallels and VMWare come with Internet Security suites, Kaspersky for Parallels, and McAfee for VMWare.

Parallels Screenshots


Parallels Desktop in action.


Parallels Desktop playing Crysis. Note how one can drag Windows applications to the Dock where they can launch them via Parallels. This feature is also supported in VMware Fusion.

VMWare Fusion Screenshots


VMware Fusion in action.


VMware Fusion playing Gears of War.


VMware Fusion running Microsoft Office Word 2007.

To learn more on how Parallels works and what you need to do, please read this PDF: Parallels Desktop for Mac User Guide

To learn more on how VMware Fusion works and what you need to do, please read this PDF: Getting Started With VMware Fusion as well as this FAQ: VMware Fusion FAQ

Advantages of Boot Camp

Boot Camp basically allows the user to use their Mac as a PC without anything to pay attention to or worry about. System requirements are minimal and installation is simple. Boot Camp has an advantage over Parallels/VMware Fusion because there is only one Operating System running, so it does not share any system resources with another Operating System, resulting in much better Windows performance. Running Windows through Parallels/VMware Fusion will require the sharing of resources to run than Boot Camp, since both Mac OS X and Microsoft Windows have to run on the same computer simultaneously. Gaming, especially games with support for the latest in 3D graphics, will be more enjoyable in Boot Camp as more computer and graphics resources will be available, whereas in Parallels or VMWare Fusion, some of those resources would be used in the running of Mac OS X.

Advantages of Parallels Desktop/VMware Fusion


The disadvantage of Boot Camp is Parallels and VMware Fusion's advantage. Since Parallels/VMware Fusion can quickly launch Windows in a window, users can quickly access Windows and return to Mac OS X. In Boot Camp, the user would have to restart the computer to boot Windows and restart again to return into Mac OS X.

Also, for many users, some applications are only available on Windows currently, for example Microsoft Office 2007 or PC-only games. With Parallels/VMWare Fusion, one can run Photoshop CS3 on the Mac while running Office 2007 side-by-side in another window on the Mac desktop.

Should I get Boot Camp or Parallels/VMware Fusion?

This is probably the most coveted question of all .

It will depend on what your tasks need. If you like or need to run a Windows application alongside a Mac application (such as Photoshop on the Mac while running Office 2007 on Windows), Parallels & VMware is for you. But to run Parallels/VMware Fusion, you also have to think about the cost of more RAM (unless you already have 2 GB of RAM for Windows XP or 4GB for Windows Vista, in which you'll be fine) as well as the price of Parallels & VMware Fusion (both retail at $79.99 US) on top of the price of a Windows license.

If you want to play the latest 3D games in all its glory, then Boot Camp should be your choice since both VMWare 3 and Parallels 5 currently only support DirectX 9.0, DirectX Pixel Shader 3.0 and OpenGL 2.1. This means that even with a zillion GB of your RAM and VRAM as well as all your CPU cores assigned to your Virtual Machine, you will not be able to take advantage of the latest 3D graphics engines, handicapping the amount of enjoyment you might experience from your game.

If your work needs you to run Windows and you prefer to run Mac OS X at home you may be enjoy Boot Camp where you have a PC at work and a Mac at home without the need for more RAM or to purchase the Parallels/VMware software. But you will lose the flexibility of running Windows programs alongside Mac programs as well as the ability to quickly launch Windows and return to Mac OS X. In Boot Camp, if you decide you need to boot into Windows, you will have to restart the computer to boot into Windows, and restart again to return to Mac OS X.

I won't be using Boot Camp. Should I use Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion?

For many who have decided they will run Windows virtually as opposed to using Boot Camp, the next question will be Parallels Desktop or VMware Fusion.

VMWare Fusion 3 has been reported to be more stable than Parallels when running Microsoft Windows. VMWare Fusion Virtual Machine Images are also compatible with other VMWare products, such as VMWare Fusion Server.

Parallels 5 has more features than VMWare Fusion, including automatic file-type association for both Windows & Mac Software; Windows System Tray notifications on the Mac Menu Bar; built in screen capture tool; iPhone app for remote control; etc. Parallels is also much better at rendering OpenGL than VMWare and supports up to 8 CPU cores dedicated to the Virtual Machine as opposed to 4 CPU cores currently supported by VMWare 2.


Benchmarks (Nov 22, 2008):

Since Parallels 4 was only released very recently, none of the major technology websites have released benchmarks comparing Parallels 4 to VMWare 2. InformationWeek have released a review of Parallels 4 in which some benchmarks are quoted, but note that these benchmarks are not official and might not have been performed under rigorous conditions, and some benchmarks have been omitted since their results are highly arguable.

Cinebench R10:
--------------CB-CPU--------CB-GFX
------------(Rendering)----(Shading)
Parallels 4:.....2105..............1171
VMWare 2:.....2052................112


Things to Note

• Boot Camp is a feature of Mac OS X Leopard, released on October 26th, 2007. Users who participated in the Boot Camp Beta program can update their Boot Camp in Leopard by following these instructions.
  
  
• The latest finalized version of Parallels Desktop for Mac is Parallels Desktop 5.0 (2009/11/04) (http://www.parallels.com/landingpage/dskd26/?gclid=CN39_ZTFh5cCFQmKMAodkRCw_A).
  
  
• The latest finalized version of VMware Fusion is Fusion 3 (2009/11/04). Download the latest version here.
  
  
• Boot Camp can only be run in Intel-based Macs. Older PowerPC Macs cannot run Windows natively.
  
  
• Parallels and VMware Fusion can use the same partition that was created on Boot Camp to run Windows.
  
  
• Running Windows on a Mac, whether by Boot Camp or by virtualization, is the same as running Windows on a PC. So viruses and spyware will be as likely to infect your Windows-running Mac as it would on any other PC. Use Windows on the Mac with the same security software and the same caution you would use on any other PC.
  
  
• To run Parallels/VMware Fusion smoothly you will want to have 2 GB of RAM or more. Running Parallels/VMware Fusion with 1 GB of RAM will be sluggish (official stated minimum RAM is 512 MB).
  
  
• Since the release of v3.0, Parallels has graphics support; in other words one can run graphics-intensive applications and games through Parallels.
  
  
• With the release of VMware Fusion 1.1, Fusion now has DirectX 9.0 3D support, adding support for more graphics-intensive applications and games that previously were not supported. OpenGL performance is poor, however.
  

External Links

Boot Camp
Boot Camp Installation & Setup Guide
Boot Camp FAQ
Apple Boot Camp Support
Parallels Desktop for Mac
Parallels Desktop for Mac User Guide
Parallels Desktop <noparse>FAQ</noparse>
VMware Fusion
Getting Started with VMware Fusion

This post will be edited as time passes for more updated information. If you would like to add anything or correct anything, let me or Budding know via PM!

 

Very nice comparison of the strengths and advantages vs. the cons of each platform, thanks Sam!

 

Good Stuff Sam! This should address a lot of questions for future Mac OS X switchers.

 

Nice. How about a more indepth comparison of Parallels and VMWare Fusion too once they become more official?

 

Sure, I'll get into the differences between Parallels & VMware Fusion when the final version of VMware Fusion is released around August.

 

Thanks a lot for the well written article. Will save a lot of hassle from replying to all the "Boot Camp vs XXXX" topics that seem to pop-up every 10 sec.

 

Someone needs to sticky this. Stop all those new mac switchers who don't know what 'search' means continuously asking the exact same questions over and over and over and over...

 

Agreed. Same with the other topic about removing Mac OSX and touching crucial Mac files, such as the User Folder and iPhoto library. (Not so much crucial but modifying them can cause headaches)

 

Great post!!!

 

Nice post indeed. I would also like to see a bit more indepth comparison of Parallels and VMWare Fusion.

 

Great post. I needed this about 2 weeks ago... at this point i'm mostly using bootcamp to boot into Vista for work.

I boot OSX to play around in (surf the internet, IM). But very rarely.

 

Stickied. Now please let's make sure that we keep posts on topic. Any posts not on topic will be deleted and ABSOLUTELY NO WINDOWS VS OS X. This thread will be to help people get Windows running on Mac hardware regardless of their reasoning.

 

Does Parallels display separate Windows windows in Expose yet, like VMware does?

 

Vmware fusion VS Parralels
Pros and cons?

 

Be sure to check out the Windows on a Mac sticky. There is some comparison between the two there.

Merged with that thread.

 

Hmmm, from the Parallels website I don't see anywhere that says Displays Windows applications in Expose, but they do say Parallels has the Coherence feature (similar to Vmware's Unity) so you can run Windows applications without the Parallels window open.

 

I ran parallels on my iMac before I sold it. Worked quite well actually. However, for the MBP I picked up last night I installed Bootcamp 1.3 and did a full Vista Home Prem. install. Everything is working like a gem right now. I will install all my software tonight and see how it goes. All in all my opinion is, if you really need 100% computing power while utilizing the windows environment I would go with Bootcamp.

 

Great post. I'd like to see more of a comparison between parallels and fusions.

 

I like the ability for either Parallels or Fusion to load up a VM from a boot camp partition. That is an extremely handy feature to have.

There is one big difference between the two that might ultimately force you to choose Parallels over Fusion, and that is in the DirectX support. Parallels supports DirectX 9.0, while Fusion at this time only supports DirectX 8.1. This means several current games might not run under Fusion.

Does WoW use DirectX 8.1 or 9.0?

 

Well, right now there's only a list of games that are officially confirmed to be playable on VMware Fusion. My original sticky post has the list of games available, and WoW isn't on there.

But would you really want to run games virtually anyways? It would consume much more resources than running games in Boot Camp would.

 

True, should be running games directly from Boot Camp instead of virtually.

I want to say that Fusion has better support for the Expose feature in OSX than Parallels does. One place somewhere in the Internet mentioned that Expose treats all virtualized windows as one window, where as Fusion has Expose treat each Windows Xp window separately. Can anyone confirm this?

 

Yes it is true. VMware Fusion has the Unity feature where it gets rid of the Mac window surrounding the Windows applications and the Windows apps just run independently. And in Expose each Windows app is displayed in as its own window. Parallels can get rid of the Mac window surrounding Windows apps with a feature called Coherence, but it cannot display each Windows app separately in Expose.

 

Thanks Sam. Looks like I'm leaning towards getting Fusion now... it has support for two-way SMP to assign a multi-core system to have each core assigned to a virtual machine. Also, Fusion supports 64 bit virtual machines, while Parallels only does 32-bit at this time.

Edit: This information is on VMWare's Fusion web page here: http://www.vmware.com/beta/fusion/features.html

Edit#2: Now if only my MBP could come very soon before the promotion price of $40 expires at the end of August, or whenever the beta for Fusion ends.

 

Yes, I used those links to write the sticky. There are more differences between VMware Fusion and Parallels but I haven't had the time to edit the sticky yet, so I'll do that later on.

 

Parallels sounds perfect.

a few questions.

1.) Can I just log onto the windows OS if I want and not the MAC OS or must I always log onto MAC first to get to windows?

2.) Can I open parallels to allow windows or its applications to take up the whole screen and not just a box inside of the MAC OS?

3.) Is the windows in the MAC OS using its own dedicated individual amount of hard drive space?

 

Question:
1. Which progam will require more harddrive-diskspace Bootcamp, or Parales/VMware?
2. How much diskspace should one set apart for Bootcamp?

 

This Fusion/Expose feature stood out in my mind as something I'd really like to have -- and I'm not even a Mac user yet!

So far the only thing that I've read about that seems better about Parallels (to me) is that it displays a true Windows XP task bar and Start button. As a life-long PC user, I'd really like to see this in Fusion too... but apparently Fusion uses a drop-down box instead.

 

LOL, I'm also not a Mac user (yet) and am already giddy about it... I guess its the new environment that is driving up anticipation.

 

#1: If you use Boot Camp to setup a Windows partition, you can boot right into Windows without first starting Mac OSX. However, as was mentioned earlier in this thread and Sam's links, you can have Parallels/Fusion start up a VM session of your Boot Camp Windows OS from within Mac OSX too. You get the best of both worlds!

#2: Yes.

#3: Yes.

 

Hmmm...

Okay, question: Let's say we're using our Mac, and we decide to launch a Windows program. What's the process?

Can we simply double-click on the particular program icon, which will in turn launch VMware and the Windows program?

Or do we have to launch VMware first, wait for it to open, then double-click on the Windows program icon?

Or (?????)

 

That is a good question. The ideal solution would be for Fusion/Parallels to have a link from Mac OSX that launches the guest operating system, and the tools installed on the guest OS will then immediately start the application. This is one of the first things I want to try out...

 

Normally, what you would do is open VMware Fusion, let it load and then open the application you want. But there is also a feature where you can drag Windows apps onto the Dock and launch them from there. You still have to open VMware though.

 

I was using Parallels and double clicked on a .wmv file and parallels detected it. It asked me to turn a feature on "file sharing" or something like that and after clicking ok, it lauched WMP and played within windows without copying the file to the virtual windows HDD.

At the time, I had the file associated with Quicktime and I didn't have any wmv compoent installed.

 

Hmmm... any way to link them together? So launching the app would automatically launch VMW first, then launch the app?

 

That's what happens. If you have a Windows app on the Dock you click the Windows app and it opens right there. VMware launched in the background.

 

I guess I'll have to wait and try this for myself.

Now if only Amazon.com would replenish their stock....

 

Hehe, good luck SoundsGood.

Pre-order VMware Fusion .

 

Has anyone tried on these plastic covers that you can add to the MBP's?

http://www.amazon.com/Speck-MB15-OR...757101-0056614?ie=UTF8&qid=1185810790&sr=8-13

I'm thinking of getting one, but they are costly and some of the reviews for them paint a less than promising picture about them.

 

I've heard enough negatives about these to stay far away from them.

 

Can I? Even though I don't have the MBP yet?

(don't I need to download it right away??)

 

Bummer, it would have been cool to add a little color to these MBP's... any alternatives around?

 

No, you don't. The final version of VMware Fusion isn't released yet. What you do when you pre-order is VMware emails you a product key to use when VMware Fusion is available in August.

 

Ahhh, I see thanks.

In that case... I just ordered it.

 

Sticky Update:

I added more Parallels vs. VMware Fusion facts, including multi-core management, VMware's Unity vs. Parallels' Coherence, and I'll add more later on.

Also I've added a new Things To Note, regarding running Windows Vista virtually through Parallels or VMware Fusion. Microsoft's EULA states Mac users cannot run Vista Home Basic or Home Premium virtually; they must use Business, Enterprise or Ultimate.

EDIT: I've also added the new information about VMware's August 6th release of Fusion.

SECOND EDIT: I've also added new information about a new beta from Parallels featuring Expose support.

I am always open to suggestion. PM me if you notice any errors in my sticky or if you want to suggest something I should add.

 

Great post Sam.

I have a question.
I am using Bootcamp on my MBP right now. I partitioned the hard drive into two. Gave 25 GB to MAC OS X and rest (around 90GB) to Windows.

How can further bifurcate or maybe have three partitions on the 90GB windows drive?

I tried doing it through Partition Magic but it doesnt recognize the partition.

Did anyone tried and succeeded in this?

 

Hi Sam, I have another question also for ya. Suppose I have Mac OSX one one side and Windows XP on another. Is it easy to take out the Windows XP side and change it to Windows Vista using the Boot Camp software?

 

Sure...my suggestion is - after pulling the trigger on the $40 deal with VMWare Fusion, if sometime in the next 5 years I regret that buy, you reimburse me the $40 and front me the $80 for Parallels

It'd be just the same as if you were installing Vista over XP on a PC. Only thing to watch out for is if you'd need to swap disks in mid-install...

 

Sure, you can talk to my secretary about that. Please step into the next room. * Loud screams of pain from that room *

* Dead silence *



Gee, what happened to taelrak?

 

You better cover my medical and funeral bill too!

 

Just curious, does Boot Camp include the drivers needed to enable Fire Wire in Windows XP/Vista? How about when running under Parallels/Fusion?