bootcamp

the_r_sole · 15 Apr 2015 at 08:51

Looking at maybe getting a mbp but some of the software I need is windows based, is bootcamp nice and stable on the mbp (would be looking to run windows 7 pro (as have a legit copy!)
the software can be fairly hefty (autodesk revit) but the spec of the mbp should run it no probs, I just don't want any other issues if the os become unstable?

monkeyspank · 15 Apr 2015 at 09:06

Parallels runs Windows in a window so you get best of both worlds. also it takes up only as much disc space as it needs instead of a whole partition. It is £56 but worth it IMO

the_r_sole · 15 Apr 2015 at 09:10

is that not more hardware intensive?
Having both running at the same time isn't really needed for what I'm doing - but might look into that in future i guess

mightynimrod · 15 Apr 2015 at 20:52

I found parallels really laggy and buggy

teknokid · 15 Apr 2015 at 21:47

I'm running Solidworks and various other engineering software packages in Parallels and it runs really well - I've not noticed any slow down or lag at any point. Being able to switch between the OS's in an instant is incredibly helpful too..

monkeyspank · 15 Apr 2015 at 22:21

the_r_sole said:
is that not more hardware intensive?
Having both running at the same time isn't really needed for what I'm doing - but might look into that in future i guess

Get the ram upgrade. hdd size is up to you.. Bootcamp needs a partition. Parallels doesn't and you can easily store and use VMs externally
You can trial parallels for 2 weeks.

the_r_sole · 16 Apr 2015 at 09:13

would be looking at the ram upgrade anyway, but interesting about parallels - worth trying for a couple of weeks, although some of the software I use is a pain a lot of the time on a stable system so anything that makes it slightly worse would be better avoided!!
If Bootcamp is more stable I would go with that as I have no need to have both os going at the same time

teknokid · 16 Apr 2015 at 09:17

the_r_sole said:
would be looking at the ram upgrade anyway, but interesting about parallels - worth trying for a couple of weeks, although some of the software I use is a pain a lot of the time on a stable system so anything that makes it slightly worse would be better avoided!!
If Bootcamp is more stable I would go with that as I have no need to have both os going at the same time

What software will you be using?

the_r_sole · 16 Apr 2015 at 09:23

teknokid said:
What software will you be using?

Revit is probably the heaviest one, especially doing some renders - occasional 3dsmax and Lumion, Autocad and Adobe creative suite

(most are only because I have windows licences but any that can will be changed to mac versions as they come up for renewal - but revit is windows only at the moment)

ShortWarning · 17 Apr 2015 at 10:19

monkeyspank said:
Get the ram upgrade. hdd size is up to you.. Bootcamp needs a partition. Parallels doesn't and you can easily store and use VMs externally
You can trial parallels for 2 weeks.

I didn't realise this.

I take it any sort of gaming is a no go? (I'm not talking about the latest and greatest, I only ever really play SFIV.

It's just I can't remember the last time I booted into Windows and that 80gb partition is just there wasting space but I would like Windows on there, just in case.

monkeyspank · 17 Apr 2015 at 10:35

try it! free for 2 weeks

gaming is no different to native mac stuff really - same hardware after all. You can tell parallels how much resource to use - there is even a gaming pre-set. give it a try

teknokid · 17 Apr 2015 at 10:36

ShortWarning said:
I didn't realise this.

I take it any sort of gaming is a no go? (I'm not talking about the latest and greatest, I only ever really play SFIV.

It's just I can't remember the last time I booted into Windows and that 80gb partition is just there wasting space but I would like Windows on there, just in case.

I use parallels for playing older games and it works fine. Don't expect the latest and greatest titles to run, but it seems to work pretty efficiently.