Bootcamp vs parallels

[xiaosinsinful]

hey anyone can explain whats the pros and cons for bootcamping windows vs using parallels? did some googling and found out that using parallels consume more ram,less performance vs bootcamp?

curently using bootcamp (windows 7) thinking of switching to parallels for the ease of using both system but not sure if it will affect my work (using bootcamp partition for work purpose applications like eclipse ,windows visual studios etc as well as playing some games )
can anyone using these applications give some feedback? thanks!!

edit: im mostly concern about the limitations of using parallels such as not being able to do the stuff a full operating system can

 

[devglass]

Parallel does not allow you to set graphics setting, in other words, you can't play high graphics games with parallel
Parallel can set the hardware settings for your windows while bootcamp will just use the actual hardware settings. With that said, bootcamp allows you make use of your graphics card to play game.

You know parallel partition is expandable right? Of course it won't affect your work.
Eclipse I used on Mac... I don't use visual studio...I don't game on a mac too.

 

[duhduhduh]

I tried playing battlefield using parallels but it doesn't start.

then i tried download CS-online to play on parallels also, it didnt work.

then i gave up on gaming

 

[xiaosinsinful]

Parallel does not allow you to set graphics setting, in other words, you can't play high graphics games with parallel
Parallel can set the hardware settings for your windows while bootcamp will just use the actual hardware settings. With that said, bootcamp allows you make use of your graphics card to play game.

You know parallel partition is expandable right? Of course it won't affect your work.
Eclipse I used on Mac... I don't use visual studio...I don't game on a mac too.

I know parallel partition is expandable what I ment by affecting my work is that the program cannot run/incompatible or some other technical issues since to my knowledge parallels is a VM running in Mac OS

Even casual games also can't? Thinking of running SC2 nothing crazy like bf4 though

 

[asriznet]

For performance, use bootcamp.

For convenience, use parallels or any other VM software, there's even a free one called VirtualBox i think.

Bootcamp:
- 1 OS at a time, switch on restart
- fixed storage size after bootcamp creation.
- free, built-in on every mac

Parallels:
- convenience of running windows along with OS X
- degraded performance due to sharing resources with OS X while running virtual machine
- expensive, pay for upgrade when you upgrade your OS X version

Personally I have not needed to run windows at all, some games are available on mac via Steam etc...

 

[xiaosinsinful]

For performance, use bootcamp.

For convenience, use parallels or any other VM software, there's even a free one called VirtualBox i think.

Bootcamp:
- 1 OS at a time, switch on restart
- fixed storage size after bootcamp creation.
- free, built-in on every mac

Parallels:
- convenience of running windows along with OS X
- degraded performance due to sharing resources with OS X while running virtual machine
- expensive, pay for upgrade when you upgrade your OS X version

Personally I have not needed to run windows at all, some games are available on mac via Steam etc...

Wow nice summary , still need windows for same programs e.g visual studio and some games. thanks! btw performance degraded how much? noticeable?

 

[tec_geek]

For me, I have used Bootcamp for my Mac. Though I haven't tried Parallels, but so far for me, the speed and the performance works great. And of course being able to install Steam and playing games using Windows on a Mac.

 

[xiaosinsinful]

For me, I have used Bootcamp for my Mac. Though I haven't tried Parallels, but so far for me, the speed and the performance works great. And of course being able to install Steam and playing games using Windows on a Mac.

ya used bootcamp too but thinking of switching to parallels , so basically from all the comments, can i conclude that parallels is an exact copy of windows(it can do anything bootcamp can ) with slightly lower performance?

 

[asriznet]

ya used bootcamp too but thinking of switching to parallels , so basically from all the comments, can i conclude that parallels is an exact copy of windows(it can do anything bootcamp can ) with slightly lower performance?

If you have a high-end hardware mac like a fully-upgraded Mac Pro and you don't run multiple apps at once , the performance drop wouldn't be that significant.

boils down to your hardware and how much resources being used by your Mac OS X + Windows VM on Parallels

 

[LeonaV]

Using bootcamp and win7 on both my iMac and rMBP. If you are concerned with the bootup time, rMBP has very little since it is running SSD. The strange thing about rMBP bootcamp though, that I am unable to replicate in the iMac, is that both OS can read and write the other partition of the other OS, which I believe it was not supposed to.

The fixed storage disadvantage is easily fixed by using an external HDD or SD card formatted to FAT, which can be seen by both OS.

I would recommend bootcamp since you need to pay for parallels and there is a performance drop because of shared resources between the OSes.

 

[mcalel]

Using Parallels can I use 2 diff Mac OS, etc Main OS 10.9 on Parallels OS 10.6

 

[Mfacegm]

was wondering why not vs Vmware too?