To Mac or not to Mac ?

steady__eddie

The daughter has just had a Macbook and I must admit that I am impressed by its speed, (at my time of life every second counts), and I like the idea of minimal designer Mac viruses however having been a p.c. user since 98, I have a considerable amount of historical data on p.c. software (Smartsuite millenium edition). I understand that this application is not compatible with Mac but someone suggested that I could partition the hard drive and run both. He also said that he had performed this operation on his........."But it does have a tendancy to crash now and again". Yet another "expert" said, "Well I did it on mine and I've had no probs". Would anyone on here care to voice an opinion please ?
I am too mean to purchase Word and the logistics of transferring the data is too horrendous for me to contemplate.
By partitioning the H.D.,wouldn't this compromise security whilst surfing ? Any replies, (in monosylabic format), would be greatly appreciated.

Hammyman

You don't even need to partition the hard drive. Just install Virtualbox on the Mac under OS X, create a virtual PC and install Windows on that to use for the few applications where there is no Mac equivalent. There is absolutely no need to partition the hard drive and dual boot a Mac to run Windows unless you need the full speed it is capable of - certainly it isn't a problem for all but gaming.

No need to purchase word, just use OpenOffice which is also available on the Mac.

grayme-m

I use Parallels Desktop on my Mac and run Windows programs (almost) as if they are Mac programs alongside true Mac programs.

Mac's OSX may be good, but I still find Windows better to do many tasks and programs.

That said, are you sure that a £1,000 PC laptop isn't also fast?

boxst

I use bootcamp (free with Mac Os X) to have a windows 7 dual-boot and then use VMWare fusion to be able to somehow run that dual-boot partition in a virtual machine with MacOS loaded. For that to work smoothly I upgraded to 8gb which was only an amazing £40 from Crucial.

It doesn't crash either booted entirely into Windows or with Mac OS running Windows as a virtual machine.

steady__eddie

Thanks for all your replies, I took the plunge yesterday and bought one.
Hopefully it is intuitive enough for me has there were no written destructions with it whatsoever.
I went to John Lewis for it for the peace of mind of an extra years warranty so it is not a riot special.
I just need to get it going before my lunchtime pint :beer:

Hammyman

This page is handy. It shows all the keyboard shortcuts. Many are like Windows but you use CMD + key instead of CTRL, for example copy is CMD-C.

http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1343

giggity

I'm running windows 7 via boot camp on my MacBook pro for when I dial into work with no probs.

We have bought Mac versions of MS Office in the past and they aren't the same as the windows equivalent. Open Office runs well on OSX similar to a Office 2003 in terms of layout and functionality.

Lucero_2

Just an FYI, technically, legally, bootcamp, dual booting are against the EULA for apple. The best way is to use a hyper visor program like virtualbox or parralels desktop to have Windows on your MAC so that you can still access and use all your old programs.

almillar

Lucero you must be joking - Bootcamp is Apple software that comes with OSX! Surely their EULA allows for installing Windows (licenced of course) alongside OSX?!

uptomyeyeballs

grayme-m wrote: »

I use Parallels Desktop on my Mac and run Windows programs (almost) as if they are Mac programs alongside true Mac programs.

I also use Parallels on an iMac, and it's just like having two computers for the price of one. I run it because I have legacy hardware/software that has no Mac connectivity, but it works fine under virtualisation of Windows7. You need a Windows Product Disk and licence to install it, and all the old windows security vulnerabilites still remain, but it gives you the best of both worlds. You can only run it on a Mac with an Intel processor though. I love Macs, though have to use PCs at work too, so use Drop Box (http://db.tt/YGthvgZd) to swap files between them.

leseul

You could also consider Wine.

Not a virtual machine nor does it require a reboot every time you want to switch (so it's convenient and not a resource hog). all you need is an Intel based Mac.

Check compatibility with your programs here: http://davidbaumgold.com/tutorials/wine-mac/