I think I'm going to have to run Windows...

I do a lot of work on my office PC remotely through GotomyPC. I tried to do this last night on my MBP and couldn't get it to work correctly. I just checked the requirements and for full functionality the computer is required to have Windows...

I really didn't want to get into partitioning, parallels vs. bootcamp, etc...and "dirtying up" my baby with Windows - but it looks like I don't have a choice.

Bummer...

 

What is the difference between parallels and bootcamp? I know when I get my mac I will have to dual boot it or run both of them if I have enough ram to run them both at the same time. Do they cost money? Is dual booting or parallels and bootcamp the same as a windows pc that dual boots 2 windows OS's?

 

Parallels is a commercial piece of software that lets you run a "virtual machine" with Windows alongside OS X. The main benefit of it is that it does let you run Windows and Windows apps while still being booted into OS X (and has some features for sharing data, etc.).

Boot Camp is basically something that lets you partition your hard drive and create a dual boot setup so you can boot into Windows. It is in beta now, and will be part of Mac OS X 10.5 (and supposedly will be available for separate purchase for Tiger 10.4 owners who don't want to upgrade) The main benefit is that it lets you fully boot into Windows and use the full hardware (i.e. all the memory in your system, your GPU, etc.). With Parallels, you have to allocate some of your memory to the virtual machine, and you also can't access your graphics card.

-Zadillo

 

It seems like GoToMyPC should work just fine within a Parallels environment.

What in GoToMyPC didn't work though on the Mac? I just checked their FAQ and they at least claim that it should work (and their requirements seemed to just be Safari 1.0 or Firefox 1.0).

 

Hi Zadillo - through GTMPC I can view everything on my host machine but I cannot print to my host printer or transfer files - lack of printing is the biggest problem because I use that feature on a regular basis.

I have to look more into the parallels vs. boot camp situation - I'd prefer to use parallels rather than re-booting every time I want to switch over. There are benefits to both.

 

I think I'll just wait for the ability to dual boot the system when it comes out in Leopard then Thanks for the info.

 

If you have Tiger, you can download and use the Boot Camp beta now:

http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp/

And a trial version of Parallels is also available at http://www.parallels.com/

-Zadillo

 

Yeah. Honestly as long as you have enough memory, and all you're really using it for is GoToMyPC, it seems like Parallels might be fine (unless it also has an issue with printing, etc.). It seems like Parallels has also been making it easier to interface with your OS X data, etc.

The nice thing I think is that you can now have Parallels use your boot camp windows partition, so if you did want to use both, you don't have to have a Parallels drive image AND a separate partition, but can instead use the same Windows installation, etc.

 

Now that's even cooler

 

I would give Parallels a try first. The newest betas look really cool and the integration they are working on is impressive.

 

Any else here thinks that someone should make a sticky regarding this Parallels v Boot Camp thing? It's being asked like half a dozen times a week.

 

Probably not a bad idea.

 

Why not setup remote desktop on your windows machine and use the remote desktop client to connect to it?
Works fine for me! I connect to my Oracle server that way. :-D

 

There is a RDP client for OS X. I think it doesn't work with Vista yet. Is there something GTMPC has that remote desktop doesn't?

 

Haven't been following Parallels that closely. Is the ability to use a bootcamp partition already out of beta? Does it still triggers XP activation?

 

From what I read about remote desktop, you can't print with it. It's important that I be able to print from a remote computer to the printer next to my desk at work. I need to print out information for someone there to pick up - and they can't do it from my machine because they don't know how and wont' learn. I know - complicated but whatever.

So, yes, I need to be able to print.

 

I haven't been following it that closely, so I don't know how much they have or have not worked out the kinks.

 

There should be plenty of VNC software that should be able to connect to a Windows PC from a Mac. I have been doing it for quite some time with Linux to Windows.

 

I have not read every post in this thread, but I will say that people who say Boot Camp is better than parallels and vice versa really just need to use both.

I repeat...USE BOTH boot camp and parallels. Parallels can be used for about 95% of what you need, but every now and then boot camp is the way to go if you know that you are going to be using only Windows apps.

There is really no downside to using both. I have been using both for about a month now and I can say that I have no regrets. I prefer parallels b/c I hardly ever need discrete graphics for windows unless I plan on playing a gmae (but I have too much studying to do lately).

 

I actually like bootcamp. When you install it you make a CD with all the drivers for your mac and install then later in windows. It works great.

 

I don't know, but last time I tried one of those betas, I bricked my macbook. I couldn't even get it working with the OS X install disks. I had to use a Linux boot cd to wipe the hard drive XD

 

That is scary. But Parallels seems to be in RC3 now, supposedly much more stable... I don't know.