Windows 7 RC x64 on a Mac – The Roundup
I have reviewed every way possible to install Windows 7 Release Candidate x64 on a Mac. The posts are as follows:
Read on for the entire post.
Here are my final thoughts on all solutions, leaving you to decide which is best for you and ultimately using the one that gives you the features and ease of use that you require. I am going to try to post two-three lines of what I feel about all 4 solutions. I encourage you to read all 4 posts and make the decision on your own.
Bootcamp: This process is by far the most complex of them all but also provides the BEST performance you can ever get running Windows 7 x64 on a MAC. It is a full featured install with all of the power of your MAC being used to run this marvellous new operating system.
Sun Virtual Box: The worst of the bunch, it is free and works but I had various problems with it as compared to Parallels, VMware Fusion, and Bootcamp. I could not used my ethernet adapter in bridged mode which basically meant that this virtual machine would have its own IP range and that it could not interact with my home network with ease. The audio drivers did not work and thus a lot of time and effort was required to make the sound work. Ultimately I found that the USB audio drivers do not work and thus any speakers connected to your MAC via USB would not provide sound output.
Parallels Desktop: A commercial application that shows a lot of effort went into making it a viable solution for virtualization on the MAC. The install was as easy as could be and the feature set allows for enough control over a vitual machine. The interactions between the MAC and the virtual machine were seamless while using Parallels. Everything worked at startup, once the Parallels Tools were installed into the virtual machine.
VMware Fusion: Another commercial application that comes with a reputation of one of the largest virtualization platforms in the industry. The installation was as perfect as could be with everything functioning in the virtual machine after the installation of the VMware tools. The interactions between the MAC and the virtual machine were right on target and performed perfectly.
THE WINNER: It is hard to pin point which solution is best as it all depends on what you are looking for. If you need full performance then Bootcamp is the clear choice for you. If you want to run Windows in a virtual environment then the choice is much easier…..Parallels or VMware Fusion. Sun has a bit of work to do on VirtualBox before I would recommend it for ease of use. Sun’s product is free and therefore a viable contender in the mix but not at all ready for the ‘non-geek’. Parallels and VMware on the other hand are perfect and both are equally viable solutions for virtualization on the MAC….there is no winnder and or loser since they both perform equally well.
Please share your feedback and thoughts via comments so that we can all share our experiences.
