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Expert guide: Running Windows on a Mac

Posted on 18 Apr 2007 at 14:39

Virtualisation requires dedicated Mac software. Parallels Desktop for Mac was the first program to offer this, but now virtualisation giant VMware has thrown its hat into the ring, recently releasing the second beta of its Fusion software for the Mac.

Virtualisation has the advantage of flexibility and convenience, but lacks the power of running Windows natively. One obvious reason for this is that if you're running a virtual guest operating system alongside the host operating system, the hardware will have to allocate resources across both simultaneously. (Indeed, you can run more than one guest operating system at the same time.)

The bottom line, therefore, is that using Boot Camp to boot a Mac exclusively into Windows will provide the best performance - although the Boot Camp drivers still aren't perfectly optimised - while using virtualisation provides greater convenience. Mac users in a corporate environment, for example, might choose to use Mac applications within OS X most of the time, but have Outlook running under Windows for richer Exchange integration than is offered in native Mac tools.

The good news is that you don't have to plump for one approach to the exclusion of the other. When Parallels was first launched, it followed the traditional approach for guest operating systems: it generated a small configuration file, and created a ring-fenced virtual hard disk, not by partitioning the physical volume but by creating a virtual hard disk document. (And you can still opt for this approach; it makes backup and restore very simple.)

Now, though, it can use a partition created by Boot Camp. This has two advantages. Most significantly, it allows you to boot the Mac into Windows when you want to give all the system resources to Windows, or to boot back into the Mac when you want to run the two side by side. Second, it can allow more complete access to the Windows partition. Formatted with FAT32, Mac OS X can read and write to this partition without difficulty, but if you decide to format the Boot Camp-created partition as NTFS, the Mac can only read the data that's held on it. Parallels, running from this partition, can give Mac users the ability to drag-and-drop to and from it.

Parallels has one last trick up its sleeve: coherence. "Trick" is the right word too, as it's just a sleight of hand, but a damned good one. Along with "Full Screen" and "OS Window" - the latter constraining the guest OS within a window, say, set to 1,024 x 768, or on a secondary screen - Parallels supports coherence mode for the guest operating system, in which windows floating within the guest OS environment are effectively cut out and stuck alongside windows from the host OS. The Start menu can be accessed from Parallels' Dock icon, and Windows applications can be added to and launched from the Dock. All it does is mask out the Windows Desktop.

Migrating across to a Mac from a PC is pretty straightforward too. Using Boot Camp, it's no different to switching PCs; simply use the Files and Settings Transfer wizard. Parallels Desktop for Mac is bundled with Transporter, a utility to help transfer files and settings, which can work either locally or over a network.

Adding Linux to the mix

There are many Linux distributions that can run natively on older PowerPC Mac hardware as well as Intel hardware. Dual-boot systems (and more) are possible too, although these require more tweaking with the command line than many people will be comfortable with.