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Expert guide: Running Windows on a Mac

Posted on 18 Apr 2007 at 14:39

A simpler alternative is to use virtualisation software to run a Linux OS alongside the Mac. And it's very easy indeed; most distros are offered as downloadable ISO images, and both Parallels and VMware can install directly from ISOs on the Mac's hard disk without first having to burn it to optical media.

Technically, any x86 Linux build will run under virtualisation; Parallels, for example, provides presets for Red Hat, Debian, Fedora, SUSE, Mandriva and Xandros, along with "Other Linux kernel 2.4" and 2.6, and the über-generic "Other Linux". You also have options to run less mainstream operating systems, including Solaris, OS/2, FreeBSD and - bless its cotton socks - MS-DOS.

Under Parallels, the experience isn't as rich in the Linux builds we've tried as when running Windows; the Parallels Tools that, for example, allow you to sweep the mouse pointer across from the host into the guest operating system and out again, aren't as fully featured for Linux. Basics such as shared networking are provided, but you don't get the same abilities in sharing files or changing screen resolution, and there's no coherence mode. Things are a little more consistent with VMware Fusion, despite it still being a beta product, although since coherence is a Parallels trick, you don't get that either.

There's little to stop you mixing and matching as many virtualised operating systems as you like. On a test 2GHz MacBook with 2GB of RAM, we've had Windows 98 SE, XP Professional, Vista Ultimate, Ubuntu and Red Hat Linux running simultaneously under Parallels, plus XP Professional and Ubuntu running using Fusion. Performance obviously suffered with so many OSes running together, but the Mac coped. Indeed, the only real problem we've had in months of running virtualised operating systems is when we flick from the Mac OS X user account that's hosting Parallels to another user, or to the login screen. More often than not, we've successfully returned to the host user account smoothly, but it has occasionally hung.

The limitations

Emulation - the technology necessary for running Windows on pre-Intel Macs - translates instructions from one processor architecture to another. In the case of PowerPC Macs running software such as Virtual PC, it was translating instructions given to the emulated Intel chip to the real PowerPC chip. Virtualisation software, however, can dip straight into the Intel Core processor and pass instructions to and from it directly, offering superior performance. Unfortunately, every other piece of hardware has to be emulated.

This is most evident with graphics performance. Support for DirectX is limited - forget about getting Vista's Aero interface running under Parallels. We also strongly recommend against attempting to run any modern 3D games under a virtualised operating system.

That said, Parallels and VMware do a fine job of network and USB support. Parallels, for example, gives you the option of bridged networking where the guest OS negotiates its own connection; shared, where it uses NAT to piggy-back onto the Mac's connection or host-only, isolating the guest OS from the network. Both support USB 2.

Despite its beta status, VMware Fusion is ahead in some respects here; it allows for the guest operating system to access more than one of a multicore Mac's cores, and already has experimental support for DirectX 8.1. Additionally, while Parallels can only virtualise 32-bit operating systems, Fusion allows you to install 64-bit versions on Core 2 Duo and Xeon-powered Macs.