We've launched the new forums! Read more here

Advice for upgrading my Macbook Pro

RatFink

RatFink

Carnivore
Joined
Nov 22, 2010
Messages
5,591
Reaction score
1,336
Location
Calgary, Canada
Handicap
lim x-> 0
I'm in the middle of deciding on what I want to do with my laptop. This time around it's going to get a full set of software upgrades - I have an end goal, but I don't know what to buy to get there.

When Lion comes out, it'll get that.
I'll also get Office '11, and iWork will get re-installed.

I also want to run Windows 7, and Office '10.
The key reason for getting windows on my laptop is so I can run accounting type programs like Simply Accounting for example.

Now for where I am going into uncharted waters for me:
Which version of Windows 7 (home/professional, 32/64 bit?) should I buy, and I don't want to run bootcamp to run Windows. I have heard whispers about "parallels" and "fusion" so that I can run Windows inside of Mac OS.

If anyone has any experience with this/better suggestions, it would be greatly appreciated before I drop like $300 or $400 on software that is wrong.
 
I run Parallels v6 with Win XP on my 2009 iMac running Snow Leopard. It works flawlessly, once I set it up correctly. I migrated my existing Win XP install to my iMac a couple of years ago, which was a challenge. If you are doing a clean install it should be straightforward. It's like having the ghost of my long gone PC running inside my computer, only when I need it.

Parallels v6 is already tested out to run on Lion, and if you go to the Parallels website I think that they offer a package with Parallels and Win 7 for about $100.

http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/

I only have kept Win XP around to run Quicken, as the Windows version is vastly superior to the Mac version.
 
Parallels stinks. VMFusion is the way to go. Very nice, very smooth and seamless on a Mac. You can even drag and drop files between the two environments. Pretty slick. You still need to partition the drive and have bootcamp set-up but you can then launch and run Windows 7 programs without exiting from the OSX environment.
(http://www.vmware.com/products/fusion/overview.html) Download the trial and check it out first. Look to them for guidance on what version of windows to buy- but the 'lighter' the version the better it will run.

You will want to check if it works with Lion- you may need to wait for them to upgrade.

Why do you want Office 10 on windows and Office 11 on Mac? That will take up quite a bit of space and processor power if you are running both of them plus windows (and cost twice as much!). When I was using it, I limited the widows to only what I absolutely needed to run (Lotus notes ugh) everything else I left in the OSX environment. There is no need to have both versions of office.

Max out your physical RAM for sure and plan on allowing the program to suck up some virtual ram as well. Processor investive programs will run more slowly in the windows environment. But simple programs will run fine.
 
They must have really improved Parallels since I tried it last.

fracisco said:
I run Parallels v6 with Win XP on my 2009 iMac running Snow Leopard. It works flawlessly, once I set it up correctly. I migrated my existing Win XP install to my iMac a couple of years ago, which was a challenge. If you are doing a clean install it should be straightforward. It's like having the ghost of my long gone PC running inside my computer, only when I need it.

Parallels v6 is already tested out to run on Lion, and if you go to the Parallels website I think that they offer a package with Parallels and Win 7 for about $100.

http://www.parallels.com/products/desktop/

I only have kept Win XP around to run Quicken, as the Windows version is vastly superior to the Mac version.
Click to expand...
 
TwoSolitudes said:
They must have really improved Parallels since I tried it last.
Click to expand...

It's a great product. No partitions, no bootcamp, drag and drop between the environments. I can run multiple instantiations of Parallels VMs if I wanted to.

And my estimate for Parallels with Win 7 was way off. Best price for Parallels v6 right now is via Nova Development's Mac Superbundle:

http://www.macsuperbundle.com/?rs4=NO_US_BN_MSB_BUY_0711

And look for a version of Win 7 on Newegg.com or Amazon.
 
Interesting stuff, I currently have 4GB of DDR3 ram in my laptop.. hopefully that's enough.

I would run both offices for one note capability since one of the organizations I'm a part of uses it exclusively for sharing notes and such.
Unless office '11 has been improved, I've found that office '08 has lacked quite a few capabilities compared to office '07 as well.
 
4gb is fine for Mac OS X, if you have the money to spare 8gb is even better though
 
MikeF said:
4gb is fine for Mac OS X, if you have the money to spare 8gb is even better though
Click to expand...

I may be limited... I know 4 was the max when I first got my laptop back in '09.
 
Pretty sure they released an update that allows 8gb now. Best to check though
 
Get a proper PC laptop and that is all. I'm out of this thread now.
 
Upgrade to 8gb if you can. Its the easiest way to see performance improvements, not just for VMFusion or Parallels, but for everything. Always max out the ram on any notebook.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top