Windows on a Mac – Options, Options, Options

I’m in the market for an Apple MacBook later this year, but will want to keep access to some of the apps I already have on Windows. There are two options out there for those of you wanting to run Windows on the new Macs.

1. Boot Camp – Boot Camp is a free beta download from Apple right now. I’m unclear as to whether this will ultimatel cost money. Boot Camp is a boot loader which allows you to install Windows XP SP2 on a separate partition. Because the new Macs are Intel-based, it has always been theoretically possible to run Windows on the same hardware as it is nativ ely built for. Pros: Clean native use of Windows. Cons: Must reboot to switch between the two OSes, as has been the bane of the existence of folks who have dual booted between Windows and Linux for years.
2. Parallels – Parrallels is a software emulation program that runs Windows in a window inside OS 10.4. Generally, operating system emulation means not only emulating software behavior, but also hardware. As mentioned earlier, using Intel-based Mac hardware eliminates the need for hardware emulation making 90% performance possible with Parallels. Pros: No need to reboot. Both Operating Systems can be run simultaneously and side by side. Cons: Software emulation ALWAYS means some kind of performance hit. Though Parallels reportedly has extremely good performance for Windows XP (90%), using Windows in this fashion could slow things down.

As I’m in the market, I’ll be watching this comparison closely over the next few months.

Source: The After Mac