Running Windows on a Mac

[Analog6]

I gad decided a long time ago I didn't want to do this due to a number of reasons. I mean, why buy a Mac if you are going to use Windows, might as well get a PC. But I would like to have access to fast Stone Image Viewer.

So I have a few questions for people who are doing it.

1. Do I have to restart to access Windows programs or can they run concurrently? IE, could I switch from CS4 to Fast Stone seamlessly?
2. Will my Mac be vulnerable to Windows based viruses?

Are there any other issues I should be thinking of? Any advice, particularly from anyone running PS & FSIV on a Mac most appreciated.

[ricktas]

The other alternative is to run the Mac OS on a PC : http://www.hackintosh.com/ :D:th3:

[Analog6]

I sold my PC, so not an option ATM, Rick.

[DAdeGroot]

1. Do I have to restart to access Windows programs or can they run concurrently? IE, could I switch from CS4 to Fast Stone seamlessly?

You can run seamlessly using a program called Parallels Desktop, which is a concurrent virtual machine. However, I found Parallels to cause slow downs when I wasn't doing any windows stuff, so now I use Sun's VirtualBox. That's another virtual machine environment, but it's not seamless and doesn't seem to effect performance when it's not running.

Alternatively, you can dual-boot with Bootcamp.



2. Will my Mac be vulnerable to Windows based viruses?

The windows portion will be.

[Analog6]

Thanks, Dave. I'll look into those.

[boggo]

yes virtual box is free and a great product. The bees knees is probably vmware but you need to pay for that. you can configure it so that the virtual machine cannot do anything to your own machine.. it would be isolated if you are worried about viruses etc

[Kym]

so now I use Sun's VirtualBox.

Sun Oracle Virtual Box http://www.virtualbox.org/
(Oracle bought Sun in January http://www.oracle.com/sun )

[Gremlin]

vwware works really well, I a mate had it installed (the windows) on a external drive so it goes thru there, seems to work ok. and faster, he does however have to restart, but it takes matter of seconds not minutes, its definetly worth a look, Id do the same on my imac but I just dont want any windows crap on my machine, so I sit here running two boxes, keep the garbage on one machine and the good stuff on the mac ;)

[nisstrust]

VM Fusion user here. Give that a crack, pretty happy with it.

[MarkW]

I use VM Fusion V3 which is the required version if your going to run Snow Leopard. V2 will run Leopard.

It works by creating a sandbox within your Mac environment with as many links to the outer Mac world as you need. It will have access to your HDD by way of a specific folder you set up as the interchange folder. You may find that you cant just go anywhere on the Mac whilst in the windoze sandbox. The idea is you alt tab out of the windows world into the Mac world as the two run concurrently,send the file to the interchange folder, then alt tab back to windows world.

If your going to run the net from within the windows sandbox then your going to need all the crapware anti-virus, anti-spyware, yadda yadda yadda that is normally associated with running windows. If you tell yourself you will be extremely careful and only get app updates from the proper vendor then I would leave out all the windoze junk. That how I run mine as all I have is ACDSee to view images and Quicken for my household finances. I disconnect the net from the mac when I dont need it then reconnect by changing the system profile.

[Calxoddity]

Hi,
I used Fast Stone for a while but it wasn't so good that I was wedded to it. When I started looking at an alternative way to manage my increasing collection of images, it coincided with time to replace my ageing PC.

Being a brave chappie, I decided I'd check all options on PC and Mac for image management and ended up choosing the iMac because it was cool ( :p ) and because I could use Aperture on it.

Actually, it was a bit more complicated than that - I spent a month examining migration paths for all my data before deciding which way to go. If I needed to keep running PC, then Mac wasn't the right answer. It turned out that there was no need to keep a PC partition, so the migration was viable.

Is Fast Stone the only reason to stay with PC? It's not *that* good!!

Regards,
Calx

[MarkW]

Calx
What would you have done if you still had to run one windows app totally unrelated to post processing? Would that app been enough to tie you back to Windoze?

For me that was Quicken - nothing runs like it, having your entire financials ie multiple banks with multiple accounts plus investments, mortage and draw down accounts all neatly tied together within the one app so that transfering between doesnt require double entry accounting practices.

[notahonda]

so reading thru this thread... i have this issue all my apps are sitting on a windows box atm .... and my issue is if i was to run photoshop and the jazz on the new imacs will it have the capacity successfully in a virtualised environment? I really dont want to purchase all my apps again.... alternatively i could buy a really...really... powerful PC?

[Calxoddity]

Nim,
If you're thinking of migrating to a Mac, ask yourself "why?". If you can't answer that question, the rest becomes academic.

If you identify a compelling reason to migrate to a Mac, your next challenge is mapping out your migration strategy for all current Windows data and apps.

Sometimes you'll identify an app where there is no functional equivalent, or the data can't actually be migrated. Now you need to decide whether the migration is still viable, or whether a compromise in the form of Windows on the mac is acceptable.

A bit of planning can save you a bucketload of angst - and avoid unrealistic expectations. So, what are you running at the moment? (btw, you can crossgrade Photoshop).

Regards,
Calx