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Two Ways to Run Windows on your Macintosh for Free
Deciding if you want to buy a Mac or a PC? It's not a black-and-white world anymore. On all of Apple's current Macintosh computers, both laptops and desktops, you can run both the Macintosh operating system (OS X) as well as a Windows operating system (Vista, XP, Windows 95, etc.) for free. There are two basic ways you can run an operating system beyond the Macintosh's native OS X. Apple OS X Boot Camp
Apple provides a piece of software called Boot Camp with their entire line of Macintosh computers. Boot Camp allows you to assign a piece of your Mac's hard drive just for Windows. By following a few prompts, you decide how much of your hard disk space to devote to your second operating system, Windows, and then install Windows. After the installation is complete, you simply hold down the Alt key when you turn your Mac on and you are asked to choose which operating system you want to use-Mac's OS X or Windows. When you are running Windows, it runs just as it would on any other computer. The benefits to Boot Camp is that Windows runs very well. Even Vista, notorious for consumption of system resources runs great. Drawbacks? Not many, except you cannot instantly switch between Windows and OS X. Virtualization with VirtualBox
Virtualization is another way to run Windows on your Mac. As opposed to the Boot Camp solution in which you load one operating system, virtualization is a technology in which the Mac is running its native operating system, OS X, and has created a 'virtual computer' which runs Windows. The virtual computer has access to some hardware resources, and operates just as Windows would natively. Since virtualization relies on a combination of software and hardware emulation to run Windows, performance isn't as fast as if you run Windows natively under Boot Camp. That's not to say that it isn't a good solution, however. Windows XP runs extremely well virtualized, performing at over 90% the speed it runs at natively. Two products, VMWare Fusion and Parallels Desktop for Mac, have been on the market for a few years and allow Windows virtualization at a price. A recent addition to the virtualization scene is an open source project called VirtualBox. Championed by Sun Microsystems, the open source project provides a no-cost alternative to virtualization on the Macintosh. Whichever route you take Apple's Macintosh now allows you to enjoy both the Macintosh experience as well as Windows on a single piece of hardware. |
VMWare Fusion
| VirtualBox
| Parallels Desktop for Mac
| Apple OS X Boot Camp
PLEASE VISIT THE CONTRIBUTOR'S WEBSITE
On a Mac
Apple news and products.
www.on-a-mac.com
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