Q: I understand that it lets you have both os x and windows on your macbook but what is the difference between the two programs, parallels and bootcamp, and what is the benefit to having both windows and os x running on your macbook at the same time? If I chose to just run only windows on my mac would I still have some of the programs on my notebook that came with the mac before I instaled windows? Such as iMovie, iChat or iDVD? One last question- By having both windows and os x run on my macbook, does this take up a significant amount of memory? Thanks!
A: Bootcamp vs. Parallels Bootcamp: Is free with leopard (OSX 10.5+), you can no longer use it with anything pre leopard. With bootcamp you REBOOT your computer and select Windows as your operating system. Cons: Takes time, you cannot run any OSX apps while in windows. Pros: fastest way to run windows, can run memory intensive apps such as games, etc. because the two operating systems are not sharing resources. Parallels: Costs like $70. Will work with leopard or earlier versions of OSX. Windows runs in a window on your Mac. Pros: Get to windows quicker, Windows and OSX running at the same time, so you could be doing iMovie while running some Windows software. Drag files from OSX to Windows. Cons: Sharing resources with OSX (memory), so major apps won't run (like many games), Can slow both operating systems down since they are sharing memory (I have 4GB in my machine.) "What is the benefit to having both windows and os x running on your macbook at the same time" I recently switched to Mac, so I have many Windows apps still, Netflix "watch it now", and Amazon "Unbox" only work on PC, I have some games I run in Windows. I have years worth of Outlook email I sometimes need, I teach a programming class that has an application that requires windows, etc "If I chose to just run only windows on my mac would I still have some of the programs on my notebook that came with the mac before I instaled windows? Such as iMovie, iChat or iDVD?" If you ran windows exclusively (which you probably could, but why would you!?) You COULD NOT run iMovie, iChat, etc. "By having both windows and os x run on my macbook, does this take up a significant amount of memory?" You choose how much to give to windows, I gave 30GB. (I think Parallels actually only takes what it's using, bootcamp takes a big chunk from the get-go. I'd say 30GB is about the minimum you would want to give to it. Other items of note: 1. I am doing this on a MacBook Pro, have not tried it on a MacBook, though I presume it would work fine. 2. You need a valid copy of Windows (XP or Vista). Full non-oem (what comes with your dell pc for instance is OEM or specific to that machine), with service pack 2 included in the install (you can google all of this) 3. I am using Parallels and Bootcamp at the same time ... both are pointing to the same "windows install". To use memory intensive applications (Netflix, unbox, games) I reboot. To do something minor, I pop over via parallels and keep OSX running.