Virtual pc or boot camp ?

If you don't care about gaming or anything super intensive, use Parallels Desktop so that you can run Windows concurrently (and much faster than VirtualPC) on Mac OS X. If you don't mind dual-booting and want as much speed as possible to play the WIndows-only games out there, use Boot Camp to create the drivers disc and the partition and install Windows. Just remember that Boot Camp is still in beta, so make sure you back up your files.
 
Virtual PC and Boot Camp are mutually-exclusive. VPC runs only on Macs based on the PPC. Boot Camp can be setup only on Macs based on Intel processors. The Intel Mac counterpart to VPC is Parallels Workstation. It allows you run install and run [in a virtual environment hosted by MacOS X] at near-native speeds virtually every Intel-compatible OS in the last decade. Boot Camp allows you to run your Mac as a Windows XP SP2 computer.
 
Garmin devices, however, are known to be problematic on some solutions. They should run on GuestPC (for PowerPC Macs) and BootCamp (intel Macs), but I'm not sure about the others. Won't run in Parallels (intel Macs) AFAIK.
 
kenny kustom said:
i have a new imac.
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If it's new, it's probably intel. You can check in the "about this mac" window that you get in the apple menu. You can use parallels or bootcamp, though I would recommend parallels for basic apps. Bootcamp is free (now).
 
If you want it to be the most easy I would go with BootCamp. Parallels uses only a small part of the video RAM so it really hampers performance like Virtual PC did on the the PowerPC Macs, but if you are wanting to run Vista it is the only way to run the OS being something in Vista does not support on the new Macs.
 
Boot Camp easy? Installing Boot Camp is a multi-step process which involves burning a CD and partitioning your hard drive. The end result is the ability to dual-boot MacOS X and Windows XP SP2 (and presumeably Vista). Parallels Workstation installs like any other application. You install Windows XP or virtually any other Intel-compatible OS on the PW virtual machine. There is no partitioning involved and you always have access to MacOS X. Mac no mistake, there are users for whom Boot Camp is the superior choice. However, those looking for easy solutions are not among them.
 
kenny kustom said:
the only things i need to run is quickbooks <snip>.
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I too am in the process of switching...
and for me, too, quickbooks is the major concern, as here is no mac version!

It seems there is no option but to purchase another copy of winXP and then run parallels, or bootcamp, is there?
(I am not (yet) ready to close down the PC forever....)
 
Thank you for the link, but unfortunately that is not an Australian version - and there is no Australian version available!
I contacted quicken support here and received a long explanatory email...
I need the Australian version for GST reasons - plus the accountant needs to be able to handle it, and the US version may not be compatible with his software.
 
I am a new switcher in waiting. I have ordered my new Intel iMAC 24" and am waiting like it is Christmas all over again. As a long time Wintel user (20 years) I have at last gotten fed up with the patch on top of patch that is the Windows OS. But I do have a couple of programs I use regularly that have no counterpart in Mac OS X, I have researched the options and have decided to go with Parallels Workstation for ease of setup and the ability to switch (that word again) between OS's with a key stroke. I am a very experienced Windows user and am looking forward to learning Max OS X
 
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