[Leica] Re: OT, Windows on a Mac

[lrzeitlin at optonline.net (Lawrence Zeitlin)]

On Feb 17, 2007, at 11:21 AM, Phil asked:

>>   How stable is Windows on a Mac?
>
> XP runs as well as XP ever does on Parallels. Got no experience with
> Bootcamp although I understand it is the better solution for gamers.
> We run an old database based on FoxPro with few problems.
>
>> And finally,
>> how about Vista on a Mac?
>
> no experience
>>
>> Honestly, I don't need to know any of this but I'm curious.
>
> Upcoming features in Parallels make it look like the solution. Other
> emulators are said to be on the way, but Parallels seems to work well
> right now.

I've had no need to run Windows on my Intel Mac. I have several  
colleagues who prefer the Mac but need some MS software that runs  
only on Windows. They tell me that some of the MS software runs  
slightly faster on Bootstrap, as fast, they say, on a Dell or HP  
Intel computer. On the other hand, they report that they get virus  
infection just as easily as with a PC. No surprise since Bootcamp  
reconfigures the Mac to run as a PC. They prefer Parallels for  
occasional MS software use. It is adequately fast and permits  
flipping back and forth between Mac and PC programs.

I do run Virtual PC on my G3 and G4 Powerbooks when I use some legacy  
MS software. Virtual PC is an emulator that effectively turns the Mac  
into a plain vanilla PC running at about half the speed of the Mac it  
is hosted on. Not good for games but adequate for word processors and  
accounting and statistical programs. I don't do any photographic work  
while running Virtual PC but I have found it useful, but slow, in  
duplicating movie DVDs using some of the cheap (possibly illegal) DVD  
copying programs for the PC. The real advantage of Virtual PC is that  
it will run any MS operating system from Windows 98 through XP. I use  
Windows 98 on mine.

But why stop there, SUSE Linux runs on my old Mac 1400 laptop. It is  
rock solid and permits me to use all that public domain Linux (and  
Unix) software that floats around universities. Cheap, cheap, cheap.

Larry Z