OFF TOPIC virtualize windows on mac
Richard Gaskin
ambassador at fourthworld.com
Tue Jan 3 12:59:40 EST 2012
jvalle wrote:
> starting with an old Macbook would like to know your expert opinion about what
> is the best virtualization solution to run Windows on Mac, from a developer
> point of view.
With any VM the key is RAM. The more the merrier. Anything less than
2GB will make VMs really difficult to work with.
I'm surprised no one here has mentioned VirtualBox:
<https://www.virtualbox.org/>
I'd used Parallels for years, even met the devs at a MacTech conference
and have been very impressed. But then Mark Wieder suggested I try
VirtualBox, and in my experience it loads VMs from a saved state so much
faster than Parallels that I've switched all my VMs to it.
Extra bonus points: it's free an open source, so you can try it out at
no cost, and if it doesn't do what you need you'll lose nothing.
But I'd be surprised if you weren't impressed with it. VirtualBox may
not have all of the features of Parallels, but with the shared
Clipboard, shared folders, and so many other useful options I've found
it very satisfying. And the performance has been pretty much unmatched
on the three machines I use it on (Mac Mini, MacBook Pro, and Dell laptop).
Since this is an older Mac, if RAM is scarce you might consider picking
up a used PC from Craig's List or Ebay. I've bought quite a few
computers through each, and have saved a great deal of money.
And if you've been curious about learning more on the hardware side of
things, building your own PC can save you even more.
Consider this DIY rig from NewEgg:
<http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.752616>
A Sandy Bridge CPU in an expandable case for just $188. Add a hard
drive and you're good to go with a fairly nice little system.
Heck, that's pretty much the cost of Parallels, and you get an whole
computer instead. :)
--
Richard Gaskin
Fourth World
LiveCode training and consulting: http://www.fourthworld.com
Webzine for LiveCode developers: http://www.LiveCodeJournal.com
LiveCode Journal blog: http://LiveCodejournal.com/blog.irv
More information about the use-livecode
mailing list