Sometimes we need to work on Windows, other times we need to work on iOS, so what about using a virtual machine instead of having two computers? Cheaper right? Apparently this is easy to do from Mac to Windows, but having a virtual machine on Windows to run a Mac OS is not so simple though.
On Mac, you can use bootcamp or a third party software to run windows on a Mac laptop. Bootcamp allows you to boot to a Windows OS, but you would have to shut down and boot up normally to run Mac OS X. A third party software allows you to natively run Mac OS X and then have a program that creates a virtual machine for Windows. I currently have Parallels, and it allows me to run Windows on my Mac without having to restart each time I want to switch OS. I think it costs around $99, but once you have it, you can have as many different virtual machines as you want, and they all have their own file systems. The file systems can be accessed via mac, so its not like they're inaccessible or locked out. You also choose how much RAM, CPU, and GPU you want to dedicate to the virtual machine, which depends on how much performance you are seeking out of the virtual machine. Casual use and running windows-only programs doesn't take much, but heavier tasks such as gaming and video editing may be better off using bootcamp instead.
Yeah, I've heard about Parallels, just didn't have an idea how much it cost. Thanks for the explanation! Sadly, apparently there is no way to run mac OS from Windows is there @spike1206?
@to7update, The brand new version of Parallels costs you $69.99 and then from then on, it costs $49.99 to upgrade. There is a way to run mac OS from Windows through VirtualBox, but I have not attempted this and cannot say how well it would work (It's also an older version). The link to that guide is here:Log In
Thanks for sharing that. I don't have great experience with Mac computers just yet, but I've heard that when we use the breaker we are left with less security in our machine, meaning that we can get virus easier and also get hacked. Is this correct, do you have an idea @spike1206?
Sorry, when I saw your link macbreaker I assumed it was the jailbreaker, but I've already seen that it's something different. Seems something complex though! I am also wondering, how fast would it be to switch from WIndows to the VM, just a click away?
If you have virtual machine software installed, it is just a few clicks away. You have to open up the application and then click which machine to start up, and then you're good to go. However, the initial process of setting it up may take a few minutes as you have to choose what hardware you allocate, but once it's set up, it's just a few clicks to be up and running!
Thanks. The whole goal of having a virtual machine for me is that I need to perform different tasks on different OS, but it will only work if I can switch fast between OS. I'll have to give it a try to see how it goes.
@spike1206 That's really interesting. I always avoiding MAC os as my work is related to windows. So even if I like MAC, because of work I have to go for windows. But this is new information to me. And it is interesting as we can access whole windows OS on MAC os.. I have few questions? You said we can access windows OS on mac os with this software, but how is the performance?. Is it just like normal laptop or pc with widows OS we use? And can we use the latest windows 10 with this software?
The performance is excellent and I haven't had any issues. If you have low amounts of RAM, it may pose a problem, but I know that RAM is a relatively cheap upgrade. The virtual machine created can run any version of Windows, but you will have to purchase the software key from Microsoft, as you would installing a new version of windows onto a pc. It is exactly the same as a normal laptop or pc with windows OS that you would use as you're installing the normal windows OS onto your computer.
@spike1206 Thanks for the information. It sounds really good. I am having laptop with 3GB ram and 500GB hard disk. What you think about it? Do you think i can have smooth performance with this much RAM or I should get more for this purpose?
The ram is a little on the low side and I'm worried that it may hinder the performance of your virtual machine. However, you can get the virtual machine software and install your OS, boot it up, and see how it runs. If it runs with no issues you're fine, if it lags behind or is slow, it probably means you need to upgrade your RAM. What is the max amount of RAM your laptop can hold?
@spike1206 I wonder how to check it? lol. But there are two slot of RAM and only one is filled up, so I guess I can upgrade for sure. But yes better to checkout with this one first and then try to upgrade if it not work properly. Thanks for the advice and all the information. I will surely try for it.
Even if you have more physical space for RAM, it doesn't mean your processor or even OS will be able to process that memory, so you need to check that out. As a principle sure, an available slot is good news, but it depends on another factors.
Virtual machine application is very important to host files other than the RAM of the computer. Big companies have their virtual machine application. As far I know there best application based on the survey conducted. To name them, VirtualBox tops the survey. It is followed by VMware, then Windows Virtual PC, then Parallels, and comes last is QEMU. Some of them are free. Some have to be purchased. They could be taken from Windows, Mac, and Linux.
I am on Windows and I am using Virtual Box and VMWare sometimes to make use of the virtual machines. I have found that Linux based virtual machines. You can see that VirtualBox has a good option if you don't wish to make use of the paid options. Paralles and VMWare both are paid. But they also offer a lot better feature in such case. You can see that virtual machines are in demand among Developers so in future they may cost low.
The thing you have to keep in mind when working on virtual machines though is that it won't run as good as the physical device. Since these virtual machines are only being emulated through your machine, it only takes a small portion of the workload in your device and works its way from there, which is terrible when it comes to using heavy softwares.
