# Mac PC dual platform comments



## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

I work at a school which has nearly all PC's. In the area I work in (Photography & Digital Imaging) we have some old eMacs which were bought some years ago to be used for Film & Video classes (using iMovie) The F&V teacher wants to replace them with new Macs and has approached me (we share the comp room with the Macs in it - also has 4 PC's) wants to get rid of PC's and make it a Mac lab with dual platform machines so we can run software we already have for PC (Photoshop & Premiere)
Anyone out there running similar apps on dual platform machines with success?
I know older dual platform Macs were hopelessly under resourced for the PC side of things - has this changed?


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## scathe30 (Jan 10, 2007)

All has chaned for the best. Now you have several ways to run Windows on Macs. The speed will be very close to native.

All new Macs currently include the app that lets you dual-boot into Windows.
You can also use Parallels Desktop ot VMWare fusion.
My personal choice is Parallels. For more info visit the product's page.
It all depends on the sort of tasks you are going to carry out on your Mac in Windows


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## shuuhen (Sep 4, 2004)

Now running both Mac OS X and Windows on a Mac works fairly well. The significant change is the processor. Previously, Macs used the PowerPC type of processor, while Windows would run on x86 processors. Now Macs use x86/AMD64 type processors, which are the same as what Windows runs on. It is very hard to emulate different types of processors, but having the same type of processor makes it fairly simple.

My school requires use of certain Windows only programs (and sometimes just doesn't tell us when they have the Mac version) and my MacBook Pro works great for running Windows software through VMware Fusion. Boot Camp works really well too.


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## kolevich (Jan 16, 2008)

I run Windows on Mac using Parallels Desktop. I run it for about 3 months (not much but I already do have experience). I really enjoy it and have no problems with it. It has perfect interface, excellent usability. It doesn't drag my system. Moreover, it fully satisfies my needs and make my Mac 2 in 1 machine! :smile: 
Usually I run IE7, AutoCad, Photoshop and some Office apps via Parallels. I even run some PC-games thru Parallels. 
I use BootCamp also to run some games with high system requirements. BootCamp copes with it much better than Parallels but I'm sure they will adopt it for gaming soon.
Can't say anything about Fusion.


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## scathe30 (Jan 10, 2007)

kolevich said:


> Can't say anything about Fusion.


Fusion is not much worswe than Parallels. I'd say that they are pretty same. But Parallels is a more user-oriented product, I think. They release add-ons and patches frequently, Parallels has got much more media coverage than Fusion also


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## zuluclayman (Dec 16, 2005)

oops sorry for not getting back - thanks for the comments - not sure which way school will go on this. The tech support guy hates Macs and he's on the IT funding committee so who knows.


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## scathe30 (Jan 10, 2007)

zuluclayman said:


> oops sorry for not getting back - thanks for the comments - not sure which way school will go on this. The tech support guy hates Macs and he's on the IT funding committee so who knows.


I'm not sure, but I think that school should better stick to PC environment. I don't know what peculiar software you are going to use, but I'm sure there'll be a lot of interaction with other PCs. So instead of meddling with Parallels or Boot Camp it is much easier to go PC. 

But that would be a school of my dreams: with Macs stuffed with Parallels + Vista:1angel:


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