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Window alternates

post #1 of 6
5/20/07 at 1:19pm
Thread Starter 
Has anyone had experience with VMware Fusion for Mac or CrossOver?
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post #2 of 6
5/20/07 at 4:43pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sequitur View Post

Has anyone had experience with VMware Fusion for Mac or CrossOver?

I tried VMWare briefly but it seemed slower than Parallels. Since I use Bootcamp, I put it and the drive image aside for possible future use.

Crossover was the first thing I tried and it is ok for the few apps it supports but its compatibility problems quickly get annoying. I tried about 20 or more different programs and I got about 3 or so to work properly. I honestly think its main purpose was to bring Half-Life 2 to Mac and Linux users because that's what it does best.

Overall, I did the following:

- installed Crossover, played Half-Life 2, struggled with getting most programs to work
- used Parallels for a while even using Photoshop while CS3 beta came out, seemed ok but not good enough for constant use IMO
- went to Bootcamp, seemed the best option so far besides the rebooting but I didn't mind much. Parallels messed up OS X I found after running a while
- tried VMWare, wasn't impressed with the performance but it seemed to not slow down the system as much as Parallels i.e. it was slow but the system was fine, Parallels was the other way round
- I haven't booted into Windows for about a month now but there are the odd programs I'd like to use without having to reboot or even use a VM for so I'm trying out the latest Crossover
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post #3 of 6
5/20/07 at 6:42pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marvin View Post

I tried VMWare briefly but it seemed slower than Parallels. Since I use Bootcamp, I put it and the drive image aside for possible future use.

Crossover was the first thing I tried and it is ok for the few apps it supports but its compatibility problems quickly get annoying. I tried about 20 or more different programs and I got about 3 or so to work properly. I honestly think its main purpose was to bring Half-Life 2 to Mac and Linux users because that's what it does best.

Overall, I did the following:

- installed Crossover, played Half-Life 2, struggled with getting most programs to work
- used Parallels for a while even using Photoshop while CS3 beta came out, seemed ok but not good enough for constant use IMO
- went to Bootcamp, seemed the best option so far besides the rebooting but I didn't mind much. Parallels messed up OS X I found after running a while
- tried VMWare, wasn't impressed with the performance but it seemed to not slow down the system as much as Parallels i.e. it was slow but the system was fine, Parallels was the other way round
- I haven't booted into Windows for about a month now but there are the odd programs I'd like to use without having to reboot or even use a VM for so I'm trying out the latest Crossover

Thanks Marvin,
I watch for your inputs in other posts. You always seem to have good answers (without a lot of verbiage).
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post #4 of 6
5/20/07 at 7:08pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by sequitur View Post

Thanks Marvin,
I watch for your inputs in other posts. You always seem to have good answers (without a lot of verbiage).

apple should make any windows program compatible in OS X. They have to make it so that it's basically like boot camp, if you get a virus it only affects the windows partition, but the windows programs work in your OS X environment. So basically like crossover, but where all programs for windows work, but without the risk of getting a pc virus.
MacBook Pro
2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
120GB Serial ATA Drive@5400rpm
SuperDrive 8x
15" Glossy Widescreen Display

with a wireless Apple keyboard

and

iPod Touch
8GB
Reply
MacBook Pro
2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
2GB 667 DDR2 SDRAM - 2x1GB
120GB Serial ATA Drive@5400rpm
SuperDrive 8x
15" Glossy Widescreen Display

with a wireless Apple keyboard

and

iPod Touch
8GB
Reply
post #5 of 6
5/21/07 at 4:35am
Quote:
Originally Posted by sequitur View Post

Thanks Marvin,
I watch for your inputs in other posts. You always seem to have good answers (without a lot of verbiage).

I'm being watched . Thanks for the compliment, it's good to know my comments are useful. There are quite a few people who have good input here. I think overall, it's probably the best Mac forum I've been to.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich-Myster

apple should make any windows program compatible in OS X. They have to make it so that it's basically like boot camp, if you get a virus it only affects the windows partition, but the windows programs work in your OS X environment. So basically like crossover, but where all programs for windows work, but without the risk of getting a pc virus.

Yeah, Crossover does seem to be the most viable implementation for the majority of people. However, one big problem is that because it doesn't use Windows at all, it's development will always be behind in compatibility because they have to reverse engineer a lot of the proprietary Windows software. Device support isn't there at all AFAIK and even some CD/DVD features aren't there.

If Apple managed to sort those issues out somehow, for example someone mentioned a while back they have access to the Windows source code, then it would be a huge step forward. No more waiting for Office 2008, you could just run the Windows version.
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post #6 of 6
5/21/07 at 6:34am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich-Myster View Post

apple should make any windows program compatible in OS X. ...

Yes, we should just screw all of those Mac developers. This is a particularly good idea now when the Mac is making signigicant headway against the Windows tide.
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