Macbook review from an exclusive lifetime Windows user

On 2020-05-30 20:24, Bill W wrote:
On May 30, 2020, Alan Browne wrote
Don't waste time with Boot Camp. Install a virtualizer like VMWare
Fusion or Parallels and have both OS' at the same time.

I’ll keep all that in mind, but for now, I still haven’t found any need
forWindows. But I did hear that VM’s slow Windows down. Have you noticed
that?

Nope. At least for my use. Which is some photographic, some old code I
wrote (and maintain) and at work for accounting s/w that the accountant
prefers.

The guest OS runs (mostly) native. The VM program will:

- trap system calls and where appropriate use the host OS calls (so some
translation may be needed).
- change the guest OS code to be compliant to the host to avoid real
time translation.
- use a lot of I/O directly (esp. graphics).
- In VM there is the option to map the guest OS diskspace as a separate
partition on the HD. This makes for 0 difference in read/write[1].

In the end, for most uses, it's no different than running standalone.
And the convenience factor is major.

For graphics intense games (etc.) it may be noticable.

[1] Of course the guest OS is sharing CPU, memory, I/O with the host.
So if the host is doing something intense then the guest OS's will be
slower - but it would be so if the standalone PC was doing that intense
work anyway.

On 2020-05-30 20:48, Bill W wrote:
On May 30, 2020, nospam wrote
(in ) :

In article
l-september.org, Bill
W wrote:

Don't waste time with Boot Camp. Install a virtualizer like VMWare
Fusion or Parallels and have both OS' at the same time. You can drag
and drop files between the two, you can "share" folders (directories), etc.

Indeed you can have several versions of Windows and several versions of
Linux and several versions of other OS' all installed and run one or
several at the same time. (This is capability as opposed to necessity).

Point being, Boot Camp on Mac OS is a terrible idea for most things
other than gaming.

the x86 is _designed_ for VM's.
Mac OS is _designed_ to support VM's.

So use it and be happier.

(When I moved to Mac back in 2008 this is one of the first things I
added after MS Office).

I¹ll keep all that in mind, but for now, I still haven¹t found any need
forWindows.

other than custom stuff, there's almost nothing that's only on windows
without an equivalent (and usually better) option on mac.

But I did hear that VM¹s slow Windows down. Have you noticed
that?

nothing that's measurable, except for hardcore graphics. gaming won't
work too well, but normal stuff definitely will.

Can I do a VM/Win10 install on an external SSD? It appears it can be done
with boot camp.

That would be silly.

You can either

- install it in a partition. Better disk performance.

- or in a "Container" file ("VM Bundle" in VMWare parlance) which is the
entire guest OS and its files in one massive file. This is practical
and easy to do backups. (Just copy it to an external drive). For
example my current Windows bundle is about 50 GB.

Caveat: in the later case, exclude the Virtual Machines folder from Time
Machine backups (in TM preferences) or the TM drive will fill up fast.
(Since when you use the VM, the tiniest change in the VM Bundle will
cause TM to backup the entire bundle.)

Sounds complicated. But it's exceedingly simple.

On 2020-05-30 21:16, Bill W wrote:

That’s what I’ve found so far, and the main reason I haven’t installed
Windows. That was originally the first thing I planned to do. I can
understand, though, that some people wouldn’t want to spend the time
finding good replacements, and then learning the new app.

One use case I have is that our business' accountant is most happy with
an app that does not exist for Mac OS. Our bookkeeper is most happy
with that app too.

On May 31, 2020, Alan Browne wrote
(in article ):

On 2020-05-30 20:48, Bill W wrote:
On May 30, 2020, nospam wrote
(in ) :

In article
l-september.org, Bill
W wrote:

Don't waste time with Boot Camp. Install a virtualizer like VMWare
Fusion or Parallels and have both OS' at the same time. You can drag
and drop files between the two, you can "share" folders (directories),
etc.

Indeed you can have several versions of Windows and several versions of
Linux and several versions of other OS' all installed and run one or
several at the same time. (This is capability as opposed to necessity).

Point being, Boot Camp on Mac OS is a terrible idea for most things
other than gaming.

the x86 is _designed_ for VM's.
Mac OS is _designed_ to support VM's.

So use it and be happier.

(When I moved to Mac back in 2008 this is one of the first things I
added after MS Office).

I¹ll keep all that in mind, but for now, I still haven¹t found any need
forWindows.

other than custom stuff, there's almost nothing that's only on windows
without an equivalent (and usually better) option on mac.

But I did hear that VM¹s slow Windows down. Have you noticed
that?

nothing that's measurable, except for hardcore graphics. gaming won't
work too well, but normal stuff definitely will.

Can I do a VM/Win10 install on an external SSD? It appears it can be done
with boot camp.

That would be silly.

You can either

- install it in a partition. Better disk performance.

- or in a "Container" file ("VM Bundle" in VMWare parlance) which is the
entire guest OS and its files in one massive file. This is practical
and easy to do backups. (Just copy it to an external drive). For
example my current Windows bundle is about 50 GB.

Caveat: in the later case, exclude the Virtual Machines folder from Time
Machine backups (in TM preferences) or the TM drive will fill up fast.
(Since when you use the VM, the tiniest change in the VM Bundle will
cause TM to backup the entire bundle.)

Sounds complicated. But it's exceedingly simple.

I’m convinced. I’ll get around to it.