If you use a Mac, but need to run windows programs you have two options. Bootcamp (requires a reboot to change OS) and something like Fusion or Parallels (runs Windows in a box on top of OS X). I’ve been using Fusion and am very happy with it, but I’ve found that XP performs much much better than Vista in this environment. If you want to run Windows on top of OS X, I’d stick with XP for now.
I use Fusion myself (and the first release candidate of Fusion 2.0 just came out today), but you could also use VirtualBox at http://www.virtualbox.org/ or CrossOver Mac at http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/ – VirtualBox works similarly to Fusion and Parallels, whereas CrossOver Mac is based on WINE and you don’t need a Windows licence to run your programs.
I agree with you, XP is more responsive than Vista.
-Brett
@Mark,
My pleasure! I used to use CrossOver on Linux to run Office which worked well. The new Fusion supports DirectX 9 and runs quite a few games at an acceptable level (at least the ones I want to play!), so I’ve not done much with CrossOver Mac myself.
So far Fusion 2.0 has been good. I did encounter one odd thing with one of the new features – it allows a kind of “folder sharing” that can map some of your Mac’s folders (Documents, Music, Pictures) to the guest machine’s equivalents – but Beta 2 seemed to do something to the host folders, and I had to manually change them back to allow write access.
(I think Repair Permissions under the Disk Utility would have done the same thing.)
I might try it anyway with the RC and see if they fixed that, since I know I can change it back myself.
Generally it has been stable and good enough for me to run Office 2007 without issues. The Unity mode is also really nice.
Give it a shot if you like, as it is free to use for now. They also include a 1-year McAfee antivirus licence with it.
-Brett
@Brett – Thanks for the information. I’ll have to try out the new version of Fusion. I have CrossOver Mac, but I haven’t tried it for anything other than a game or two.
Is the 2.0 release pretty stable in your experience?
I’m trying out Fusion now. I love it so far. I just hate trying to find free antivirus stuff for Windows now.
@Stuart – Try AVG. I’ve had pretty good luck with it.
I second that – AVG has worked well for me for many years.