Parallels Desktop is such an efficient VM application that I removed my Bootcamp partition and haven't regretted it one bit. The only disadvantage to using Parallels to run Windows 7 is that you can never dedicate all of the hardware resources to the operating system since OSX is always running in the background however, with customizable resource profiles and improved graphics performance in version 6, this should not be much of an issue. You can chose a single core or multiple cores and also choose how much RAM you want to dedicate to the VM. Parallels gives you the option of customizing the system resources to the VM. The coherence view allows you to run the Windows programs as if they were standalone programs in OSX. When running the virtual machine, you can choose different views: window view, full screen view, and coherence. The sound is a little softer compared to the volume in OSX however, the difference is slightly noticeable.
PARALLELS VS VMWARE VS BOOTCAMP DRIVERS
Parallels also allows Windows 7 to run Aero Peek as you get a more accurate rating on the Windows Performance Index (version 4 features outdated graphics drivers that disable Aero Peek due to the Windows Performance Index graphics rating of 1.0 regardless of hardware). The graphics drivers work well, and I haven't experienced additional overheating. I currently have Parallels Desktop 5 on my computer (I will be upgrading to version 6 soon), and the installation was also straightforward. On the flip side, using Bootcamp to run Windows 7 is advantageous because all of your system's processing resources are dedicated to the running OS. Nonetheless, the overheating issues are a problem and a hassle. When playing a video or a game, the computer begins to run very hot, and the fan is constantly on at full speed.Ī software alternative is to download additional software to control fan speeds, or you can simply use a laptop cooling fan. The only problem child is the graphics driver. The OSX installation disk does a good job of installing all the drivers needed for Windows 7.