# Bootcamp vs Parallels vs VirtualBox



## Bunnyzilla (Oct 30, 2011)

I have a MacBook Pro (running Snow Leopard) that I would like to be able to use Windows on for work purposes. Currently, I do work stuff on a Windows XP Asus EeePc, but that sucker is old and I don't want to do an OS upgrade on it (or any upgrade really).

What are the pros and cons of Bootcamp, Parallels, or Virtual Box to run Windows? I do a lot of my work on a virtual desktop (VMWare with VPN), but I often need to remotely map network drives to my own machine and work with Windows programs there.

Thanks in advance for any advice/assistance.


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## Headrush (Feb 9, 2005)

Unless you need full speed GPU access, I'd go with a virtual option over Bootcamp.

I have used Parallels Desktop, VMware Fusion and Virtual Box and have settled on Parallels.
Mapping drives/folders is seamless and using Coherence mode, using Windows Apps feels just like OS X apps.

The big cons of Bootcamp are you have to reboot, and you have to predetermine your hard drive size for Windows.
(unless you are using something like Paragon's HFS+ or use a common access filesystem.)

A nice plus with virtualization is you can share the file system and also use your favourite OS X apps on files in Windows.


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## Bunnyzilla (Oct 30, 2011)

That does seem like a good option. 

Do I need to install Parallels before I install Windows?


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## Headrush (Feb 9, 2005)

Al those virtualization programs can use your Bootcamp installation of Windows, but I prefer to install a clean install just within Parallels. 

One I get Windows installed with all the apps I always add and all updates applied, I can save a template of that installation and can create new Windows virtual machines from that, or restore a previous one that has become "bloated".


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